REGION
Thursday, June 16, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PENDLETON
Groundwater dominates resource discussion
OWRD working toward ive-year update of plan
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
The Oregon Water Resources
Department kicked off a series of
public meetings on the state’s water
strategy Monday in Pendleton, with
questions mostly centered on how
drought has affected the community.
If the conversation was any
indication, drought isn’t the only
reason to be concerned about water
shortages.
Groundwater
in
particular
dominated the discussion during
Monday’s open house at the Pend-
leton Convention Center, where
about 40 people gathered to provide
feedback on future water needs for
farms and cities.
The Integrated Water Resources
Strategy, or IWRS, is essentially the
road map that identiies goals, objec-
tives and solutions for in-stream and
out-of-stream water use statewide.
It was created by the legislature in
2009, adopted in 2012 and is due for
a ive-year update by late summer or
fall of 2017.
While the IWRS is adopted
by the Oregon Water Resources
Commission, it is done in collab-
oration with the state Department
of Fish & Wildlife, Department
of Environmental Quality and
Department of Agriculture. All four
agencies are represented at the open
house meetings, which will run
through the end of the month.
By an executive order from
Gov. Kate Brown, the 2017 IWRS
update will need to address drought
resiliency. In 2015, the governor
declared a drought emergency in 25
of 36 counties, which was the most
ever for a single summer.
Alyssa Mucken, program coor-
dinator with the Water Resources
Department, said last year’s histor-
ically low snowpack resulted in
stream lows at half or less than half
of average.
“We’re very concerned with how
we prepare for future droughts,”
Mucken said.
But once the loor was opened
for Q-and-A, talks began to shift.
Gary Rhinhart, vice chairman of
the Umatilla County Planning
Commission, said the overallocation
of groundwater in the lower Birch
Creek drainage has caused some
surface springs to disappear.
In 2014 and 2015, Rhinhart said
Birch Creek dried up completely
through his property for the irst
time.
“We cannot blame it on the
drought,” Rhinhart said. “Somebody
is going to have to start keeping an
eye on those springs.”
Beverly Bridgewater, manager
of the West Extension Irrigation
District, said the state needs to take
a more comprehensive approach to
conserving water supplies, and that
includes studying the connectivity
of ground and surface water.
“It’s so much bigger than what
we have in front of us,” Bridgewater
said.
Ray Kopacz, who manages
the Stanield Irrigation District,
suggested replacing deep water
wells with more surface water out
of the Columbia River, which would
give aquifers the chance to recharge.
That’s one component of a major
proposal from the Northeast Oregon
Water Association, which continues
to make its way through negotiations
in Salem.
Tom Byler, director of the Water
Resources Department, said bucket-
for-bucket mitigation is still required
on the Columbia to account for
endangered salmon and steelhead,
which is a federal issue. But he
agreed that the state’s water issues
go beyond drought.
“We’re all trying to make use of
this resource,” Byler said. “For the
greater good, we need to look at how
to make this resource stretch as far
Umatilla County puts state water
department on notice to shape up
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Umatilla County Board of Commis-
sioners threatened to pull county funds
for state water regulators unless the
Oregon Department of Water Resources
improves its communications and
attitude.
The board met Wednesday at the
county courthouse, Pendleton, to
address several matters, including
passing the county’s 2016-17 budget.
But the irst action item was to change
the dynamics of the relationship
between the county and the state water
department.
The Oregon Water Resources
Department oversees water law, among
other functions, and uses assistant
watermasters in local ield ofices to
enforce that law and oversee water use.
Umatilla County hires and pays
for assistant watermasters, but those
county employees answer to the state.
The county proposed to put an end to
that practice, and push those employees
onto the state payroll.
The county for iscal year 2016-17
will contribute $210,000 for the equiv-
alent of 2.9 full-time employees for the
state watermaster ofice in Pendleton,
and after that only will provide funds to
support the program. The county board
will set the amount of that support based
on a recommendation from the budget
committee.
The plan allows enough time for the
state to become the formal employer of
the watermasters.
The proposal also emphasized
that district leadership in the water
resources department has done a poor
job of communicating with the board
about water matters, and all the money
is contingent on three conditions: the
commissioners receive assurance from
the state watermaster “that the level
of service and deployment of staff
will remain consistent throughout the
coming year”; the state notiies the
county of meetings involving water
users; and communication between the
state’s regional ofice and water users
and local groups “be a matter of record”
open for the commissioners to review. If
the state does not live up to the county’s
conditions, the county can stop funding
the local watermaster, which could have
a damaging effect on local water users.
