Reporting Highlights
Draining the Deschutes: During a historic drought, half of Central Oregon’s lifeblood river was diverted to a wealthy agricultural region that got a lot more water than its plants could drink.
Suffering Farms: These water-rich landowners grew mostly grass and pasture for landscaping and grazing while water-starved farmers downstream fallowed fields of commercial crops.
Use It or Lose It: Century-old laws spur people to soak some of the state’s most expensive, least productive farmland — or risk losing rights to the water.
These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.
