BAKER CITY
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Tuesday, July 26, 2022 • Baker City, Oregon
EDITORIAL
3 candidates for
governor explain
views on water
BULLETIN EDITORIAL BOARD
O
regon’s future depends on a system of water management
built for the past.
Water rights are not based on need or how efficiently
water is used. The state arguably does not have enough data about
how much water it has and how it is used. Regulations can get in
the way of moving water to where it is needed.
We asked the three likely candidates for governor — Republi-
can Christine Drazan, independent Betsy Johnson and Democrat
Tina Kotek — a few questions about water. We had to abbreviate
their responses in many cases and put the responses in alphabeti-
cal order.
We hope that this gives you more information when you are
thinking about who to vote for in November.
Do Oregon’s water laws need to be
changed? What specifically do you
feel needs to be changed and how spe-
cifically should it be changed?
Drazan: ...I am not supportive of
overturning the existing structure,
but there are clearly some opportu-
nities to improve outcomes for our
farmers and ranchers. We need to
pursue innovations in how we man-
age water, invest in large-scale stor-
age, and continue to invest in inno-
vation for conservation of water. At
the end of the day, we need leader-
ship on this issue that recognizes the
importance of supporting our agri-
culture sector while also respecting
the other stakeholders and the need
to protect our salmon and manage
other environmental considerations.
We also need leadership at the state
level that is prepared to stand up to
the federal government and assert
our rights as a state.
Johnson: I certainly hope that no
one running for governor would
contend that our water laws are ad-
equate to our water needs.... There’s
no question that our laws need to
change, the real question is how do
they need to change, who needs to
be involved in that conversation and
what data are we missing in order
to plot the path forward toward an
actual strategic water plan for the
state. ...
Local partners need reliable lead-
ership, strong administration, and
a clear vision that they are not get-
ting from Salem and as Oregon’s in-
dependent governor, I will fix that.
Next, we need a statewide plan that
builds up from a base of at least re-
gional planning, as places like Uma-
tilla, Tillamook and Klamath Coun-
ties all face different challenges....I
hope I am conveying the strong
impression that I realize that before
we can change our laws, we must
change the structures within which
we are now making our laws....
Kotek: Not necessarily. The first
order of business is to figure out if
we can improve how water is shared
and managed under existing water
law. That’s why I made sure the state
budget included funding in 2021 to
convene a workgroup of agricultural
water users, municipalities, conser-
vation groups, tribal interests, envi-
ronmental justice organizations, and
state agencies to have a balanced,
strategic conversation about how
the state can build on Oregon’s 100
Year Water Vision. I am hopeful that
this group, which includes capa-
ble, bipartisan leadership from Rep.
Mark Owens, R-Crane, and Rep.
Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, will be
able to come to consensus recom-
mendations. In the meantime, I also
support investing more federal and
state dollars in water infrastructure
projects....
Does Oregon sufficiently mea-
sure water use? What if any changes
should be made?
Drazan: In general, we have suffi-
cient information on water use from
districts and local governments who
provide their own measurements.
Any changes in the way we collect
and assess data should be made
with the end goal of increasing ac-
cess to water for those that need it.
I’m skeptical of adding any layers
of bureaucracy and red tape to our
current system unless it advances a
specific public policy goal.
Johnson: It is easy to say we need
more data to make better decisions.
I am certain every politician will say
that. But before we expand the data
collection apparatus and require-
ments, we need an effort to properly
assess the value of the data we are
currently collecting and better tie
data collection to decision-making
and accountability....Having said
that, I believe we suffer now from
insufficient data to predict future
water needs as we track current us-
age with little understanding of the
factors influencing fluctuations.
Finally, we need the state to collect
data with agreed upon metrics that
goes beyond usage to better shape
and understand need parameters
as water use and access become in-
herently more competitive.... The
burden of collecting additional data
must lie with the state....
Kotek: No. We need more data
to understand the amount of water
available in our rivers, streams, and
aquifers. I support the ongoing work
to build a database that can then be
used to inform what changes need
to be made.
Over allocation of our water re-
sources and inefficient use of irriga-
tion water has led to water shortages
for Central Oregon’s farmers. What
changes, if any, do you recommend to
address this?
Drazan: As governor, I will have
the opportunity to call for account-
ability from the Oregon Water Re-
sources Department. We need flexi-
bility to ensure the state is a partner,
not an adversary, to address the
needs of water users. OWRD needs
to embrace a culture of collabora-
tion and recognize that these users
have a right to water and we have
to work to ensure that continues.
