Deep wells lead a race to the bottom for Oregon's groundwater.
Managing and mismanaging Oregon’s groundwater
Oregon officials managing the state’s groundwater supplies have fueled crises and inequities, leaving the state ill-prepared to meet the growing challenges of drought and climate change. OPB’s Emily Cureton Cook tells us about a series of stories she is working on looking into the management of groundwater across Eastern Oregon.
Tundra swans spend the winter at Summer Lake State Wildlife Area in Southern Oregon's Lake County, Feb. 18, 2022.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
Race to the bottom: Draining Summer Lake
Oregon has protected land at Summer Lake Wildlife Area since 1944. Water is another story.
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A path cut by an irrigation pivot leads through pastureland near Ironside, Oregon on Nov. 16, 2021.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
Race to the bottom: How big business took over Oregon’s first protected aquifer
A remote corner of Eastern Oregon is emblematic of how state officials have long ignored water sustainability concerns.
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Susan Burdick shows a picture of what her tap water looked like after she paid to build a new well at her home in Deschutes County, Oregon in August 2020. Months later, she paid to drill deeper in order to improve the water quality. July 1, 2022.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
Race to the bottom: How Central Oregon groundwater sells to the highest bidders
As more wells go dry, a developer in Oregon's fastest growing region maneuvers for water rights.
Drillers work to bore a domestic well at a new rural home site about ten miles east of Bend, Oregon. July 5, 2022.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
Homeowners, developers and farmers compete for groundwater in Central Oregon
Large developers are still getting rights to extract groundwater in Central Oregon, even while an increasing number of residential wells are running dry. OPB’s Bend bureau chief Emily Cureton Cook tells us about one development near Redmond and what it reveals about the state’s ability and willingness to regulate groundwater.
Oregon regulators are supposed to safeguard sustainable water supplies, but instead officials managing groundwater have fueled crises and inequities, leaving the state ill-prepared to meet the growing challenges of human-caused climate change and drought. Is it too late to stop a race to the bottom?
