An Oregon Law Lets One Wealthy Region Turn the Desert Green. When Drought Hits, Farmers Pay the Price.

The Central Oregon Irrigation District diverts water from the Deschutes River through hundreds of miles of canals, pipes and ditches to irrigate high desert lands near Bend and Redmond, Oregon. Brandon Swanson/OPB Chris Casad awakens each day before dawn on the Central Oregon property he bought nine years ago, the farm where he once grew tons of potatoes before water shortages forced him to fallow fields and take a job feeding someone else’s cattle on someone else’s land. At 38, he’s got tractor