Oregon OKs water shortage bill; includes Columbia/Umatilla recharge study

Columbia Basin Fish & Wildlife News Bulletin article on the Agriculture and Community Water Act

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski will join local leaders Wednesday morning at the Stafford Hansell Government Center in Hermiston for a signing ceremony celebrating last week's passage of the Agriculture and Community Water Act.

The legislation addresses water shortages across Oregon, particularly in the Umatilla River Basin of eastern Oregon, where a huge critical groundwater area affects dozens of farms.

Local leaders praised the legislation and the cooperation that led to its passage.

"Really, it has been the best example in my 11 years in office of top down and bottom up coordination," said Umatilla County Commissioner Dennis Doherty, noting the participation of the governor's office, which initiated the aquifer recharge project, the Oregon Legislature, which passed the bill unanimously, and state agencies, together with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Westland Irrigation District and other local coalition partners. "The collaboration was exceptional, unmatched in my experience."

Senate Bill 1069, which on Feb. 22 passed unanimously in the Senate and in the House with 56 yes votes (four members were absent), provides a comprehensive plan for water shortages in Oregon.

The first piece provides $1.75 million in grants across the state for innovative water storage and conservation projects that are matched dollar-for-dollar by local private investment.

The second piece of the legislation specifically addresses the decade-long crisis in declining groundwater in the Umatilla Basin. ACWA will fund a $750,000 feasibility study for the Sand Hollow project, which would direct water from the Columbia and Umatilla rivers during winter months into the Umatilla Basin to recharge and inject depleted aquifers.

State officials are expected to call for bids on the study next week. The award will be announced March 21, said Debbie Colbert, senior policy coordinator for the Oregon Water Resources Department. The contractor will be asked to show how water can be drawn from the Columbia, delivered using existing private pumps, pipes and canals, then be allowed to percolate to a shallow alluvial aquifer. From there, some of it would be pumped out and injected into deeper basalt aquifers, where it would be stored for use in summer months.

Farmers in the region have proposed drawing up to 80,000 acre-feet of water from the Columbia during the winter. Because of shortages, irrigation districts, communities and farms last year drew only 30 percent of the water allocated to them under the state’s water rights permit system.

State officials have estimated that restoring full water rights could increase the value of crops raised in the basin by $30 million annually.

The legislation also calls for the Oregon Water Resources Department to coordinate with the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which is midway through a two-year study of the federally reserved water rights for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, to determine if the existing infrastructure of the federal Umatilla Basin Project could contribute to the recharge project.

ACWA, introduced by Portland Sen. Brad Avakian (D-NE Washinton/NW Multnomah Counties), chair of the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee, was the only water bill addressed during Oregon’s special legislative session.

“We made a statement about the value of farming communities today with the Senate’s unanimous vote to support ACWA,” Avakian said Feb. 22. “This legislation is the first step to addressing both the most urgent water needs in Oregon and planning for the future water needs of Oregon’s communities.”

ACWA was the successful result of a broad coalition of groups and bipartisan interests, including the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Westland Irrigation District, Oregon Farm Bureau, the League of Oregon Cities, the Oregon Wheat Growers League, the Oregon Association of Nurseries, the Umatilla Electric Cooperative, the Special Districts Association of Oregon and the Oregon Water Resources Congress.

As planned, the project would use existing private pumps, pipes and canals to deliver water to the region's critical groundwater area where it would be injected into wells to recharge a deep basalt aquifer that would serve as an underground reservoir. Additionally, water from the Columbia River could be spread over large areas to recharge shallow alluvial aquifers.

The legislation also calls for the Oregon Water Resources Department to coordinate with the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which is midway through a two-year study of the federally reserved water rights for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, to determine if the existing infrastructure of the federal Umatilla Basin Project could contribute to the recharge project.

ACWA, introduced by Portland Sen. Brad Avakian (D-NE Washinton/NW Multnomah Counties), chair of the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee, was the only water bill addressed during Oregon's special legislative session.

"We made a statement about the value of farming communities today with the Senate's unanimous vote to support ACWA," Avakian said Feb. 22. "This legislation is the first step to addressing both the most urgent water needs in Oregon and planning for the future water needs of Oregon's communities."

ACWA was the successful result of a broad coalition of groups and bipartisan interests, including the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Westland Irrigation District, Oregon Farm Bureau, the League of Oregon Cities, the Oregon Wheat Growers League, the Oregon Association of Nurseries, the Umatilla Electric Cooperative, the Special Districts Association of Oregon and the Oregon Water Resources Congress.