Headwaters of the Deschutes at Little Lava Lake on 5/12/19.  A dry river.

Without a doubt, current water conditions are dramatically improved from the beginning of the year.  All is not well, however, and work to conserve water and improve river flows should remain at the forefront of every angler’s agenda if we hope to continue to enjoy our sport at a high level.  As of yesterday, Little Lava Lake is very low, is not spilling into the upper Deschutes, and there is essentially no snow to be seen in that area.Read More »

Today the Bulletin ran a story echoing what I have been writing about for some time, there will be water shortages this summer for some irrigation districts.  Unfortunately, the wrong ones in my opinion.  North Unit Irrigation District supplies real farmers around Madras who are going to have to fallow some lands.  Central Oregon Irrigation District has senior water rights but primarily supplies hobby farmers and will see no shortages.  This is just wrong.

I have spent the past 4 days battling the flu (and losing so far) so I could not make it to the Ways & Means hearing in Redmond yesterday.  I was able to get off the couch this afternoon to submit the written comments below.  You can as well using this email address: waysandmeans.budget@oregonlegislature.gov.  As someone who serves on a state board where public comments are submitted I can tell you they make a difference.  Don’t assume someone else will do it for you.Read More »

Yet another study was released this week cataloging how badly the oceans are suffering from global warming, this time in the journal Nature.  As is typical, it has a title that is not very accessible to the layman and does not express the urgency of the situation: “Marine heatwaves threaten global biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services”.   Unfortunately, scientists continue to believe that they need to appear dispassionate and analytical, which is welcome at times, but is also a failing approach when it comes to global warming.  As this article expresses, it really is time to panic.  (Nature also has an article that attempts to understand why scientists are so poor at communicating with laymen.  It seems pretty obvious to me, just read the title of the article.)Read More »

Here’s the latest Oregon snow pack data.  Obviously, this is extremely good news and a big turnaround from only a couple of weeks ago.  A large snow pack combined with a cool spring will allow for a long, slow release of melt water into our aquifers, rivers, and lakes.  This was highly unexpected but more than welcome news.  Now let’s hope for a cool spring.Read More »

I have written about global warming’s impact on the ocean off the coast of Oregon as well as on local steelhead and salmon populations.  To put it mildly, warming, acidification, and oxygen deficiency have not been beneficial.  At the same time, some far northern locations, close to the arctic, have seen record runs of some species.  Bristol Bay is a good example.  Here’s a report in the journal Science which helps quantify all this.  The bottom line is that ocean fish populations are clearly declining overall due to global warming.

Today the Bend Bulletin ran a story on climate change’s impact to local rivers and I was one of the people quoted.  I am always frustrated with the experience of spending time discussing an issue in depth and seeing cursory coverage as a result.  I respect work the reporter does for the paper and understand that space is limited but there is so much more to say.  Oh well. The good news is the article does capture the big picture and hopefully adds to the general awareness of global warming’s current local impact, not sometime in the future.  That being said, I do have one quibble with the story.Read More »

I have written about ocean warming and the dramatic decline in steelhead and salmon populations.  Most recently, I posted about commercial salmon fishing belatedly being declared an official disaster.  Here’s a related NOAA report and a State of Oregon report on ocean acidification.  Scientists have had a clear understanding of global warming for 40 years but we continue to study the problem.  I just don’t get it: you don’t study fire while watching your house burn down.Read More »