DROUGHT 2014 SOUTHERN OREGON EMIGRANT LAKE WATER SHORTAGE
Emigrant Lake Driest in Years
ASHLAND, Ore. – Emigrant Lake is showing the lowest water volume in more than a decade. ACCORDING TO KDRV’S JUSTIN BOURKE.
FEW REFER TO THE DISASTER DROUGHT THAT LASTED 9 YEARS ENDING IN 1991. IN SOUTHERN OREGON, PEOPLE FORGET.
According to Bureau of Reclamation Statistics, water volume is less than half of where it was last year at this time. Last year the lake measured 19,000 acre-feet, versus 8,500 this year.
Total precipitation is also lower than any time since the start of the millennium, at 1.18 inches.
Officials with the park say the lack of water will undoubtedly have an impact on recreation there.
NIFA grants focus on climate change, climate variability, adaptation, and sustainability for farmers.
In 2011, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded three five-year, $20-million grants to “measure the effects of climate change on agriculture, develop effective methods to sustain productivity in a changing environment and pass these resources on to the farmers and industry professionals who can put the research into practice.”
Drought Declaration in Jackson County
On May 6, 2014, Governor Kitzhaber signed Executive Order 14-04 declaring drought emergency in Jackson County.
Snowpack in the region is as low as 20 percent, with precipitation half of normal in some areas.
"We are already seeing the effects of the ongoing and prolonged drought in southern Oregon counties," GOVERNOR Kitzhaber said in a statement. "We face these severe water shortages after a dry year in 2013. The drought will not be resolved without prolonged, substantial snow and rainfall.
The lowest recorded temperature in Medford was −10 °F on December 13, 1919,[ and the highest recorded temperature was 115 °F on July 20, 1946.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN GLOBAL WARMING, YOU MIGHT BE CHANGING YOUR MIND IN THE NEAR FUTURE. EVEN, OBAMA ADMITS IT NOW, AFTER YEARS OF DENIAL, AND YET, THERE IS NO WAY TO STOP OR REPAIR THE DAMAGE, EVEN IF WE TRIED REAL HARD. IT’S TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE.
I AM BILL KEEFER, FORMER UNITED STATES MARSHAL, FOUNDER OF THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF LAW ENFORCEMENT. UNTIL NEXT TIME !