BEND, OR -- Deschutes County Commissioners will discuss asking for a state drought declaration. Emergency Services Manager Nathan Garibay says if the Board approves the request, it’ll be the county’s fourth year under the designation, "Our snowpack is better than it has been. But I think the reality of it is, after coming out of such a long-term drought, conditions have improved but [are] unlikely to get us all the way out of drought conditions this year." Wednesday morning, he'll present the current situation to Commissioners. 

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, Deschutes County is still in moderate to extreme drought. "Every day, moving forward, our chance of getting enough precipitation to drastically impact that starts to decrease," says Garibay, "I think it is very, very, very unlikely that we’ll receive enough precipitation to fully correct the drought situation." He adds, "It is only February; the situation could improve significantly. The situation could also deteriorate."

A drought declaration from the Governor allows farmers and others impacted by the lack of water to access financial help. Garibay acknowledges it’s earlier than normal for such talk. But he tells KBND News it’s important to get started on the long process, "The first step is to have the local government, so the Board of County Commissioners, review that process and make a request of the state. And then it goes before the Drought Council, and ultimately to the Governor."

Last week, Governor Kotek approved drought declarations for Crook and Jefferson counties.