More than a year after four Oregon agencies released a plan to reduce a decades-long nitrate problem in Eastern Oregon, a lot of work remains, according to the state’s first report on its progress.
Overexposure to nitrates is especially harmful to infants, and is linked to cancers and thyroid disease. The main source of contamination in the Lower Umatilla Basin – an area that spans Morrow and Umatilla Counties – has been large-scale irrigated farms, livestock farms and food processing facilities.
FILE - Oregon Rural Action's Ana Maria Rodriguez conducts a rapid test on a jar of water brought from Boardman, Ore, in 2023. It tested above federal standards. A new report offers an updated look at Oregon's effort to address the region's nitrate crisis.
Monica Samayoa / OPB
Oregon’s Nitrate Reduction Plan, released in summer 2024, maps how the state plans to reduce nitrate concentrations to below 7 milligrams per liter in the Lower Umatilla Basin. The federal limit is 10 milligrams per liter. Some areas in the basin far exceed those limits.
In the progress report released Friday, state agencies detail how they’ve increased funding to test more domestic wells for nitrates. In 2025, the Oregon Health Authority hired bilingual local coordination – roughly 40% of Morrow County’s population is Latino or Hispanic – to increase community education outreach efforts. The state is also on track to create new rules that irrigated farming operations will soon have to follow.
But some environmental advocates feel they have yet to see any meaningful change.
“When the original plan came out, it wasn’t all that impressive to us. It seemed more like a plan to make a plan,” said Kaleb Lay, director of policy research at Oregon Rural Action, an advocacy that’s been outspoken on the nitrates issue in the area. “At this point, it’s like OK, here’s all of our progress chipping away at a plan to make a plan, but not a lot of actual talking about progress made.”
One notable update from the report is on Oregon’s Water Resources Department irrigation backflow prevention program. Water regulators made over 750 inspections at 660 sites throughout the Lower Umatilla Basin Critical Groundwater Area.
They found about a quarter of the fields they inspected were applying fertilizers even though their irrigation systems didn’t have a device to prevent water mixed with chemicals or fertilizer from going back down into the aquifer. Backflow prevention has been a required technology for the last 30 years, but the department hadn’t fully enforced it.
Chris Kowitz, the north central region manager for the state’s water resources department, said that mostly stemmed from a lack of staffing capacity and resources.
By September, about 99% of those sites were in compliance with backflow prevention rules.
“Backflow prevention devices play an important role in protecting groundwater,” said Justin Green, the executive director of Water for Eastern Oregon – a member group of agricultural businesses in the Lower Umatilla Basin. “But they are just one of several safeguards and best management practices used on farms to prevent nitrates from reaching the groundwater. Reaching a 99% compliance rate by the end of September is an encouraging sign.”
Lay said he takes less issue with the department’s lack of enforcement, and more with what he says is the agriculture industry’s narrative: that it’s doing all it can to reduce pollution.
“The real takeaway for me is that the industry has constantly said, that they are doing things well, that they are already in compliance, that this is the cutting edge of irrigation and modern nutrient management on Earth, the whole world is in awe of us,” Lay said. “At the same time, basic things like backflow devices are not even happening. That’s remarkable. And I think it throws a lot of cold water on the talking points of that industry.”
Oregon on track to adopt nitrate rules
In December, the Oregon Department of Agriculture opened up public comment on its proposal to require farmers who irrigate on lands larger than 500 acres to create a plan to manage nitrates and test their soils annually. It’s currently reviewing those comments and expects to officially adopt those rules later this year, according to the report.
Agricultural lobbying groups have said testing could be too expensive for smaller farming operations, while environmental advocacy groups say the proposed rules aren’t strict enough.
The report also details the state’s continued efforts to review commercial wastewater permits and prevent industrial processing facilities, such as the Port of Morrow, from applying nitrogen-rich wastewater as fertilizer on irrigated farms.
“Keeping that liquid from being applied right there is a big step forward,” said Karen Lewotsky, the rural partnerships and water policy director at the Oregon Environmental Council. “The challenge, I think, is knowing how effective something like that is. It takes time to track.”
Lewotsky applauded the state’s plan to address the Lower Umatilla Basin’s nitrate issue, but also pointed out the lack of funding to support it. A residential septic system repair and replacement program is not funded, for example, and a lack of agency workers could slow down the state’s efforts, she said.
“We’re ending up in this situation where in the past, perhaps we didn’t have a clear coordinated plan,” she said. “Now we’ve got a really nice coherent plan and it helps illustrate the fact that you can have all the plans in the world, but if you aren’t funding implementation, you have a challenge.”
A 2025 DEQ report found the nitrate problem in the Lower Umatilla Basin has become notably worse over the past decade.
Policymakers say they will keep publishing progress reports and will update the nitrates reduction plan to reflect changing policies and practices.
