Water meeting draws a crowd
Quantity, conservation and future uses of water discussed
By LARRY MEYER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 10:44 AM PDT
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| Mac Herns, Baker County, speaks during the discussion to identify water issues at a roundtable session held Tuesday at the Holiday Inn in Ontario. Herns’ concern was about producing enough food to keep ahead of the population growth. |
ONTARIO — Water quantity, water rights and water conservation proved to be the key themes at a water roundtable session in Ontario Tuesday.
The meeting, held at the Ontario Holiday Inn, was designed to gather regional input regarding what residents, and water managers believe is important to add to an ambitious plan for the management and uses of Oregon’s water resources.
The session was one of five roundtables planned and the only one held in Eastern Oregon, and it drew participants as far away as Umatilla County and representatives of watershed councils in Malheur, Baker and Harney counties.
Terry Buchholz, facilitator for the group discussions, said information from the roundtable will be used in developing a paper to be presented to the governor and the next Legislature for use in developing water policy.
Water rights was the big issue with Lynn Shumway, Bridgeport.
“We need to preserve our water rights,” he said.
Ontario interim Public Works Director Chuck Mickelson’s biggest complaint was over regulation.
“I see a lot of places where we are over-regulated, and we are having to spend money with no environmental benefits,” he said.
Having enough water to farm is important to Roger Findley, Treasure Valley Community College ag instructor and Ontario area farmer. He said if there is enough water to farm, other issues such as water quality would arise, he said.
“My first concern is water quantity.”
One of the key speakers during the afternoon was Gail Achterman, director of the Institute for Natural Resources operated by the Oregon University System, which is one of the entities behind the water roundtables.
There are about 100 years of existing water laws and policies that are not consistent, she said, and are administered by a number of different agencies and often conflict.
The challenge is “preserving what we have, while keeping in mind where we are headed,” Jay Chamberlin, manager of the Owyhee Irrigation District said. Addressing agriculture water issues, Chamberlin said, “We are ag. That is what we are.”
For most of its history, Owyhee Project officials have focused mainly on how much water was in the reservoir.
“We never dealt with water quality. We always dealt with quantity,” Chamberlin said.
In adopting methods that protect water quality, such as sprinklers and drip irrigation, which reduce runoff, Chamberlin said irrigation officials have to keep in mind the district shares the water among several growers and then shares it with other irrigation districts before it finally flows into a river.
“A lot of people depend on that,” he said.
One of the things local irrigation districts are doing, with the Malheur Soil and Water Conservation District leading, is a county-wide analysis of where water is going in the valley. There are a lot things occurring in the area of water conservation and quality right now, Chamberlin said, often at the farmer’s own expense.
What agriculture does with water is tangible, Chamberlin said.
“It’s tons of hay, a load of onions, and bushels of wheat. You can always show what one does with the resource,” he said.
“The whole thing is about people — families, community and schools,” he continued.
The final session held in late afternoon focused on identifying solutions.
Other state agencies participating were the Oregon Water Resources Department and the Department of Environmental Quality.
