Eastern Oregon Economic Summit hosts groundwater discussions

Aug 7, 2023 | News

The Observer | August 7, 2023

LA GRANDE — The future of groundwater rights and quality in Eastern Oregon was discussed by policymakers, government staff members and stakeholders at the 2023 Eastern Oregon Economic Summit on Friday, Aug. 4.

During the second day of the summit, two panels of water experts presented updates and answered audience questions about groundwater issues in the lower Columbia River Basin in Zabel Hall on Eastern Oregon University’s campus.

Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, began the first water panel — which discussed groundwater quantity in the region — by adding his personal stake as a first generation farmer in Harney County.

“I built the farm wanting to give it down to my family, my kids,” he said. “My kids will not farm groundwater in Harney County. It’s not going to happen.”

In April 2022, the Oregon Water Resources Department and the U.S. Geological Survey released a study of the groundwater resources in Harney Basin, citing that groundwater use in the lowlands was exceeding recharge by about 110,000 acre-feet/year.

There are no numbers to tell if the same is happening in the lower Umatilla Basin.

Ahead of a decision to amend Division 10, Oregon Administrative Rules on critical groundwater areas, farmers and landowners with domestic wells fear having their wells shut off.

“Fifty-two percent of the state of Oregon doesn’t have the information in order to determine if water is available or not,” Owens said. “Why is the (Oregon Water Resource Department) entering groundwater, if they don’t have the data that’s available?”

Oregon Farm Bureau Vice President of Government Legal Affairs Lauren Poor said that although she has concerns of how groundwater is being allocated in the county, the bureau wants to make sure to protect senior water rights holders — namely, farmers and ranchers.

Fourth-generation farmer Jake Madison’s family well was shut off in the 1980s when their land was deemed to be in a critical groundwater area.

“It was a life changing event for a lot of farmers in the area,” he said.

However, his family managed to survive by collecting floodwater from a creek on their land during the spring, purifying it and then “shoving” it down into engineered basalt basins under their land to be used during the summertime.

He said that now, updated technology and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service can help farmers with innovative solutions if their wells are shut off.

Water quality

Another panel focused on the quality of groundwater in light of the Morrow County nitrate pollution issue.

The Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area is working with Gabriela Goldfarb of the Department of Environmental Quality — and who is “on loan” to Gov. Kotek’s office — and others to help the affected community.

Goldfarb said that there is scientific evidence that anywhere above 10 milligrams per liter of nitrates in drinking water can cause short-term (less than a year) health issues such as miscarriages in pregnant women or long-term ones like bladder and stomach cancers and thyroid conditions.

“We know that nitrate affects the ability of blood to carry oxygen,” she said.

Umatilla County Commissioner Dan Dorran said that DEQ Director Leah Feldon directed funds from the governor’s budget towards dedicated staffing to help with the LUBGMA and that Kotek has reaffirmed her support for the area as well.

“During the 2023 legislative session, the Governor advocated for $8 million dollars in agency budgets to be dedicated to free testing, treatment, and water delivery for residents of the LUBGWMA. The Legislature funded this request,” Kotek press secretary Anca Matica said in a statement.

According to the statement, Kotek’s goal is to offer every household in the LUBGWMA water testing, treatment and delivery (if test results are higher than 10 mg/L), by September 30th.

Goldfarb predicts that intermediate solutions and alternative sources of safe water for the area will be available to the community in about a decade.

Funding for drought package less than half of what Owens, Helm proposed

May 31, 2023 | News

Malheur Enterprise | May 31, 2023

SALEM – Democratic leaders in the Legislature have announced they’d allocate $110 million to confront Oregon’s drought and water security issues for the next two years.

It’s less than half of what the budget’s authors, Reps. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, and Mark Owens, R-Crane, had initially proposed in March. The two wanted $250 million for at least 25 proposals that would tackle dwindling groundwater supplies for agriculture, address drinking water contamination and ensure the health of critical fish and other aquatic species around the state.

The bipartisan duo are chair and vice chair of the House Committee On Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water. Helm told the Capital Chronicle $110 million is about one-third of what the state actually needs to spend on drought and water issues in the next biennium to address water emergencies and prepare for the future.

“What we really need is a fund that stretches from beyond the current biennium and bridges multiple, with a funding stream that is relatively safe,” Helm said.

The announcement of state funding for drought and water issues arrived just a day before Gov. Tina Kotek’s seventh and eighth emergency drought declarations of the year. On Friday, Kotek added Lake and Sherman counties in southern and central Oregon to a list that includes Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Harney, Jefferson and Wasco counties. Such declarations unlock additional financial and technical resources from state agencies for local water systems and for industrial and agricultural water users. Oregon has been in a “megadrought” since 2000, the state’s longest drought in 1,200 years, according to the Oregon Water Resources Department.

If approved, the $110 million investment would cover at least nine proposals to assist in local water planning strategies, fund Oregon State University to offer technical assistance to farmers to use water more efficiently and pay for studies and planning to store water in underground aquifers, according to a news release from House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis and Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego.

Many of the investments are targeted at projects where state funds can be used to bring in matching federal dollars from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress in 2021.

Owens’ water policy adviser, Harmony Burright, said specifics about what all the $110 million would fund are with the Democratic leaders.

“They’re working on rolling out the details of the package,” Burright said. “Unfortunately our office likely won’t have it in advance of what is shared publicly.”

In a news release, Owens said the investment was a “critical down payment” from the state to help communities adapt to a future of increasing water scarcity.

“We live in a water-constrained environment and the water-related challenges we face will only get more intense,” he said.