OCTOBER 2007, FORUM
It’s time to make the tough water decisions
AUGUST'S ARTICLE [THE
FIGHT FOR WATER] offers the clearest depiction yet of
Oregon’s growing water supply predicament — and
should be required reading for anyone interested in
Oregon’s future. As I said in my Oregon Water Handbook, “to
make a long story short, Oregon’s out of easy
water.” Yet no one seems to be able to articulate —
let alone make — the hard water decisions required for us
to avoid a prolonged and possibly searing water crisis.
This is in stark contrast to 1909, when after years of effort,
a consortium of Oregon interests came together to support
enactment of the Oregon Water Code, the law that declared water
from all sources belonged to the people of Oregon, and
warranted careful management. That the Oregon Conservation
Commission, the Portland Board of Trade, the State Grange, and
the Oregon Irrigation Society found common ground to lobby hard
for such a far-reaching law speaks volumes about how critically
Oregonians once regarded water — and volumes about
leadership that seems sorely lacking today.
While it’s nice the 2007 Legislature scraped up $750,000
to look into Oregon’s water future, that’s peanuts
compared to the $5-plus billion California has invested in its
water projects, or the $200 million Washington recently
authorized for water supply issues. This shortsighted approach
to Oregon’s water future makes clear that Oregon just
doesn’t take water seriously. While that’s not
likely to change in the next couple of years, I still find
myself dreaming we might mark the centennial of Oregon’s
water code with some meaningful level of investment by the 2009
Legislature.
Rick Bastasch
Author, Oregon Water Handbook, Salem
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