Milton-Freewater irrigator Ed Berl-
ingame said watermasters do important
work in Umatilla County and the state.
“You got a war over there without a
watermaster,” he said.
Brian Wolcott, executive director
of the Walla Walla Basin Watershed
Council, said the Milton-Freewater/
Walla Walla area has 20,000 irrigated
acres and needs an assistant water-
master to make sure people follow
water rights.
“There isn’t enough water to go
around for everybody,” he said. “We got
a lot of farms and ranches that ight over
water on an annual basis.”
Wolcott also said while the county is
considering the work as seasonal, irri-
gators in the Walla Walla Valley draw
water every month except February,
and the situation is going to worsen as
groundwater becomes more critical.
Larry Nye with the Milton-Free-
water Tea Party Patriots told the board
the debate is about sovereignty.
“Somewhere along the line, local
governments should draw a line in the
sand,” he said. He also suggested a
county group should advise the board
on the issue and pleaded for the board
“There isn’t enough
water to go around for
everybody. We got a
lot of farms and ranch-
es that ight over water
on an annual basis.”
— Brian Wolcott, executive
director of the Walla Walla Basin
Watershed Council
to keep local control.
Commissioner Larry Givens said he
was “a little irritated” that no one from
the state was at the meeting, including
watermaster Mike Ladd of the Pendleton
ofice. Elfering said he worked on the
proposal with water resources director
Tom Byler, who was in Pendleton on
Tuesday. Elfering said Byler offered
to attend the commissioner’s meeting,
but after their discussions Elfering told
Byler he did not need to come.
Commissioner George Murdock
said he would echo the board’s frus-
trations. During a budget meeting
months ago, Murdock said the only
county department that did not attend
was the watermaster ofice. And no one
from the state notiied the county of a
recent meeting in Milton-Freewater that
involved 80 water users.
“We think those are gross inadequa-
cies of communication,” Murdock said.
The board passed the proposal with
a vote of 3-0, and moments later unan-
imously approved the county’s $72.2
million budget.
———
Contact Phil Wright at pwright@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0833.
BRIEFLY
Umatilla County
enacts ban on
open burning
PENDLETON —
Umatilla County Board of
Commissioners enacted a
ban Wednesday morning
on open burning effective
immediately. The ban does
not apply to agriculture
burning.
Gina Miller, code
enforcement coordinator for
the county, asked the board
at its morning meeting
to implement the annual
non-ag burn ban. She said
the hot and dry season is
here and large ires have
already started to drain
resources.
The board voted 3-0 for
the ban. The county joins
other local governments
that have banned burning
waste piles and in barrels
and the like, including
the city of Pendleton and
the Confederated Tribes
of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation.
Sewer pipe to get
emergency repair
PENDLETON — The
Pendleton City Council
approved a $115,545
sewer repair at a council
workshop Tuesday.
The council ordinarily
doesn’t take action during
workshops, but Public
Works Director Bob
Patterson said it was
a repair that required
immediate attention.
In an emergency action,
the council approved a bid
to hire Pipeline Inspection
Services of Nampa, Idaho,
to install a special lining
into a sewer pipe beneath
the Oxford Suites parking
lot to seal a 200-foot-long
crack that is causing
leakage.
City work crews will
also install a new manhole
along the pipe to make it
easier to maintain.
Historic Trails
Advisory Council
sets meeting
HERMISTON — The
Oregon Trails Advisory
Council holds its summer
meeting Sunday, June
26 at the Knights Inn in
Hermiston.
The meeting will begin
at 8 a.m. and is open to
the public. The council is
made up of nine volunteers
appointed by the governor
to oversee Oregon’s 16
designated historic trails.
Sunday’s meeting will
include an update on a
grant project for the Barlow
Road, which was the last
overland segment of the
Oregon Trail.
For more information,
contact Loren Irving at
541-480-4167.
Family looks for
Elmer-Cazier
descendants
ISLAND CITY — All
descendants of Edcil Elmer
and Rosannah Cazier are
invited to the 66th Cazier
Family Reunion to be held
on June 24-25 in Island
City.
Rosannah Cazier was the
last child of William and
Pleasant Drake Cazier. She
married Edcil Elmer May
19, 1857. They moved to
Summerville in the 1880s,
along with Edcil’s brothers,
Raymond and Henry Elmer.
