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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 2016)
A8 State Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, September 28, 2016 Oregon lawmakers discuss groundwater problems Groundwater depletion likely to spark policy proposals By Mateusz Perkowski Capital Bureau Groundwater depletion problems in Oregon discussed during a recent legislative hearing in Salem potentially foreshadow policy proposals during the upcoming 2017 legislative session. While participants in the “legislative days” informa- tional session did not address the recent newspaper series by name, the Oregonian’s “Draining Oregon” package obviously loomed over the hearing. Stacks of the series, which was printed last month, sat EO Media Group An irrigation pivot in Eastern Oregon. Legislators will likely look at groundwater pumping issues in the next session in January. on a table near the entrance during the Sept. 21 hearing. The newspaper’s allega- tions that state regulators are allowing farmers to over- pump groundwater were also clearly on the minds of law- makers on the House Interim Committee on Rural Commu- nities, Land Use and Water — as well as those of Oregon Water Resources Department staff called to testify. Committee chairman Bri- an Clem, D-Salem, said the topic will likely be a source of conversations during the next series of “legislative days” in November and during next year’s legislative session. To avoid “brutal neigh- bor-on-neighbor warfare,” lawmakers should try to ind a collaborative approach for water conservation, he said. With the caveat that he didn’t want to attack jour- nalists who “buy ink by the barrel,” Clem said he was concerned about loaded terms that imply farmers are greedy and wasteful. “Farmers don’t become farmers to become rich,” he said. “There are much easier ways of getting rich.” The basic thesis of “Drain- ing Oregon” was that OWRD had insuficient information about groundwater levels across much of the state but nonetheless freely allowed well drilling, depleting aqui- fers. Tom Byler, OWRD’s direc- tor, conceded that over-pump- ing in past decades had led to several critical groundwater areas across the state, which led the agency to restrict uses. “We haven’t done as good a job as we should on that item,” he said. Byler said groundwater is tough to manage given the complex geology of under- ground aquifers and because farmers have become more re- liant on this irrigation source when surface waters dwindle during the dry months. Since 1955, when legis- lators passed a law requir- ing groundwater regulations, the number of wells across the state has increased from 4,660 to 256,800, said Justin Iverson, groundwater section manager for OWRD. Agricultural wells — which require permitting — make up roughly 10 percent of the total number, but they represent about 90 percent of total groundwater usage in Oregon, Iverson said. While domestic users must only report the location of new wells, drillers of agricul- tural wells must also provide information about water lev- els and irrigators must report their usage, he said. OWRD also monitors groundwater with more than 1,200 observation wells, Iver- son said. Rep. Ken Helm, ques- tioned whether water regula- tors were “driving in the dark” in regard to well-drilling and the effects of climate change on water availability. “Does that change the par- adigm under which we should be operating?” Helm said. He also asked if the OWRD is simply short of funding to ro- bustly study groundwater, or if policy changes are also needed. Byler replied that the agen- cy already has many regulato- ry tools but is always open to looking at new ones. New York irm gets $1 million contract to review ODOT By Paris Achen Capital Bureau The state has awarded a nearly $1 million contract to New York- based McKinsey & Company to conduct a long-awaited manage- ment review of the Oregon De- partment of Transportation before lawmakers approve a transportation package in 2017. State oficials in late July nixed a previous contract with John L. Craig after revelations about his close ties with ODOT and an unearthed email showing he had sought to replace the agency’s director. Lawmakers have said they want an independent, third party review to ensure that ODOT is operating eficiently before they approve a transportation package in 2017. That legislation — one of Gov. Kate Brown’s priorities as governor — could hike gas taxes and fees on drivers and funnel hundreds of mil- lions of dollars in additional fund- ing to the agency. In an effort to get a review in- ished in time for the 2017 session, the Department of Administrative Services launched an emergency process for selecting a new contrac- tor. Brown selected McKinsey based on the recommendations of a DAS procurement team, said Bry- an Hockaday, a press secretary in Brown’s ofice. “McKinsey had the most re- sponsive proposal, and they are a national company recommended for their expertise,” Hockaday said. McKinsey has 25 days to deliver its work plan for the review and un- til the end of February to submit a inal product, Hockaday said. DAS reached out to several irms with experience in management re- views and received proposals from McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group, Hockaday said. Craig, who won the original $350,000 contract to do the review, oversaw the agency’s $1.3 billion outsourced bridge repair and re- placement program for six years. He stepped down as program man- ager of Oregon Bridge Develop- ment Partners just 15 months ago. After questions arose whether Craig’s connections with ODOT employees presented a conlict of interest, a transportation commis- sioner dug up an old email from Craig in which he appeared to be seeking agency Director Matt Gar- rett’s job. Tammy Baney, chairwoman of the Oregon Transportation Com- mission, received the job solicita- tion email from Craig in January. She said she didn’t read the entirety of its contents until after Craig landed the contract for the ODOT review, when she recalled he had previously reached out to her. After reading the email in July, she recommended that state ofi- cials revoke his contract. EO Media Group A long-awaited review of the Oregon Department of Transportation will be conducted by a New York company that Thursday received a $1 million contract. Church Services In Grant County Cornerstone Christian Fellowship 139 N.E. D AYTON S TREET , J OHN D AY 541-575-2180 Sunday Worship Service 10 am Pastor Levi Manitsas cornerstonejohnday@gmail.com CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE Sunday School..............................9:30 am Sunday Worship Service .............. 10:45 am Sunday Evening Service................6:00 pm Children & Teen Activities SMALL GROUPS CALL FOR MORE INFO Weekdays: Sonshine Christian School 521 E. Main • John Day • 541-575-1895 wwww.johndaynazarene.com
