AP is first to report nationally on homeowners whose taps have run dry as drought grips Western states.
The extreme drought in the American West has taken a dramatic toll. And now, near the Oregon-California border, dozens of homeowners' wells have gone dry, leaving them with no running water at all. At least 120 — and probably several hundred — domestic wells have dried up in the past few weeks. Reporter Gillian Flaccus and freelance photographer Nathan Howard documented the residents’ plight and the challenges facing authorities responding to the situation.
The depletion of all normal water sources in the area is the latest example of the severe drought conditions in this parched part of the West and comes just a few months after the U.S. government shut off federally controlled irrigation water to hundreds of farmers in the area for the first time ever. Experts say the conditions point to the difficulties people elsewhere will likely to face on a larger scale as climate change makes matters worse.
Rylee Buckley, 17, drives home in an ATV loaded with two 7-gallon containers after borrowing water for her animals from a neighbor in Klamath Falls, Ore., July 24, 2021. The family hauls up to 45 gallons (170 liters) of water a day from neighbors for their animals, and have borrowed a 550-gallon (2,080-liter) water tank that they use for limited showers and laundry.
AP Photo / Nathan Howard
Misty Buckley moves containers that the family uses for drinking water at their home in Klamath Falls, Ore., July 24, 2021. The Buckley's house well ran dry in May during historic drought in southern Oregon.
AP Photo / Nathan Howard
A dry canal is seen near the Buckley family home in Klamath Falls, Ore., July 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Nathan Howard
Justin Grant walks through a dry field which he’s been unable to irrigate because of low water supply, in Klamath Falls, Ore., July 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Nathan Howard
Justin Grant moves his cattle from a dry grazing field in Klamath Falls, Ore., July 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Nathan Howard
Justin Grant watches water flow from his agricultural well in Klamath Falls, Ore., July 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Nathan Howard
Garrett Steensland, assistant water master for the Oregon Water Resources Department, measures the water level in a dried-up well in Klamath County, Ore., in a July 22, 2021 photo provided by Jason Adams. Amid historic drought conditions, Steensland’s agency has been responding to dozens of complaints of dry wells in the county along the California-Oregon border.
Jason Adams via AP
Ranchers from the Klamath River Basin collect donated hay donated by Timber Unity at the farm of Fred Simon in Malin, Ore., July 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Nathan Howard
Ernie Tosti, right, and Dennis Murphy talk about the severe drought conditions in southern Oregon while collecting donated hay in Malin, Ore., July 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Nathan Howard
While picking up donated hay, Jim Shanks talks about his home’s well running dry one month earlier, in Malin, Ore., July 24, 2021. Since losing their running water, the Shanks’ life has been an endless cycle of imposing on relatives for showers and laundry, hauling water to feed a small herd of cattle and desperately waiting for a local well-drilling company with a monthslong wait list. The couple’s well is among potentially hundreds that have dried up this season in an area near the Oregon-California border suffering through historic drought.
AP Photo / Nathan Howard
Ranchers from the Klamath River Basin collect donated hay at the farm in Malin, Ore., July 24, 2021.
AP Photo / Nathan Howard
Flaccus used sources she had built in months of reporting on the dire conditions in the Klamath River Basin, convincing people to let Howard depict their hardship over water in photos and video. Digital storyteller Samantha Shotzbarger then weaved all the elements — text, photos and video — into a compelling multimedia offering.
The story drew widespread play in the U.S., especially in the West. The Seattle Times featured the piece prominently and promoted the package through their social media accounts.
Justin Grant prepares to move his cattle from a dry grazing field in Klamath Falls, Ore., July 24, 2021/ Dozens of domestic wells have gone dry in the area near the Oregon-California border suffering through historic drought.
AP Photo / Nathan Howard
Shortly after AP’s piece hit the wire, Howard received a text from from a former AP staffer now working in the Pacific Northwest for a national publication. AP had scooped the ex-staffer — he had been working on the same subject.
For continuing to shine light on the effects of the drought afflicting the U.S. West, Flaccus, Howard and Shotzbarger win this week’s Best of the States award.
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