By Emily Cureton Cook with Rachel Martin | April 4, 2022 | NPR Morning Edition In Oregon’s high desert, a lake more than 10,000 years old is drying up. That doesn’t have to happen. Summer Lake hosts millions of migratory birds annually, but its water is being diverted to farms. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: In southern […]
It’s Feared a Vital Lake in Oregon Could Run Dry Within a Generation Read More »
By Emily Cureton Cook | March 16, 2022 | Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) In Malheur County’s Cow Valley, state regulators have ignored known issues with overpumping groundwater, leaving the region at risk of economic and ecological damage that will be difficult to reverse. The warnings were hard to miss on a forsaken stretch of Highway
Race to the Bottom: How Big Business Took Over Oregon’s First Protected Aquifer Read More »
By Rob Davis | Jan. 16, 2022 | The Oregonian When Oregon’s only saltwater lake mysteriously dried up in 2014, turning a vibrant landscape teeming with migratory birds into a desiccated, abandoned salt pan, state environmental regulators mobilized. Lake Abert, a 64-square-mile lake in south central Oregon’s high desert, had gone almost completely dry for
By Andrew Theen | April 19, 2017 | The Oregonian A House committee gave its blessing this week to a bill that would charge an annual fee to tens of thousands of Oregon water rights holders — but not without a last second twist. Rep. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, introduced an amendment to his proposed water user
By Andrew Theen | April 14, 2017 | The Oregonian The House Committee on Energy and the Environment on Wednesday endorsed House Bill 2707, which some lawmakers say would dramatically accelerate the state’s ability to analyze its groundwater supply. That legislation now heads to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, the state’s budget writing
Draining Oregon: Bill to Fund $8.2 Million in Groundwater Studies Passes Key Hurdle Read More »
By Andrew Theen | March 21, 2017 | The Oregonian: Draining Oregon Oregon lawmakers will hold a first hearing Wednesday on three bills designed to address the state’s long-standing inability to measure and study its groundwater supply, and how to pay for it. Rep. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, introduced the bills on the heels of a
Draining Oregon: Lawmakers Plan Hearings on Three Water Bills Read More »
By the Oregonian Editorial Board | Sept. 10, 2016 | The Oregonian: Draining Oregon State regulators approve permits for wells in Oregon even as they suspect there isn’t enough water in some areas to keep pace. A permit application might state it “cannot be determined” whether enough ground water existed for the well. Yet time
By Kelly House | Aug. 26, 2016 | The Oregonian: Draining Oregon Government agencies have spent more than $2.8 million in taxpayer money on this tiny Columbia River tributary since 2004. Workers have planted shade willows on the banks, lined its rocky bottom with logpile hiding places, and fenced off cattle from the sensitive habitat.
By Kelly House | Aug. 26, 2016 | The Oregonian: Draining Oregon Rancher Harold Knieriem thought his days of worrying about water would end with retirement. No more angst when the skies dry up or a mild winter dollops too little snow on the mountains, leaving his cattle to dine on withered grass. Then the
