Oregon towns face dry future

摘要

Small townships in one of the wettest counties in Oregon are facing a thirsty future if they can't find a way to tap into water rights already claimed by other entities, say local experts.. Several expanding communities in Lane County, a region famous for its rivers and rainfall, are finding it difficult to secure water rights to meet the demands of growing populations - because small but burgeoning cities like Creswell, less than a half a mile from the Coast Fork of the Williamette River, cannot draw water from the Williamette because no water rights remain available. Likewise, Coburg, sitting a mile from the McKenzie River, can't tap that system without state permission and expensive transmission pipes.