Yachats area gets only a little rain in July, but water supply in very good shape

YACHATS – It rained just a tiny bit in July – as usual – but prodigious spring rains has the city’s water supply in very good shape for the driest months of the year.

Rain measured by six local weather watchers ranged from .01 inches to .29 inches in July. But the flow of the Yachats River, which does not supply the city its domestic water but is an indicator of other sources, is running two to four times its normal rate as of July 31.

Flow in the Yachats River is currently 44 cubic feet per second. Last year at this time it was 12 cfs, and in 2020 it was 20 cfs.

“I’m very happy so far,” said Rick McClung, who oversees the city of Yachats’ water system. So good in fact, that McClung hasn’t begun monitoring the flow of Reedy and Salmon creeks, which supply the city water treatment plant.

Rain in April, May and June – which came in near record amounts — determine how well the creeks fare in the usual dry months of July, August and September.

Jim Adler, who lives three miles up the Yachats River and has long measured and studied water systems in that valley, said the recharging of the creeks is due to the saturation of the soils which feed them — especially in the spring.

“But I think the more crucial element in this watershed is the absence of prolonged heat during the day, cool nights, and the fog generated by the temperatures in the Willamette Valley,” Adler said. “These conditions combine to keep the trees from sucking all the water out of the watershed and sending it into the atmosphere.”

The “official” rain measurement at the Yachats wastewater treatment plant was .19 inches in July, giving the city a total of 35.70 inches for the year. Other totals included:

• Adam Altson, who lives near the treatment plant, measured .23 inches in July and 36.69 inches for the year;
• Don Tucker, who lives two miles north of Yachats, had .01 inches for a year-to-date total of 45.12 inches. It was the lowest July rain Tucker has measured since 2007;
• Adler measured .16 inches and 59.26 total;
• Bob Williams, who lives eight miles upriver, had .16 inches and 67.42 total; and,
• Jean-Marc Rolland, who lives at the 10-mile mark, measured .29 inches and 63.14 total.