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April 2019
H2Oregon

In This Issue
  • Oregon State University News
  • Oregon Water Events
  • Oregon Water News

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Visit our website at water.oregonstate.edu

Contact Us
Institute for Water and Watersheds
Oregon State University
234 Strand Agricultural Hall
Corvallis, OR 97331-2208
Phone: 541-737-9918
iww@oregonstate.edu
There has been lots of water news lately- check out what's been happening!
Oregon State University News
A novel CO2 sequestration project at Wallula, Washington, USA, makes ample use of the geoscientific data collection of the old nuclear waste repository project at the Hanford Site nearby. Both projects target the Columbia River Basalt (CRB). In the ideal case, the waste container is in thermodynamic equilibrium with the host-rock groundwater regime. The CRB groundwater has what it takes to represent the ideal case.

OSU Hydrogeology Alum Joel Geier publishes a paper in the same issue of Hydrogeology Journal on modeling fluid flow in fractured granitic rocks at one of the two approved high-level waste repositories under construction (subscription access)
Oregon Water Events
Drone footage captures flooding in Corvallis that caused the closure of about two miles of Oregon Highway 34.

View the news article here.
Senator Jeff Merkley secured funding for irrigation modernization projects in the Tumalo Irrigation District. Watch the video on supporting irrigation modernization by clicking on the image above or this link here.
Oregon Water News
The Riverwalk project is set to break ground in late spring of 2020. It will repurpose one of the former mill buildings into an overlook structure where people can view the falls and the Willamette River. It will also restore “habitat and gathering spaces as well as historic and cultural interpretation of the site,” according to a news release.  
Deschutes County has tried for nearly two decades to redirect development from areas of the southern part of the county to a planned neighborhood in La Pine, but a local builder says the program makes it difficult to build inexpensive homes in La Pine.
“We are managing flows in a way to protect the downstream public from flood to the extent we are able, and to maintain space in the reservoirs to avoid uncontrollable releases,” said Ross Hiner, Portland District Dam Safety program manager, in a news release Monday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The measure would also prevent companies from using the coast to support drilling activities in federal waters that aren’t regulated by state law. There hasn’t been any offshore drilling along the Oregon coast in more than a half-century, but supporters of the ban are worried that the Trump administration's efforts to open up more offshore drilling locations would lead to activity here.

The ban exempts "exploration for scientific or academic research purposes".

There are currently no fracking operations in Oregon. But developers say there's potential for coalbed methane extraction in the Willamette Valley, which this bill would also block.
The cities of Albany and Millersburg built the wetland in 2010, utilizing a system of small ponds to gradually cleanse residential and commercial wastewater on its way to the Willamette River. Water runs from sewers to a nearby treatment facility before entering the marsh for a final cleansing process.
Supporters of House Bill 2656, dubbed the “Oregon Safe Waters Act,” say those forest activities degrade water supplies with sediments, chemical and thermal pollution and other contaminants, also increasing the risk of wildfires, flooding, and landslides.

Salinas said the bill is especially important right now because forest operations are exempted from the sweeping carbon reduction bill expected to pass this session. House Bill 2020, the "Clean Energy Jobs" bill, would make the state’s largest greenhouse gas emitters pay for their emissions.
At issue is the Columbia River Treaty, a transboundary agreement that has governed flood risk management and hydropower production for more than five decades. The treaty is evergreen, meaning it doesn't have an end date unless either nation decides to sever the agreement following a 10-year notice. Neither side has given that notice, but both are engaged in talks led by the U.S. State Department and Global Affairs Canada aimed at updating the treaty, The Lewiston Tribune reports.

Under the current terms, the way flood risk is managed changes dramatically in 2024, and that could affect Idaho water. The treaty was precipitated in part by the 1948 Vanport Flood near Portland, Ore., that killed 15 people and displaced more than 18,000 who lived in a low-lying development.

A “catastrophic failure” of a water main caused millions of gallons of water to flood streets, homes and businesses in Northeast Portland on Saturday, Portland Water Bureau officials said.

A 30-inch-diameter pipe gave way around noon near the intersection of Northeast 23rd Avenue and Skidmore Street, the authorities said. A geyser was seen bursting several feet into the air from the site of the break.
Edited by Kei Lin Chang
Copyright © 2018 Institute for Water and Watersheds, All rights reserved.

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Institute for Water and Watersheds - Oregon State University · 234 Strand Agricultural Hall · Oregon State University · Corvallis, Oregon 97331 · USA

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