Some of their descendants
that stayed in the area are:
Cleon Elmer who is buried
in Lostine, Margaret Elmer
(married to Abisha Lanman
of Wallowa/Lostine),
Almina Elmer (married
to James Wesley Bright
of Wallowa/Lostine), Lott
Elmer buried in Union,
William Alva Elmer buried
in Wallowa and Georgia
Elmer (married to William
Douglas Whitmore of La
Grande).
If you have the last name
of Elmer, Lanman, Bright
or Whitmore, contact Claire
Averett at claireaverett@
gmail.com, 801-376-9606
or visit www.cazier.org for
more information.
purchase.
For more information,
call 541-481-7243 or visit
www.visitsage.com.
———
Briefs are compiled
from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email
press releases to news@
eastoregonian.com
HERMISTON
Jake Bacon hired as
Highland Hills principal
East Oregonian
Hermiston
School
District’s
administrative
game of musical chairs
continued Monday
with the appoint-
ment of Jake Bacon
as Highland Hills
Elementary School
principal.
Bacon served as
assistant principal
of Hermiston High
School during the
2015-2016 school Bacon
year. He will
replace current Highland
Hills principal Brad Bixler,
who is taking a job as human
resources director for Pend-
leton School District.
Before moving to Herm-
iston School District a year
ago, Bacon served as Echo
School principal. He started
with the school district there
in 2004 after being hired as
athletic director.
On Monday night the
school board also approved
Michael Thomas to replace
Bacon as assistant principal
at Hermiston High School
and Stefani Wyant as assis-
tant principal at Armand
Larive Middle School.
Wyant,
who
previously served
as a Rocky Heights
Elementary teacher
and district-wide
instructional coach,
is replacing Lori
Mills,
who
is
replacing
Larry
Usher as Sand-
stone
Middle
School principal.
Usher was appointed at an
earlier board meeting as
the district’s new athletic
director, replacing Blaine
Ganvoa.
The board also recently
appointed Tricia Mooney,
former assistant superinten-
dent at Pendleton School
District, as assistant superin-
tendent for Hermiston School
District to replace Wade
Smith, who will be Walla
Walla School District’s new
superintendent next year.
BMCC welcomes new M-F director
East Oregonian
The
Blue
Mountain
Community
College
Milton-Freewater Center is
holding an open house June
29 to mark a changing of the
guard.
The open house will give
the public a chance to speak
with both incoming director
Susan Kralman and outgoing
director Debbie Lee, who will
retire at the end of the month
after leading the center for the
past nine years.
Kralman,
BMCC
Milton-Freewater’s student
success coach for the past
year, started her new role June
1 and has been “learning the
ropes” under Lee before she
retires, according to a BMCC
press release.
Kralman has a bachelor’s
degree in sociology from
Portland State University and
a master’s degree in social
work from Walla Walla
University and has worked
stints as the human services
planner for the Walla Walla
County
Department
of
Human Services, the housing
services manager and 10-year
plan coordinator for the Blue
Mountain Action Council,
and the homeless coordinator
for the Walla Walla County
Department of Community
Health.
The reception takes place
on June 29, from 4-5:30 p.m.
in room 110 at the BMCC
Milton-Freewater Center, 311
N. Columbia.
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Cheese days coming
to SAGE Center
BOARDMAN —
Tillamook Cheese Days are
coming to the SAGE Center
June 24-25, showcasing
Tillamook products made
in Boardman.
Lunch will be served
from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. both
days, with macaroni and
cheese, cheesy cornbread,
a mufin, salad, dessert and
drink. The cost is $5, and
includes admission to the
SAGE Center, which is
located at 101 Olson Road,
Boardman
The Store at SAGE
Center will also have
Tillamook Squeaky
Cheese Curds available for
as we can.”
Mucken did point to strides made
under the current IWRS, including a
new Water Resources Development
Program funded by the legislature
to provide grants and loans for
water projects. Two Eastern Oregon
projects, including ish passage at
Beaver Creek Dam and conservation
work along the Lostine River, have
received funding from the program.
“This (IWRS) adoption in 2012
really led to some key successes at
the legislative level,” Mucken said.
There are 40 recommended
actions within the IWRS and
Mucken said they are taking a
phased-in approach to implemen-
tation. The 2017 update will build
upon the same basic framework,
while integrating drought resiliency
into long-term planning.
Byler said people in the past used
water like it was an endless resource.
“It’s tough to untangle things and
start over,” he said. “We need to be
looking at holistic solutions.”
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