We also need to ensure that OWRD
is more responsive to water users
when disputes come up. It’s not ac-
ceptable for bureaucrats to drag
their feet when an individual’s access
to water or even livelihood hangs in
the balance.
Johnson: ...(A)s I said in the an-
swer to the first question, we need to
better structure and follow regional
water decision-making with stron-
ger participation from stakeholders
and local jurisdictions. Right now,
those tables are assembled largely
to watch the state mismanage wa-
ter policy with little power to do
anything about it. So, I want to ac-
knowledge that the problem your
question implies has stemmed from
poor decision-making that itself
comes from poor decision-making
structures.....
I would point out that while I
don’t know enough about the over-
use or irrigation inefficiencies in
Central Oregon in order to act as
though I could mandate a solution, I
can say that I understand how those
issues arise from our current system,
how they can only be solved with
the right people at the table, and that
they will not be solved at the depart-
mental level even under a Johnson
administration. The strength I offer
as an independent governor is that I
will both be capable of and expected
to change the rules by which we
conduct both politics and policy. ...
Kotek: We need to change state
policy to stop issuing water rights
until we know that there is enough
water to satisfy those rights. That
will require better data about
groundwater and surface water re-
sources, thoughtful place-based
planning processes, and ongoing
leadership from legislators, local
partners, and state agencies.
The fact is that climate change
will only worsen the devastation
that farmers, wildlife, and rural
economies are already experiencing
from years of historic droughts and
wildfires. As governor, I will ensure
that the state continues leading with
a collaborative approach to address
Oregon’s critical and complex water
issues.
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the Baker City Herald. Columns,
letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of the Baker City Herald.
YOUR VIEWS
Belittling science by opposing quiet zone,
therapeutic use of psilocybin
Can anyone imagine the devastation that a quiet
zone and the medical and therapeutic use of psilocybin
mushrooms will wreak? Picture naked people running
and screaming, arms flailing, straight into an oncoming
train!
Yessiree, you ain’t a gonna fool us here in old Baker
City with your radical nonsense and high falooten facts
and science. You can just take all that there “quiet zones,
healthier, safer, quality of life” crapola and shove it! Our
children, teachers, old and sick people been listening to
them train horns long before you libtards stuck your rad-
ical noses in it.
First you wanted us to believe maryjuwana could be
used for medicine, now it’s mushrooms!
Them there shellshocked and injured veterans al-
ready have pills. They don’t need no dope. Ain’t no
so-called doctors or shrinks gonna tell me dope is
gonna prevent suicides or help addicted people that’s
just crazy talk! Dope is dope. ... no matter how much
they wanna lie about all the fancy research and claims
of good things. Yeah sure, just like pot was supposed
to help cancer patients, eating disorders and chronic
pain.
I ain’t no fool. I’m a gonna go to the liquor store cause
I need another bottle. ... mighten help me forget about
the idjuts what wanna bring drugs into our city. The
whole damned sordid affair is Biden’s fault.
Mike Meyer
Baker City
Idaho Power lacks adequate planning for B2H
For 13 years Idaho Power Co. has been trying to rail-
road the 310-mile-long B2H, Boardman to Hemingway
power lines through Eastern Oregon. No one wants it,
but Idaho Power keeps pushing, trying to outflank the
public and government agencies, state and federal.
By the time they go into service they will be archaic,
but Idaho Power gets around 10% of building cost bonus,
most of which will go into stockholders’ pockets. Nor
does Idaho Power have an adequate fire plan for when the
lines break and start fires, as it did in Paradise, California,
when PG&E ignited fire. Death toll: 85 people.
Nor has weed control from building the project been
properly addressed. The power lines cross the Oregon
Trail numerous times, but Idaho Power Co. could care
less about preserving them or the heritage that goes with
them: Their plan is to place their lines directly in front of
the $16 million Oregon Trail interpretive center outside
of Baker City. The list goes on.
Whit Deschner
Baker City
OTHER VIEWS
Lessons from Normandy:
War is truly a tool of last resort
BY ELIZABETH SHACKELFORD
I
recently visited the beaches of
Normandy and was awestruck at
the scale of what took place there
78 years ago. The sheer horror it
must have been is hard to capture in
words, but the scars are still visible.
Dozens of massive craters dot
the fields. The landscape is inter-
spersed with German fortifications
reinforced with concrete two meters
thick. Huge tangles of metal debris,
part of the harbor constructions used
to ferry in half a million troops and
cargo, are still casually strewn across
the beaches and protruding from the
water, rusting just off quaint French
coastal towns.
