Since September 2007 Benton County (OR) has worked to establish a path forward to develop a countywide water quantity and quality assessment. This community-based effort will be a first step to ensure a sustainable water supply for Benton County and Willamette Basin citizens, their livelihoods, and their environment through time. This has resulted in the Benton County Water Project (BCWP).
The project is under the direction of visionary Benton County Commissioner Linda Modrell and Water Project Coordinator Adam Stebbins. We're fortunate to have two such people leading the effort.
I currently serve on the Steering Committee for the project. Last year we completed Phase I of the project, with funding from the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD), and are currently involved in Phase II.
But I'm not here to discuss the BCWP.
Benton County shares the Upper Willamette Basin with Lane and Linn Counties, so the county's water future is not entirely within its own hands, but is intimately linked to the other two political jurisdictions. This fact has been obvious to many of us but became painfully apparent during Phase I of the BCWP.
Realizing this, Commissioner Modrell convened an informal group consisting of elected officials from the other two jurisdictions (Lane County Commissioners Bill Fleenor and Rob Handy; Linn County Commissioners Roger Nyquist and Will Tucker) and some municipalities (Albany Mayor Sharon Konopa) in the counties to discuss water and related issues. There are also some resource people who attend meetings, myself included, along with Adam Stebbins, Brenda Bateman and Bill Ferber of OWRD, Mike Wolski of the City of Albany, and Denise Kalakay of the Lane Council of Governments.
The OWRD is supportive of this tri-county effort, which has been unofficially labeled the Upper Willamette Counties Water Resources Study Group.
Here is the UWCWRSG's (nice acronym!) unofficial statement of purpose:
To ensure an adequate supply of clean water for all stakeholders and beneficial uses and inform the decision-making of Local, State, and Federal entities, the Upper Willamette Counties Water Resources Study Group will: 1) comprehensively examine shared water resources quantity and quality issues; and 2) work collaboratively and efficiently towards addressing water issues that are common to multiple jurisdictions and stakeholders.
Adam Stebbins prepared this presentation for our first meeting in April:
Download Water progress across counties_stebbins_lane_linn_benton_09
We have had two meetings and I have been impressed with the elected officials, their interest level, and curiosity. And I can't say enough about the resource people.
This effort is not designed to produce a tri-county water plan; each county wants to maintain its sovereignty with regard to water planning and its first cousin, land-use planning. At this point, we're just talking and exploring options.
So why bother talking about this effort? Because it illustrates how "it" should work, "it" being the examination of water and land futures at the sub-state level. Note that neither the state nor the Feds imposed this group and its statement of purpose on the three counties. This is a bottom-up approach under the leadership of some elected officials and citizens who realize that our counties' water futures are intertwined and that we need to discuss issues of mutual concern. Where that discussion will lead is unclear at this point.
But this is the way "it" should happen and I'm honored to be a part of the effort.
“It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” -- Ursula K. LeGuin
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