State faces water woes
Oregon is ill-equipped to deal
with water problems that will per
sist long after the current drought
is over, according to a report re
cently developed by the Bureau of
Governmental Research and
Service at the University.
Increased demand for water will
soon exceed the supply, even in
years of heavy rainfall and deep
snowpacks. The shortage will
confront a fragmented array of
competing state and federal
agencies that control Oregon’s
water, the bureau reports.
"We may have had surplus
water 20 years ago,” says Ken
neth Tollenaar, director of the
bureau, “but we certainly don’t
now.”
“Decisions that have been put
off for 20 and 30 years must be
made,” he adds. “They simply
can’t be put off any longer.”
The continued development of
irrigation in the Columbia River
Basin will create water shortages
throughout the entire Oregon
Idaho-Washington area, the re
port said.
Of all the water diverted from
the Columbia River system, ap
proximately 80 per cent is used for
irrigation. Seven million acres
within the basin are being irrigated
now, and an increase to 11 million
acres within 35 years is projected.
According to the report the addi
tional 4.2 million acres will cause
an estimated power loss of ap
proximately 966 megawatts an
nually. More than 14 million bar
rels of oil are needed to produce
that much energy.
“In brief,” the report states,
“despite the large flow of the Col
umbia River, long-run demands
are exceeding it.”
I rrigation is only part of the prob
lem. Because water is needed for
consumption, for industrial use,
for navigation, for fish and wildlife
and for recreation, water-use
planning affects every section of
Oregon’s environment and popu
lation.
Planning and coordination,
however, are not presently com
prehensive enough to effectively
manage the forecasted year
after-year shortage, according to
the report.
For example, the report notes
the Columbia River Basin in
cludes parts of seven states and
water-use authorities in each
state act independently of each
other.
The system is certainly not
working to Idaho’s satisfaction,
the report explains. Idaho has al
ready brought suit against Oregon
and Washington on the grounds
insufficient numbers of fish are
reaching Idaho waters. Future
problems will be even more se
vere and will require dear legal
and administrative controls. The
required clarity does not presently
exist, says the report.
Supreme control over how and
where water is used in Oregon
apparently belongs to the federal
government, but it is an "ambigu
ous legal area,” the bureau states.
More than 20 federal agencies
have water jurisdiction of some
kind. In Congress, jurisdiction
over water resources is divided
among six major functional com
mittees, plus the budget commit
tees and the two appropriations
committees.
A 1968 study of all bills intro
duced in the 89th Congress
counted 1,289 water resource
bills referred to a total of 13 stand
ing committees in the House and
11 in the Senate.
States are free to act in water
resource matters unless federal
power is asserted. The result has
been a fragmented, uncoordi
nated approach to water man
agement, the report says.
“Basic authority rests with a
myriad of federal and state laws
which address specific, rather
than combined, water uses,” says
the report. In some cases, the
bureau adds, laws are ambigu
ous, out of date or poorly en
forced.
Many conflicts occur and more
can be expected because of the
fragmented legal and administra
tive system.
For example, minimum stream
flows are set by the state to pre
serve the fishery value of a river.
Fish die when the level of water
drops below a certain point.
The bureau reports those state
regulations are currently “the only
assurance that there will be water
in streams during times of low
flow.
“That assurance is not very sig
nificant on many streams because
of water rights perfected prior to
establishment of a minimum
stream flow,” according to the re
port.
The situation at Fem Ridge Re
servoir near Eugene is described
by the bureau as an example of
the kind of problem the current
legal and administrative systems
can create.
The reservoir is basically a U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers flood
control project partially financed
by the federal government to
serve irrigation purposes.
It has become one of the most
extensively used recreation water
areas in Oregon. But the main
reason the reservoir is available
for recreation is that irrigation has
not been developed.
The loss of the reservoir as a
recreation resource is inevitable,
“considering the probability that
the irrigation rights may some day
be used,” the bureau reports.
The problem has been recog
nized for many years, but has not
been resolved.
Meanwhile both Lane County
and the Corps of Engineers con
tinue to make large investments in
shoreline recreation facilities.
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4.8
Disks reduce
shower output
It’s been raining this spring, but it hasn’t been raining enough
to head off the area’s expected drought and students are being
asked to help in the University’s efforts to conserve water.
The Physical Plant is in the process of installing white plastic
disks in shower heads in the athletic departments and dorm
complexes, according to Harold Babcock, plant director. The
disks cut the water used in a typical shower from 10 gallons to two
and one-half.
"We really need the cooperation of faculty, staff and students
in this,” Babcock said.
“Although the disks cut the velocity and amount of water
coming from the shower head, you can still get a good, strong
stream of water,” he noted. “Even if you couldn’t, there’s more at
stake here than getting the kind of shower you’re used to. We
have to face the fact that we’re all going to have to make small
sacrifices to conserve water now in order to avoid more drastic
measures later on.”
In addition to water conservation, Babcock said the disks will
help conserve an equal or greater amount of fuel and electricity
because less hot water is used.
“This doesn’t mean you don’t get as hot a shower,” he said.
“It’s just, again, that you don’t use as much water."
Babcock voiced concern that students think the water saved
in individual showers is too little to have much effect on water
conservation.
“We need to impress students taking showers in the athletic
facilities and dorms with the gravity of the situation,” he said.
“With the number of showers taken daily on campus, we can
make a big dent in our water use with these disks. But we re going
to have to work together.”
V.
3355
E. Amazon