 October 28, 2016 CapitalPress.com 7 Oregon Oregon water regulators seek $3M Additional funds will pay for 11 new positions By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press SALEM — Oregon’s water regulators are seeking more than $3 million to better han- dle problems with groundwa- ter depletion and water rights enforcement. In its 2017-2019 budget proposal, the Oregon Water Resources Department wants state lawmakers to pay for 11 new positions while increasing the pay and duties of several existing positions. The agency will ask for three funding “packages” to be included in Gov. Kate Brown’s recommended budget for the next biennium. Concerns about water have grown in recent years due to drought as well as increased public scrutiny. Last year, groundwater depletion concerns in South- east Oregon’s Harney Basin prompted OWRD to suspend drilling of most new agricul- tural wells. In August, the Oregonian newspaper also ran a package of articles, “Draining Oregon,” claiming the agency had al- lowed over-pumping by farm- ers. “In some locations through- out the state, groundwater aquifers are no longer capable of sustaining additional devel- opment,” OWRD acknowl- edges in its “budget narrative” for the three funding propos- als. • Groundwater studies: Sci- entists from OWRD require about five to six years to finish a groundwater study within a single basin, such as the current Harney Basin study. Without more staff, though, the agency can only conduct one basin study at a time. To allow OWRD to under- take two studies at once, the agency has proposed hiring five new employees — a hy- drologist, two hydrographers and two hydrogeologists — at a cost of more than $1.8 million. • Water rights enforcement: Drought and new water de- mands have also saddled re- gional watermasters, who en- force water rights, with greater workloads at a time financial support from county govern- ments has dwindled. Aside from causing “delays in regulation” and “excessive overtime,” the workload has reduced watermasters’ visibili- ty in the field, which is needed to deter illegal water usage, ac- cording to OWRD. To alleviate this burden, the agency proposes hiring five new regional assistant water- masters and a new hydrologic technician to help with water monitoring. The $1 million funding package would also raise the status of five existing hydro- logic technicians so they could take on additional duties while receiving higher pay. • Well inspection: Ground- water supplies are at risk from “misconstructed, poorly main- tained and improperly aban- doned” wells, according to OWRD’s budget narrative. To ensure wells are properly built and kept up, OWRD relies on well inspectors. Though it’s authorized to employ six well inspectors, the agency only has enough income for four. OWRD wants to hire two new well inspectors and up- grade the status of all six posi- tions, which would entail more responsibilities and higher pay, with about $337,000 from the general fund. Under this proposal, the agency would also generate revenues by imposing new and larger fees. Landowners are allowed to drill their own wells, but they require more intense oversight and assistance from OWRD well inspectors than do licensed well drillers. To help offset these costs, the agency proposes increasing the landowner permit applica- tion fee from $25 to $500, rais- ing about $20,000 a year. Mohnen new president of Oregon hay organization By CRAIG REED For the Capital Press BEND, Ore. — Greg Mohnen, a longtime Central Oregon hay grower, took on the role of agricultural educa- tor earlier this year. Mohnen, 64, is the manag- er of the McGinnis Ranch, a hay and cattle operation that lies between Bend and Sisters. But now in addition, he is the president of both the Central Oregon Hay Growers Associ- ation and the Oregon Hay and Forage Association. He said his goal as presi- dent of the two associations is to educate the public on what is involved in putting up hay and how that commodity is key to the food chain. “So many people out there think it is so simple, that you don’t have to worry about the weather, about the moisture,” Mohnen said. “Food has to come from some place and hay is part of the process.” Mohnen had been vice president of the state asso- ciation. He succeeded Scott Pierson of Silver Lake, Ore., as president. Pierson became the vice president. “I think Greg will be an exceptional president,” Pier- son said. “I’m excited to have Craig Reed/For the Capital Press Greg Mohnen, manager of the McGinnis Ranch near Bend, Ore., is president of the Oregon Hay and Forage Association. him come with a new perspec- tive for the association. He’s a leader in the Central Oregon association and he’s proven to be a man of solid integrity. “The hay he produces is outstanding and he should be an example to the rest of us hay growers on using the innovations that are avail- able and being dedicated to producing high quality grass hay,” Pierson said. At the 2015 Oregon Hay King Contest in Klamath Falls, Ore., Mohnen’s first and second cuttings of grass hay earned the highest scores and his third cutting grass hay earned the second highest score. Mohnen and McGinnis Ranch have 11 entries from its grass/legume, grass and timo- thy hay in the Oregon Hay King Hall of Fame over the last 12 years. Mohnen has been working in hay fields and with live- stock since he was a young- ster growing up on a South Dakota ranch that produced prairie grass hay, alfalfa and corn, and had cattle and pigs. He and his wife moved to Oregon in 1984 and af- ter he worked for a couple Central Oregon ranches he has worked for Tim McGin- nis, the owner of McGinnis Ranch, since 2000. “Tim supports me being the state president,” Mohnen said. “He allows me the time to do that job.” Mohnen said water is the biggest issue facing hay growers. “If we weren’t so efficient with our water, we wouldn’t have anything,” he said. This year’s Oregon Hay King Contest is scheduled for Nov. 19 at Ag West Sup- ply in Madras, Ore. Mohnen said there’ll be plenty of ed- ucational opportunities. He said Mylen Bohle of the Or- egon State University Ex- tension Service will speak on soil ingredients and how they impact hay tonnage; an Oregon Department of Agri- culture official will speak on new chemicals; there’ll be a presentation on low-pressure irrigation; and he hoped to have a speaker explain the use of cabbage for gopher control and a speaker from the Uni- versity of California-Davis. “We want to encourage growers to improve their ef- ficiency,” Pierson said. “We want growers and consum- ers to utilize our extension agents and other available resources in our state to make their production more efficient.” “There’s always some- thing to learn no matter what,” Mohnen said of the information that will be avail- able at the Hay King Contest. “There’s never a dumb ques- tion.” 44-1/#4N