It was a massive operation. More
than 1,000 aircraft dropped 23,000
paratroops behind German lines in
the dark amid incoming fire just after
midnight. At dawn, 73,000 Ameri-
cans joined about 80,000 other allied
troops to storm the beaches along 50
miles of coastline.
The morning was cool and the wa-
ter colder. Soldiers lugging nearly 75
pounds of gear each forced their way
through rough seas only to reach a
treacherous shore where they would
then navigate stakes, metal gird-
ers and land mines, all while Nazis
rained fire down upon them. Many
would die there or farther inland as
the battle continued.
How do you motivate anyone to
do that? And what would compel
anyone to ask so many people to?
These questions were on my mind
when I heard of the death of Brad-
ford Freeman, the last living mem-
ber of the Band of Brothers company
thatparachuted into Normandy on
D-Day. We’ve recently lost Hershel
“Woody” Williams as well, the last
surviving World War II Medal of
Honor recipient.
More than 16 million Americans
served in World War II. But we’re
starting to lose the very last veter-
ans of that war, one of the few we’ve
fought in our history that we can
confidently call just.
What lessons should we be learn-
ing from the Greatest Generation be-
fore they’re gone?
The Normandy invasion was the
ugly, painful crowning moment
of that response. The logistics
were mind-boggling and the
plan audacious. But nothing less
could turn the war around and
save Europe, and the world, from
the march of totalitarianism. In
many of the wars we have fought
since, we have strayed far from
these parameters.
I often wonder what my grandfa-
ther, a U.S. Marine who served in the
Pacific, would say. His faded photos
in jungle scenes were intriguing but
revealed little, and he said even less
about it. He died when I was young,
long haunted by what they called
“shell shock” back then.
I imagine that he, and many oth-
ers of his generation, would tell us
that war is so horrific that you should
avoid it at almost any cost. But if it’s
something so vital that you simply
must fight for it, you better be ready
to give it your all.
In many ways, that is the story
of America’s engagement in World
War II. We entered reluctantly —
forced by the circumstances of a di-
rect attack on our homeland. We
responded with everything we had,
and it transformed a culture and
economy for generations.
The Normandy invasion was the
ugly, painful crowning moment of
that response. The logistics were
mind-boggling and the plan auda-
cious. But nothing less could turn the
war around and save Europe, and the
world, from the march of totalitari-
anism.
In many of the wars we have
fought since, we have strayed far
from these parameters. We have
fought wars that were not essential
and even damaging to American se-
curity and prosperity. It shouldn’t
be surprising that we tended to lose
these wars of choice. It’s harder to
fight effectively if it isn’t clear what
you’re fighting for.
So what lessons might that offer
us today? The war in Ukraine is a
good test case. The fight came to the
Ukrainian people — they had little
choice. We do not face a similar ex-
istential threat now, and thus have
wisely avoided expanding this awful
war beyond Ukraine by getting di-
rectly involved in the fight.
But sometimes simply not entering
a war isn’t enough. The United States
and our allies must at times take the
necessary steps to deter such aggres-
sion. That is the case with Ukraine,
and that means using all the tools
available to us short of joining the
war to help Ukraine succeed.
If Putin’s violent land grab in Eu-
rope succeeds instead, the interna-
tional system we helped build and
benefit from will be deeply under-
mined. That system checks aggres-
sion and helps keep us safe, prosper-
ous and free. The threat to us directly
might not be grave enough yet to risk
American lives, but we’d be wise to
prevent it from reaching that point
while we’re still able.
Ukraine’s Greatest Generation is
being forged today as they fight and
die for their country’s freedom. Their
fight against aggression and author-
itarianism echoes the Allies’ fight in
World War II. By supporting their
effort, we can hopefully avoid having
to ask another generation of Amer-
icans in the future to suffer what
Bradford Freeman, Woody Williams,
my grandfather and millions of oth-
ers did.
This is important for Americans to
remember today as we contend with
economic struggles and domestic
strife at home. If we continue to rigor-
ously invest in helping Ukraine with
diplomatic, economic and military
assistance efforts now, we might not
have to fight aggression and authori-
tarianism ourselves in the future.
Elizabeth Shackelford is a senior fellow on
U.S. foreign policy with the Chicago Council
on Global Affairs. She was previously a U.S.
diplomat and is author of “The Dissent Channel:
American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age.”
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