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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Friday, October 25, 2019 Communities weigh in on Oregon’s 100-year water vision ers, conservation districts and environmental groups. Meta Loftsgaarden, exec- utive director of the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, is leading the 100-year Water Vision. She said the meetings are meant to bring together different interests, eyeing strategic investments to improve water systems. Systems can include both natural infrastructure, such as healthy lakes, rivers and aquatic habitat, and facilities like dams, irrigation canals and wastewater treatment plants. During the last half-cen- tury, Loftsgaarden said, Ore- gon has under-invested in water infrastructure. Fifty years ago, the federal govern- ment provided 60% of fund- ing. Now, that percentage has dropped under 10%, accord- ing to the Congressional Bud- get Office. “Some communities can afford to fill that gap,” Lofts- gaarden said. “But many communities can’t.” Meanwhile, Oregon’s pop- ulation has grown from just over 2 million people in 1969 to 4.1 million in 2018, increas- ing demand for water in cities and for farmers to grow more food. By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press GRESHAM — Faced with climate change, a growing population and aging infra- structure, the state of Oregon is reaching out to local com- munities for ideas to ensure clean and abundant water sup- plies over the next 100 years. The Oregon Water Resources Commission has already adopted an Integrated Water Resources Strategy, which was last updated in 2017. It identifies 18 critical water issues and more than 50 recommendations for meet- ing the state’s water needs — everything from data collec- tion to outreach and education. What the strategy lacks, however, is a plan for imple- mentation. That’s what Ore- gon aims to accomplish with its 100-year Water Vision. Gov. Kate Brown kicked off Phase I of the vision last year, and it was officially announced to the public in August. Officials are now vis- iting communities across the state for a series of meetings to gather feedback and learn about each region’s unique water challenges. About 30 people attended the first meeting Oct. 22 at Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, just east of Portland. The group included city, county and tribal leaders, as well as farm- OREGON WATER VISION For more information, visit www.oregonwater- vision.org. Capital Press Photo/George Plaven Stacey Dalgaard, center, with the Oregon Environmental Council, brainstorms water challenges with Roger Fantz, left, of the Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District, and Torrey Lindbo, water sciences program manager for the city of Gresham. laboration among individuals, organizations and state agen- cies to fund projects. They also highlighted the need to gather more data on water usage to drive better policies and decision-making. Clair Klock, who has served for 21 years as a resource conservation spe- cialist for the Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation Dis- trict, said until the state knows how much water it has, it can- not effectively manage the resource. Klock grows 2 acres of blueberries at his farm in Cor- bett, near the Sandy River. In 1984, he drilled a groundwa- Climate change To overcome these chal- lenges, the group in Gresham emphasized the need for col- Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY ter well to water his crops, which he said has since gone mostly dry. “Groundwater is going down in all basins across the state,” Klock said. “We still don’t have a handle on how much we use.” A two-page early draft of the 100-year Water Vision lists four main goals for water stewardship: health, econ- omy, environment and safety. It seeks to balance water not only for humans, but also native fish and wildlife living in healthy watersheds. Kat Brigham, who serves on the Board of Trustees for the Confederated Tribes of Sheriff’s office settles with deputy By GARRETT ANDREWS EO Media Group Mostly sunny; breezy in the p.m. Partly sunny, a shower; cooler 69° 38° 52° 29° Cool with sunshine Partial sunshine Sunny PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 51° 28° 48° 25° 52° 25° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 73° 39° 59° 31° 56° 28° 51° 28° 56° 27° OREGON FORECAST ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 57/40 65/34 69/34 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 70/41 Lewiston 58/40 73/39 Astoria 58/42 Pullman Yakima 67/37 58/36 70/41 Portland Hermiston 62/43 The Dalles 73/39 Salem Corvallis 66/37 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 66/36 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 67/38 72/27 71/34 Ontario 63/38 Caldwell Burns 65° 31° 62° 37° 78° (1937) 20° (2002) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 65/37 0.00" 0.18" 0.49" 4.94" 6.29" 7.05" WINDS (in mph) 65/36 71/24 0.00" 0.46" 0.79" 11.31" 7.91" 9.73" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 65/32 63/39 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 69/38 67/43 68° 32° 60° 38° 82° (1933) 19° (1919) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 60/37 Aberdeen 60/34 63/37 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 58/43 Today Sat. Boardman WSW 10-20 Pendleton W 10-20 Medford 74/41 NNW 6-12 WNW 6-12 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 71/32 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 7:25 a.m. 5:53 p.m. 3:59 a.m. 5:09 p.m. New First Full Last Oct 27 Nov 4 Nov 12 Nov 19 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 101° in Miramar MCAS, Calif. Low -5° in Climax, Colo. the Umatilla Indian Reser- vation in Eastern Oregon, said her goal is to see healthy populations of salmon return to Oregon, which are a key component of the tribes’ First Foods. But Brigham said water is a shared resource, and she knows they cannot go it alone. “We need to recognize each other, respect each other and support each other,” Brigham said. “If we work together, everybody is going to benefit.” Part of the five-hour meet- ing focused on several suc- cess stories of water conser- vation and investment. Jed Jorgensen, director