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ENVIRONMENT Oregon growers fear spotted frog lawsuits could cut supply of irrigation water It's not from drought but lawsuits over threatened spotted frog Comment By Joseph Ditzler The Bulletin MailTribune.com By Joseph Ditzler The Bulletin Posted Feb. 10, 2016 at 3:58 PM Updated Feb 10, 2016 at 4:36 PM By Joseph Ditzler The Bulletin Posted Feb. 10, 2016 at 3:58 PM Updated Feb 10, 2016 at 4:36 PM » Social News MADRAS — The farm fields in Jefferson County are quiet this time of year, the irrigation ditches dry, the crops dormant and the tractors, combines and balers parked in barns until spring. Even so, farmers are busy calculating their costs for the spring planting season, and this year they're factoring in a little bit of fear. Twin lawsuits filed in December in U.S. District Court in Eugene by environmental groups, if successful, would force the federal government to ensure that Oregon spotted frogs, a threatened species, have enough water to survive in the Upper Deschutes River Basin. The lawsuits cite the Endangered Species Act as the basis for their claims. Farmers such as Kevin Richards and Mike Kirsch fear the lawsuits could reduce their supply of irrigation water, which comes from the Deschutes River. They said the lawsuits introduce as much uncertainty into Jefferson County agriculture as nature or commodity markets. Farmers in the North Unit Irrigation District, where some of Oregon's most valuable seed crops are grown, generally hold junior water rights in the Deschutes River basin. "That's the fear, that we would basically not have our allotment; we would lose our water," Richards said. "And it could happen as soon as this season." The lawsuits were only recently filed; the environmental groups agreed to extend the deadlines for responses from officials of the irrigation districts and the Bureau of Reclamation for 60 days. The suit asks the court to order the Bureau of Reclamation to operate its reservoirs on the Upper Deschutes River, where irrigation water is stored, to create a more natural stream flow. Farmers fear that whatever action the court may take will interrupt their water deliveries. Representatives for the plaintiffs, WaterWatch of Oregon and the Center for Biological Diversity, said their lawsuits were born out of frustration with efforts to protect the spotted frog. "At a point in time, as conditions continue to deteriorate, to continue to do what is not working is not smart," said Janette Brimmer, an attorney for WaterWatch. The organization "has no intention of displacing anyone. But there's going to have to be some changes in the way folks operate." The threat of legal action hung over Central Oregon farmers even before December. In August 2014, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listed the Oregon spotted frog as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In the interim, a ripple worked its way through Jefferson County, farmers and others said. Sales of farm machinery, for example, were down in the past six months at Ag West Supply, a Madras equipment dealer, by more than $1 million over prior years. "They've actually been down since the middle of last year," said Reed Grote, Ag West manager. "It's 100 percent attributable to the unknown in our water situation." Farmers and environmentalists agree the lawsuits emerged out of efforts to manage the Deschutes River water in the face of climate change and the poor habitat for the spotted frog. The WaterWatch lawsuit names the Central Oregon, Tumalo and North Unit irrigation districts along with the Bureau of Reclamation, which maintains the Wickiup and Crane Prairie reservoirs on the Upper Deschutes River. During the winter, the bureau stores water for the North Unit primarily in the Wickiup Reservoir, which has a capacity of 200,000 acre-feet. Consequently, the Deschutes River has low winter flows followed by summer flows sometimes 50 to 70 times higher, the Center for Biological Diversity says. During the irrigation season, which lasts from April to October, water is released from the reservoirs into the Deschutes River, then diverted at Bend into the North Unit system to be delivered via the main canal to farms in Jefferson County. "The reservoir may not fill to 100 percent, but we can look out and say the snowpack's looking pretty good; I think there's a pretty good probability that I'm going to get my full allotment this year," said Richards, who partners with his father, Martin Richards, on Fox Hollow Ranch. "But with a lawsuit, it's anybody's guess. We could lose something really substantial or it could be something nominal. "Who knows? And that's an environment where it's really impossible to make business decisions." By Joseph Ditzler The Bulletin MailTribune.com By Joseph Ditzler The Bulletin Posted Feb. 10, 2016 at 3:58 PM Updated Feb 10, 2016 at 4:36 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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