Dixie's drought taking toll on cattle, other critters

ST. GEORGE — Did you hear that water-skiing has been outlawed in Washington County? It kicks up too much dust. (That's a joke, folks.)

But drought jokes aren't very funny in Utah's Dixie this year — especially to local ranchers, biologists and water managers.

"If we don't get substantial rain this summer, we'll be out of the cattle business," said Kelly Heaton, who owns the Bar 10 Ranch on the Arizona Strip and another ranch near Panguitch in Iron County. "If it's not raining by July, we'll start selling the cattle."

Heaton's 500 head of cattle were on the move this week, but they probably won't find much to eat once they arrive at their summer grazing destination.

"We're going to feed them for a month in the corral and then hopefully turn them out to pasture," Heaton said. The amount of irrigation water available this year for his pasture, however, is half what it ought to be, he added.

Buying bales of hay to feed cattle during May is going to cost Heaton plenty — about $500 a day, he said. And if rain doesn't come soon, Heaton is likely to lose even more money.

"Last year, at this same time, you could sell cattle for $1,000 a pair. This year, they're being sold for $400 a pair," said Heaton, whose Bar 10 Ranch also hosts outdoor adventure tourists running the rapids down the Grand Canyon. "There's a lot of ranchers who are in worse shape than we are out there on the Strip, though."

About 100 ranchers run anywhere from 50 to 100 head of cattle on the Arizona Strip, with another seven ranchers each keeping more than 500 cattle out on the hot desert terrain, Heaton said.

"Even these cloudy skies don't mean anything anymore," he said. "We really need the rain."

The lack of water is hurting another, less visible, group of southern Utah residents, said Lori Rose, a biologist with the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, a 61,000-acre wildlife reserve directly north of St. George.

"There is just no food to eat out there. There are no wildflowers at all," she said. "Usually the desert is covered with a low-growing plant that the desert tortoise loves to eat, and nothing's there."

The Red Cliffs Desert Reserve is home to about 6,000 desert tortoises, a federally protected endangered species.

"I think there's a high probability that those living on the edge of town or near the reserve will start to see wild animals moving closer as they look for something to eat," Rose said. Deer, rabbits, coyotes and even bighorn sheep have been seen in the area.

Anyone hoping to tube down the Virgin River this summer will be able to do little more than skip rocks, said Julie Breckenridge, water conservation coordinator with the Washington County Water Conservancy District.