A8
NEWS
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Irrigators dissatisfied with Oregon water storage fix
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Farm and irrigation advo-
cates worry that a partial fix
to Oregon water storage law
may lead to new complica-
tions farther down the road.
Last year, a review by
state attorneys determined
the Oregon Water Resources
Department lacks the author-
ity to transfer water storage
rights.
This new interpretation
meant that OWRD could not
longer authorize changing
the location of stored water,
the point of diversion of
stored water or the purpose
of stored water, even though
it had traditionally permitted
such changes.
Under Senate Bill 51,
the agency would regain its
power to change the pur-
Capital Press File /Capital Press
A fix to Oregon’s water storage law hasn’t won the support of
irrigator and farm groups, who say the bill is incomplete.
pose of stored water — such
as shifting a reservoir from
irrigation to municipal use
— without addressing its
authority over location and
points of diversion.
“It’s not the first time
people have disagreed about
interpreting water law by a
long shot,” said Tom Byler,
the agency’s director during
a recent legislative hearing.
“We hope that this is some-
thing we can resolve quickly
and put us on a path for com-
munities to have the tools to
meet their future needs.”
While organizations rep-
resenting irrigators want
to resolve the question of
changing the purpose of
stored water, they’ve urged
the Senate Committee on
Environment and Natural
Resources against a “piece-
meal” approach to straight-
ening out OWRD’s author-
ity over water storage rights.
“We would prefer we
take a step back, address
the complete issue and only
move forward with a solu-
tion if it’s comprehensive,”
said Mary Anne Cooper,
vice president of public pol-
icy for the Oregon Farm
Bureau.
As irrigators undertake
water conservation projects
and seismic upgrades to res-
ervoirs, they will need all
three ways of transferring
water storage rights and not
just changing the purpose of
storage, she said.
Focusing on fixing only
OWRD’s storage purpose
authority may lead to addi-
tional complications if dif-
ferent standards are devel-
oped for changing storage
locations and points of
diversion, Cooper said.
The Oregon Farm Bureau
also disagrees with the Ore-
gon Department of Justice’s
legal analysis that water reg-
ulators currently lack the
statutory authority to trans-
fer water storage rights, she
said.
Leaving the issue of
water storage right trans-
fers only partially resolved
may lead to more litigation
and uncertainty for water
users, said April Snell, exec-
utive director of the Oregon
Water Resources Congress,
which represents irrigation
districts.
Irrigators need all the
tools at their disposal to
change reservoir locations
and make improvements as
storage challenges grow,
Snell said. “Drought and
climate change mean we’re
going to have more rain and
less snowfall.”
The OWRD hopes to
have discussions about other
aspects of its water stor-
age authority in the future,
but for now the Legislature
can move forward regarding
storage purpose changes,
which are less controver-
sial, said Racquel Rancier,
the agency’s senior policy
coordinator.
Health: Wallowa County comes up big in support of integrated health care
Continued from Page A1
Immediately, it was
apparent how much plan-
ning and care the organiza-
tions spent preparing for this
event. Amy Bush and Tosca
Rawls, as the public rela-
tions and development team
for the Center for Wellness,
are responsible for much of
the auction’s success. Of all
the enticing silent auction
packages, only two were not
donated by local people or
businesses.
The vibe of the evening
was warm and cheery. Par-
ticipants greeted each other
with smiles and words of
good will. “It almost feels
like friends and family gath-
ering for a meal,” said Jett.
After the silent auction,
the evening’s program began
with a heartwarming inter-
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view with one of the Cen-
ter for Wellness’s many ben-
eficiaries. Tim Richardson,
interviewed by Wilson, told
an inspiring story of addic-
tion, second chances, and
community support.
Entangled with drugs and
alcohol since age 8 but now
14 months sober, Richardson
thanked the Center for Well-
ness, saying, “you guys saved
my life.” He then spoke of
his love for his daughter,
who he named as his primary
source of inspiration. “I want
her to be proud of me.”
Richardson then cred-
ited Judge Tom Powers,
who was in attendance, and
his employer, Bronson Log
Homes for providing a sec-
ond chance, along with guid-
ance and support on his path
towards recovery. Bronson
Log Homes also had repre-
sentatives in attendance.
From there, the night
launched into an active live
auction while people ate their
top-rate meals served by the
Wallowa Lake Lodge staff.
The first segment of the live
auction led into the night’s
second emotional interview.
Chris Borgerding, whose
son Mathew Larson-Borg-
erding has received support
services from the Wellness
Center for over 15 years,
came up to the microphone
next. Tina Borgerding, Lar-
son-Borgerding’s mom and
Chris Borgerding’s wife was
also in attendance. Speaking
about his son’s experience,
Borgerding said, “everybody
loves Mathew.” In fact, “his
senior year in high school, he
was voted prom king.”
Emphasizing the import-
ant role of the Center for
Wellness for his entire fam-
ily, “they’ve really come
through for us,” said Borg-
erding. But for the nonprof-
it’s services, the Borgerdings
may have had to put their
son in a residential home that
could adequately provide the
support he needed.
Next on the agenda was a
paddle raise, where the group
was challenged to match a
$100,000 gift from last year.
With Wilson on the mic, the
gifts started off strong with
a couple gifts at $10,000.
Then Borgerding himself
announced a gift of $40,000.
Several locals followed
suit with gifts ranging from
$5,000 on down to $1,000,
and Dan DeBoie, who cur-
rently sits as chair of the
Center for Wellness’s board
of directors, stood in place
of several members of his
late wife’s family to offer
a gift of $1,800. DeBoie’s
late wife dedicated much of
her life to mental health ser-
vices. Wrapping up the hon-
orary gift, Deboie said, “and
in the spirit of good family
competition, I’ll match the
$1,800.”
While $219,000 may
seem pale in comparison
to the overall goal of $6.8
million, it goes a lot further
than that. The Wallowa Val-
ley Center for Wellness and
Winding Waters have an ask
in to the Oregon Legislature
for $2.5 million, and will be
in Salem March 4. Both Jett
and Wilson stressed how
important a strong show of
community support will be
in locking up that money
from the state, and again as
the two nonprofits seek fund-
ing from grant foundations.
Giving context to this ele-
ment of the fundraising pro-
cess, Wilson pointed out
that in two years hosting this
event the organization has
raised over $575,000. With
a total of 84 seats over that
period, “it’s a remarkable
show of support from the
community,” said Wilson.
There seemed to be a col-
lective appreciation for the
overall generosity of the res-
idents of Wallowa County.
This was the second year
hosting a “Hearts for Health”
fundraiser for the integrated
care building. It’s been so
successful that the organi-
zations plan to host it as an
annual event, even after this
particular goal is met.
In his closing remarks,
Borgerding perhaps summed
it up best, “in this county we
take care of ourselves and
we always have … Wallowa
County, don’t ya love it?”
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