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Please ask your guests what they think are the largest contributors to pollution in the Willamette - especially pollutants that endanger human and environmental health. Is it industry? Sewage treatment plants? Urban runoff? Agriculture? When will we see results of the toxics monitoring DEQ is starting in the Willamette? Shouldn't toxics be part of the water quality monitoring that is typically done in Oregon?

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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Before investing millions of taxpayer dollars in new water storage projects in Oregon, there are many steps we can take to improve conservation and efficiency to reduce the demand for water. Projections of growing water demand are often inaccurate.

Take for example the city of Salem. In 1995 the City of Salem projected that peak water demand would increase to 90 MGD (million gallons per day) by 2007 and to 170 MGD by 2025. In fact, peak water demand has actually decreased since 1995 due to conservation measures and it is now projected to reach only 70 MGD by 2025. You can see these statistics at http://water.oregonstate.edu/asr/presentations/Pulley.pdf.

In addition to taking common sense steps to conserve water and reduce leakage and waste, the state should do more to help individuals and businesses use more innovative measures to reduce the demand for water, such as building cisterns to harvest rainwater for outdoor irrigation and re-using graywater for non-potable needs like flushing toilets.

posted 5 years, 1 month ago
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