of energy solutions for the nonprofit Farmers Conservation Alli- ance, discussed the group’s irrigation modernization pro- gram, which is now work- ing with 24 irrigation districts representing 25-30% of irri- gated land in Oregon. The program works to leverage federal funding to help irrigation districts con- vert old, leaky canals to more efficient pipes. Across the West, Jorgensen said 80% of water diverted from streams and rivers goes toward grow- ing crops, yet outdated irri- gation systems routinely lose 30-70% of the water. “I look at modernizing these systems as one of the biggest opportunities that exists to improve the natu- ral environment, our rivers, and ensure we have adequate water supplies for our farm- ers,” he said. Keri Handaly, with the city of Gresham, also talked about the Clean Rivers Coalition, engaging with communities to spur grassroots protection of water resources. “We’re trying to become Oregon’s new water mes- sengers,” said Handaly, who serves on the coalition’s steer- ing committee. “We need to talk about why we need to protect our water.” Loftsgaarden said the 100- year Water Vision will likely remain in draft form for some time, but will eventually become a guiding document to prioritize investment — similar to the state’s Transpor- tation Plan. “We’re in a really good space where I think people are ready, and want to have this conversation,” she said. The Water Vision group held its second meeting Oct. 23 in Tillamook. Future meet- ings are scheduled for Bend, Ontario, La Grande, Albany and Medford. BEND — Lawyers set- tled a lawsuit against the Deschutes County Sher- iff’s Office alleging it did not follow a law mandating preference for disabled mil- itary veterans in promotion decisions. Plaintiff David Crump, a patrol deputy, this week received a check from the county for $22,500. Despite the legal victory, Crump told the Bend Bulle- tin he thinks Sheriff Shane Nelson will never advance him professionally because of the lawsuit. “At this point, I have noth- ing to lose. I know I’ll never be promoted,” Crump said. “A lot of guys have been fired because they’ve dis- agreed with Sheriff Nelson.” Nelson responded to Crump’s remarks with a statement similar to one he’s used with terminated employees. “I expect our teammates to be in line with our mission and values,” Nelson wrote in a statement emailed to The Bulletin. “Those who aren’t in line with our mission and values won’t work here.” An Oregon law enacted in 2007 mandates that public agencies grant preference to veterans and disabled veter- ans who seek promotion to a civil service position. Crump served seven years in the U.S. Army before joining the sheriff’s office in 2003. In January 2017, the sher- iff’s office solicited applica- tions for an open patrol dep- uty promotion position. At the time, Crump worked as a corrections dep- uty and otherwise possessed the minimum qualifications for the job, according to his lawsuit. Crump filled out the forms linked to the online job posting and presented his DD Form 214 and VA Benefits verification letter. He did not get the pro- motion and he later learned from a human resources employee that the county alleged Crump did not sub- mit a Deschutes County vet- erans preference form, and thus he was not awarded the 10 points he should have received for being a disabled veteran. Crump’s attorney, Sean Riddell, claimed in the law- suit the county’s veter- ans preference form is not required by the veterans preference law. In January 2018, Crump filed a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, which deter- mined DCSO had violated the veterans preference law. In December, he sued in circuit court. Nelson said the form in question is no longer in use and noted the county’s Human Resource division performs the initial hiring processes for the sheriff’s office. He said the division did not assign Crump prefer- ence points. When Nelson became sheriff, he vowed to clean house. In 2015, former Sher- iff Larry Blanton stepped down amid a series of scan- dals, though he was never personally implicated. Blan- ton tapped Nelson, one of his captains, to serve the remainder of his term, and that year the County Commission approved the appointment. Nelson won election in 2016, defeating one of his patrol deputies, Eric Kozowski, who ran as a can- didate of change and fre- quently criticized Nelson’s leadership. Kozowski was fired less than a year later after Nelson opened 12 disci- plinary investigations into Kozowski. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY BRIEFLY Oregon State Police to end policing relationship with OSU CORVALLIS — Oregon State Police will end its policing relationship with Ore- gon State University after more than 30 years of working with the school. KATU-TV reported the agency made the announcement Wednesday, just two days after state police officials released body cam video showing an OSP campus officer’s arrest of a black female student. The arrest became contentious. Students who witnessed the arrest and recorded it on video questioned the amount of force police used to take the woman into custody. The NAACP denounced law enforcement’s actions. The news outlet asked OSP if the deci- sion to end its contract with the university was at all related to the recent arrest of a student. The agency responded by saying it had “no further statement at this time.” Oregon State University Vice President Steve Clark said Wednesday that OSP told them that they made a decision to prioritize their staffing and at no point in that decision did the arrest come up. OSP said it will continue providing law enforcement services to the college until next summer. — Associated Press Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s 50s ice 60s cold front E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays EastOregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to EastOregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and postal holidays, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Copyright © 2019, EO Media Group 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low CORRECTIONS: The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818. 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