美国国家公共电台 NPR Deepening Drought In Western U.S. Costs Ranchers Money And Heartache

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

A drought is deepening over much of the West, and it's costing ranchers a lot of money and causing a lot of heartache. They're already hauling water to thirsty cattle in remote parts of Oregon. The Northwest News Network's Anna King reports that it's happening much earlier in the season than usual.

(SOUNDBITE OF COWS MOOING)

ANNA KING: Your next steak or burger probably started out life on a ranch¹ similar to this one in southeast Oregon's Harney County. And before these cattle can be let out to graze on summer range, the young animals have to be branded, castrated and vaccinated².

(SOUNDBITE OF CALF³ BAWLING)

KING: Wayne Evans' ranch spreads over 100,000 acres. He's part cowboy and all business. His profits are tied to rain and snow. In a good year, there's little rainfall here, 11 inches average.

(SOUNDBITE OF WATER TRICKLING⁴)

KING: Evans points to irrigation water trickling from a culvert.

WAYNE EVANS: That'll be dry in two weeks.

KING: And that's the problem. This ditch is 9 feet deep. And last year, it was so full, water was flowing over the road. But this year, light snowfall, fewer storms and warm spring days have brought one of the worst droughts Evans has seen.

EVANS: This is not normal for what we normally have here. This is a lot drier.

KING: Drought stretches across the West. Oregon has already declared drought in several counties, and it's going to cost Evans. He'll have to truck in water for his cattle to drink and hay for them to eat.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRUCK RATTLING)

KING: Down the road, Evans stops at a waterhole his cattle use in spring and fall. He says it's usually full now. But this year...

EVANS: You could ride a horse across there and wouldn't even get your feet wet (laughter).

KING: Evans has about 50 waterholes, and most of them are dry. That means he'll have to hire someone to truck 8,000 gallons of water up to his cattle in the mountains every day. He'll pay for the diesel⁵, a full-time⁶ employee, constant repairs to the truck and at least 10 big, expensive tires. On top of all that, when cows have to walk further for water, and they have less grass to eat, they produce less milk for their calves⁷.

EVANS: So when those cows don't milk, those young calves don't grow like they should.

KING: Lighter⁸ calves means at the winter stock sale, Evans could make $60,000 less than in a good year. And he already sees signs that his water problems might stretch beyond this year. The aquifer⁹ here is stressed, and the state isn't handing out new water rights until it knows more. Fact is many Western aquifers¹⁰, wells and rivers are coming up dry.

ERICK BURNS: We can't continually take more water than is going in. Otherwise, we'll drain it.

KING: That's Erick Burns with the United States Geological Survey. He's leading a large study of aquifers in the West, including in eastern Oregon. He says the volcanic¹¹ rock and soils here don't store much groundwater. In places like this, 90 percent of the water is used for agriculture.

BURNS: So when you want to think about how you want to use your water as a state, as a people, as a community, agriculture has to be a part of that discussion.

KING: A discussion of what to curtail¹² - agriculture, city growth, wildlife or industry.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRUCK RATTLING)

KING: Rancher Wayne Evans is still working at 71. He says it's pretty stressful sometimes. But it's the life he wants.

EVANS: I've got my kids and my grandkids. I'm trying to leave something for them. It's a great place to raise kids.

KING: Bit of rain could help.

(SOUNDBITE OF RAIN HITTING WINDSHIELD)

KING: Almost on cue, a flash storm pelts¹³ his truck. Evans grips the steering¹⁴ wheel more tightly.

EVANS: We need a lot of rain. We don't just need a half inch of rain. You know, we need several inches of rain to make it good.

(SOUNDBITE OF RAIN HITTING WINDSHIELD)

KING: In minutes, the shower blows past, and the dry winds pick up again. For NPR News, I'm Anna King outside of Riley, Ore.

1 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

2 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

3 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

4 trickling   

n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Tears were trickling down her cheeks. 眼泪顺着她的面颊流了下来。
• The engine was trickling oil. 发动机在滴油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

6 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

7 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

9 aquifer   

n.含水土层

参考例句：

• An aquifer is a water-bearing rock stratum such as sandstone and chalk.地下蓄水层是一些有水的岩石层，如沙岩和白垩岩。
• The wine region's first water came from an ancient aquifer.用来灌溉这个地区葡萄园的第一批水来自古老的地下蓄水层。

10 aquifers   

n.地下蓄水层，砂石含水层( aquifer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• And in Africa, the aquifers barely recharge at all. 非洲的地下水开采以后几乎得不到补充。 来自时文部分
• Aquifers have water contents over 30%. 含水层的水含过30％。 来自辞典例句

11 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

12 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

13 pelts   

n. 皮毛，投掷, 疾行 vt. 剥去皮毛，（连续）投掷 vi. 猛击，大步走

参考例句：

• He did and Tibetans lit bonfires of the pelts. 他做到了，藏民们点起了篝火把皮毛都烧了。
• Description: A warm cloak fashioned from thick fabric and wolf pelts. 一个由厚布和狼皮做成的暖和的斗篷。

14 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。