Oregon’s Looming Water Crisis
There are over 12 state agencies involved with managing Oregon’s water. And a recent state audit determined that things are not as coordinated as they need to be. Existing laws are tied to property rights and based on an outdated worldview. These policies make it hard to live up to the Endangered Species Act, honor Tribal rights, and use water in a way that serves human health and prevents ecosystem collapse.
How can Oregon bring the way we manage water into the 21st century? How do we ensure water policy prioritizes shared needs and equitably serves underrepresented communities and rural communities?
It is time for Oregon to have these hard conversations.
THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW
In Oregon, water is publicly owned, while water rights holders own the right to access water from rivers, lakes, and wells. Many of the laws regulating water rights are old and based on property law, not statutory law. This makes these policies especially difficult to change.
The basic tenets of Oregon’s water management policies — like first in time, first in right, and “use it or lose it” – were developed in the late 1800s. They are tied to the growth of agriculture as a regional economic engine, driven by federal funding for irrigation projects. Unfortunately, that economic growth was often tied to the displacement of Tribes, fish and wildlife, and led to enormous changes to the ecosystems that supported them. .
While our understanding of the water world has grown over the years, and new policies and programs aim to protect water resources, many of those early water management policies continue to prevent us from transitioning to a sustainable, flexible, and equitable approach to water management for the state.
THE LOOMING WATER CRISIS
Developed in 2017, Oregon’s Integrated Water Resources Strategy (IWRS) lays out a framework for how 12 agencies are supposed to work together on water, key among them the Department of Environmental Quality, the Oregon Health Authority, and the Oregon Water Resource Department. The IWRS includes everything from water permitting to testing, and even notifying the public about health risks when contaminated water is identified.
However, a January 2023 State Advisory Report on water determined that the strategy is not working as intended, is not connected to state and regional planning efforts, and lacks clear implementation pathways. The report outlines gaps in Oregon’s water governance that require urgent attention. According to the report:
“The state has a fragmented and siloed institutional structure around water that can make it challenging to apply cross-agency and multi-level solutions to local problems, and there is not a clear framework in place to support multi-level coordination. State water policy also prioritizes water access for senior water right holders and does not fully account for the complexity of the resource or its relationship to ecosystem health.”
For example, we have water quality permitting systems to prevent pollution from industry, municipalities and roads from entering our rivers and lakes, but DEQ lacks stable funding to fully staff this program and keep up with permit renewals.
As we face an uncertain future and a warming climate, we must take action now to develop a coordinated, integrated approach to managing our state’s water – if we don’t, we cannot avoid the looming water crisis.
INTERCONNECTED SOLUTIONS
Water is intrinsically linked to climate. The warming climate impacts air currents and other factors that determine when, where, and how much water shows up in our state’s watersheds and ecosystems. As global temperatures rise and weather patterns change, water becomes unpredictable. Droughts and floods are increasingly likely, with devastating impacts on fish, farms and families.
Water management that relies on natural systems is called natural infrastructure. It’s a way to achieve water management goals using natural systems or mimicking the functionality of natural systems. Integrating natural infrastructure approaches to water management helps reduce climate impacts while adding flexibility to the water system and reducing future costs. Working with nature ensures an interconnected, resilient water future.
The same policies and practices that protect water resources can also protect the climate. For example, many small towns on the Oregon coast source their water from surface creeks and now face a decision: either invest in new, costly water treatment plants or reduce the overall burden of water treatment in their community. One town working to reduce the need for water treatment is Arch Cape, whose leaders are currently seeking funding to purchase land in the upstream watershed and manage it with drinking water in mind. Fewer pesticides, less erosion, all this makes water treatment easier. The plan will also manage the watershed’s forests in a way that sequesters carbon, preserves valuable habitats, and provides recreational opportunities.
Photo Courtesy of the City of Prineville.
Another example of natural systems at work is the Crooked River Wetlands near Prineville. There, the interconnected wetland pools slowly cool clean waste water as it leaves the neighboring wastewater treatment plant, ensuring it meets water quality standards and is cool enough for fish populations. The wetlands also provide the community with walking trails and educational programs for local schools. Read more about this project and others that employ natural infrastructure as an integral component of water management: Natural Infrastructure in Oregon.
Solutions like this must be part of Oregon’s integrative, creative water future.
HARD CONVERSATIONS
Today and into the future, Oregon’s water system requires the flexibility to adapt to change and ensure water needs are met. But investments in infrastructure rely on stability and predictability. How then do we remain flexible while still providing stability? These are hard conversations, and Oregon’s state and municipal leaders must take the lead.
Much of the framework for sustainable, equitable water management in Oregon already exists.
We must now:
- Secure sustainable funding to implement the structures, staff the agencies, and enforce the policies already in place.
- Establish a system to ensure the 12 agencies that manage Oregon’s water are much more coordinated and effective in their work.
- Bolster the political will to make change. There are tough choices to be made about how to move forward and solve problems. Drawing a line in the sand will not work. We must work together.
All the water that will ever be is already here. We can’t afford manage badly what is so essential to life on the planet — we must work together to protect this vital resource. Water is life.
A Natural Vision for Water Part 3: Advancing Health and Environmental Justice
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A Natural Vision for Water Part 4: Investing in Our Future
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