Salem, Ore. – Oregon lawmakers will hold a first hearing today (Wednesday) on three bills designed to address the state’s long-standing inability to measure and study its groundwater supply, and how to pay for it.
The Bulletin reports Rep. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, introduced the bills on the heels of a multipart series by The Oregonian last year that examined the state’s groundwater crisis. Oregon doesn’t know just how much groundwater is available for ranchers and farmers.
Advocates expect a large turnout for the House Committee on Energy and Environment hearing, and opponents already are starting to rally against the legislation. The panel will discuss the bills at 3 p.m.
Nine key agricultural areas in Eastern Oregon allow ranchers to pump more groundwater than is available underground. At current spending levels, Oregon will not finish studying the state’s 18 drainage basins until 2096. The last full-scale review of the state’s groundwater supply was conducted by the federal government in 1968.
A state audit of the Water Resources Department released last December found that it has “no clear understanding” of how much water is being used and no plan for the future.
One of Helm’s bills would charge water users a $100 annual management fee, money that would help pay for groundwater research. The fee caps water users at $1,000 in annual costs if they have multiple water rights, and cities at $2,500. Personal wells are exempt. The bill, advocates say, would raise roughly $8 million per biennium for the state agency.
The second bill would require water users install a measuring device that captures the rate and amount of water at each point diverted from the water source.
A third bill calls for an unspecified amount of general fund dollars to help pay for groundwater studies. The state has said it would cost $45 million to $75 million to finish studying the state’s groundwater basins.
Jean Edwards, a farmer near North Plains in Washington County, said she supports the bills as logical next steps in beefing up the state’s groundwater research.
But opponents say two of the bills would put an undue burden on users.
