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
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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
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48° 25°
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OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
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Kennewick Walla Walla
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SUN AND MOON
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Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
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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
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