Lower Umatilla Groundwater Management Area

Lower Umatilla Groundwater Management Area 

After nearly thirty years of hydrogeologic investigations and implementing voluntary practices to reduce nitrogen input to the groundwater systems, Senate Bill 1562 was introduced in 2020 due to interest in developing an "implementation plan to improve groundwater quality and obtain full or partial removal of groundwater management area designation from Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area.” DEQ policy staff drafted legislative concept (LC 580) to evaluate the efficacy of Oregon’s Groundwater Quality Act which includes the GWMAs. The Oregon Department of Agriculture is funding a postdoc housed at IWW to harmonize existing data collected over the past 30 years from various state agencies.