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Drought and Wildfire Watering Strategy

County or Counties: Baker, Gilliam, Grant, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Wheeler  

Primary Resource Concern Addressed:

  • Livestock production limitation - Inadequate livestock water quantity, quality and distribution
  • Degraded plant condition - Plant structure and composition

Project Description
The goal of this project is to increase the availability of livestock water on private and tribal grazing lands in the John Day, Umatilla, and Snake River basins of Eastern Oregon. Reliable water developments will be used to improve management and increase flexibility in grazing systems. Preference will be granted to projects that provide adequate quantities of water in strategic locations to support fire management. 

Conservation Practices Offered

  • Critical Area Planting (342)
  • Fence (382)
  • Livestock Pipeline (516)
  • Prescribed Grazing (528)
  • Pumping Plant (533)
  • Spring Development (574)
  • Watering Facility (614)
  • Water Well (642)
  • Structure for Water Control (587)

Project Partners

  • SWCDs
  • NRCS Oregon
  • Private landowners

Application Questions
NRCS uses prioritization questions to evaluate applications for this initiative. See the list of workload prioritization questions on the Oregon EQIP page. Ranking questions below will also apply.

Ranking Questions

  1. Are the planned watering locations more than 0.5 mile from an existing livestock water source in the same pasture that is accessible to livestock?
  2. Does a portion of an assessed PLU lie within a drought category at the time of ranking?
  3. Does the applicant currently follow a grazing plan that meets the standards and specifications for NRCS 528 prescribed grazing, or does the contract include 528 prescribed grazing?
  4. To how many pastures will the designed system provide water?
  5. Will the designed system provide livestock water during a season where it is not currently available, allowing new opportunities for grazing rotations and deferment? 
  6. Will the plan include direct replacement of livestock water infrastructures damaged during the 2024 wildfires?
  7. Are inventory, evaluation, and draft designs complete for the proposed activities? 
  8. Based on CIS cultural overview, are the proposed activities likely to NOT affect cultural resources or cultural properties?