Yetter

I’m a farmer, and like every farmer before me, I keep an eye on the weather. Especially here in Oregon’s Congressional 2nd Congressional District, we watch for rain. The unprecedented drought we are in is the worst in 1,200 years. It is bad for farmers and ranchers. It is bad for everybody.

Water is life. The impact that years of drought are having on agriculture, on our forests, and on our wildfire-vulnerable towns and cities, cannot be overstated. Yet they are not being addressed by our current member of Congress.

That’s why, if elected to represent the citizens of Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District, I will make solving Oregon’s water crisis my No. 1 priority.

Water is life — for all of us. It is not only the thing that keeps us alive. For so many of us, it is a critical part of what we live for. From rafting the Klamath River, to soaking in the Antelope Hot Springs in the Hart Mountains, to fishing the Columbia River outside of The Dalles, water is our life, our livelihood and our recreation.

Fortunately, today, I can irrigate some of my fields, if the winter snowpack is deep enough, if the spring rains last long enough, and if the reservoir up-creek fills enough.

But every year, there is less water to go around, and this year has been particularly bad. We must act now, together, to solve our water crisis.

Long-term plans are being developed and adopted that will avoid the worst impacts of climate change, but more needs to be done. In the short term, we must take action to mitigate and adapt to the changing water patterns.

I am a farmer and a veteran. If there is anything I have learned from both the Army and my farm it is that you are strongest when you work as part of a team. If elected to represent you, during my first six months in office, I will meet throughout the district with local residents, listening to your needs and desires when it comes to water. My goal will be to develop an action plan that I will take to the other members of Congress from Oregon to craft legislation that will support local and regional projects that solve different aspects of the water crisis.

There are solutions: From pressurized subsurface irrigation, to alternative growing patterns of crops, to changing water use in homes, businesses and across communities. Solutions will be most effective when we work together on locally-focused projects.

We must strengthen our communities against wildfires, alleviate the impact of drought on our crops and our rivers, and begin to adapt to our new normal, together. We have the tools, the skills, and the knowledge, we merely need the political will.

My opponent continues to show a lack of will to take on this problem, ignoring local stakeholders, siding with big agriculture over local farmers, farmworkers, and Tribes, and refusing to support critical funding that will help solve the problem. This is a crisis, and it is my top priority. If elected, I will work for you in a local, state and federal partnership to address it.

We can solve this crisis, together, and transform and revolutionize how we share and use water in our part of the world. We must meet the challenges of the 21st century, through locally responsive innovation, community action and state-local-federal partnerships.

Farmers and ranchers like me will still keep our weather eyes peeled, but with more reliable water sources than we have now. Our farms, forests, rivers, and communities will all be better off.

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