Schild, assistant research professor at the University of Maine and a former postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oregon’s Oceans and Ice Lab, is part of a team of four professors that traveled in August 2019 to study the role of ice in climate change. Unique in its approach, the goal of the trip was to gather information through a multidisciplinary lens and a self-imposed obligation to gather data and conduct research ethically.

The team leaders were comprised of three UO professors who represent three different disciplines; Mark Carey, professor of history and environmental studies and Director of the Environmental Studies Program; Dave Sutherland, professor of earth sciences and head of the Oceans and Ice Lab; and Casey Shoop, professor of literature.

Funded by the National Science Foundation and the University of Oregon’s Williams Fund, the team’s research sought to understand the interplay between ice and society. For Sutherland, an objective was “to directly observe iceberg melt and movement in the Greenland fjords, in order to improve predictions of iceberg melt for global climate models.”

The sampling in Astoria is part of a statewide effort coordinated by the Oregon Health Authority and Oregon State University. As data accumulates from small- to medium-sized communities across Oregon over the coming months, researchers hope it helps deepen their understanding of how the virus is spreading in an area and perhaps even provide an early warning of an impending outbreak.

But it is an emerging science. Researchers are still considering the implications of the data they collect and how best to interpret it.

However, as Tyler Radniecki, a principal investigator on the sewage surveillance team, noted in July, the samples are only just that: A snapshot.

“The results tell us only what was occurring at the time of sampling, not what is happening today,” he said in a statement at the time. “They should not be interpreted as an indication that any of these communities can relax their vigilance.”

• January 6 Speaker - TBD
• Rollin Hotchkiss  (BYU)
• Lindell Ormsby (U Kentucky)
• Steve Polasky (U MN and Stanford)
• Elowyn Yager  (U Idaho)
• Greg Characklis (U North Carolina)
• Frank Magilligan  (Dartmouth)
• Rafael Tinoco (Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
• David Hondula  (Arizona State Univ.)
• Dr. Tara Troy  (Univ. of Victoria B.C.) 

When the Associated Press called the presidential race for Joe Biden, stakeholders in local water issues started preparing for a federal shakeup.

The last three administrations have been considerably active in Klamath Basin issues regardless of political party. Negotiations for a basin-wide agreement began under the Bush Administration and continued under the Obama Administration until faltering in the House of Representatives — though each president’s approach has varied.

Dan Keppen, executive director of the Family Farm Alliance, said Biden’s experience in the Obama Administration could prove an asset, if he brings a similar approach to the top job.

America's largest dam removal project has been brought back to life with a new agreement among California, Oregon, tribes and a utility owned by billionaire Warren Buffett.

The decadeslong effort to remove four dams on the Klamath River in Northern California that have had a devastating impact on salmon runs had appeared in danger following an unexpected July regulatory order. But in an emotional and triumphant online press conference yesterday, major stakeholders praised a new agreement that could mean the dams start coming down in 2023.

Oregon water regulators may introduce a bill in the upcoming legislative session that would impose new requirements on well drillers to protect groundwater supplies.

The Oregon Water Resources Department is considering a “legislative concept” that would require drillers to provide evidence of their welding skills and would narrow the time they must notify the agency of new installations.

The agency is only able to inspect about 30% of the 3,000 new wells drilled in Oregon each year, which has raised concerns about construction deficiencies, said Racquel Rancier, the department’s senior policy analyst.

“We have never had sufficient resources to inspect all the wells in the state,” she said.

The 'State of the Columbia River Estuary in 2020’ sounds like something fixed. But this report is more about Change.

The Columbia—all rivers—are constantly in a state of change. Just as many tributaries flow into the Columbia, many changes have converged to create the current State of the Estuary since the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership's last report in 2015.

The river has seen dramatic changes in the last five years, like the 2017 Eagle Creek fire and an extensive 7,623 acres of floodplains, wetlands, and other habitat restored.

View the entire report here.

Power has been returned to most of the cities and people are living in Detroit, even though it doesn’t have drinkable water flowing through the city’s pipes.

Detroit has made temporary repairs to its pumps at the Breitenbush intake of its water distribution system and is filling its water system to check for leaks.

“They are finding some,” Detroit Mayor Jim Trett said. “I understand that’s going to take a few days until we find all the leaks. They are going as fast as they can.”

Once all the leaks are found and fixed, the pipes will have to be flushed. When the temporary water filtration system is in place, the pipes will be tested for volatile organic compounds, which are likely to be present due to the heat.

Pipes damaged by heat and producing VOCs will need to be replaced and it could be January or later before drinkable water is flowing to the city again.

Attorneys general from a dozen Western and Plains states sent a letter last year to the Trump administration asking that the proposal be withdrawn.

Republican North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem headed the effort, which was backed by attorneys general from Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Stenehjem said the plan would usurp states’ authority over their own water.

The Oregon Water Resources Commission has awarded $4.8 million in grants to three canal piping projects, two in Central Oregon, for the 2020 cycle of Water Project Grants and Loans. 

The following projects were awarded funding:

Tumalo Irrigation District’s Deschutes Basin Flow Restoration Group 3 Project (Deschutes County) was awarded $1.2 million to improve irrigation efficiency by installing a closed piping system and protecting the conserved water in Tumalo Creek.  The improvements would serve to deliver pressurized water to patrons and eliminate the need for wasteful retention ponds.

East Fork Irrigation District’s Eastside Lateral Pipeline & Water Conservation Project (Hood River County) was awarded $2 million to replace 6 miles of open irrigation canals with pipe and eliminate end spills. The conserved water would benefit the East Fork Hood River during periods of low flow.

Lone Pine Irrigation District’s Modernization Project (Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson counties) received a $1.6 million award to pipe 10.5 miles of open canals and construct a new river crossing for the delivery system.  System efficiencies would be achieved in addition to legally protecting the conserved water instream.

From the moment you arrive at the soaring timbered entrance and pass through the private gates, it’s clear that Tanager stands out among Central Oregon’s most desirable boutique, waterfront residential communities.

With two private lakes and frontage to one of the area’s most beautiful rivers, Tumalo Creek, Tanager offers incredible opportunities for those looking for an exclusive waterfront lifestyle. The premier waterski and wakeboard lake is 2,100 feet long and features a turnaround island, boat harbor with a dock and mooring slips, a beach with sand imported from the Oregon coast, and a picnic area with a shelter, restroom and shower. The recreational lake, which is exclusively for non-motorized activities, is 8-acres in size and perfect for swimming, paddle boarding, canoeing, and kayaking. It is stocked with fish and has a dock from which to fish or launch small watercraft.

The countywide assessment was scheduled for completion by the end of this year, but King said it will now likely be finished by early spring. Assessments will be added to an expanded inventory of potential small hydro projects that could be tied to the existing electric grid and lower landowner power costs.

The county’s history of micro hydropower generation dates back to the early 20th century. In 1921, numerous small hydropower plants were replaced by the Wallowa Falls Hydroplant above Wallowa Lake that ultimately powered four different valley towns.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Oregon Health Authority are looking into elevated levels of dioxins, a group of toxic chemical compounds, in soil samples taken around the J.H. Baxter Street wood treatment facility, south of Roosevelt Boulevard in Eugene. 

The 31-acre site at 85 Baxter St. has been an active wood treatment facility since the early 1940s. Historical spills and operational practices have resulted in soil and groundwater ​contamination, the DEQ release said.  Additionally, the facility has had issues with air emissions and concerns from residents about odors and possible health effects related to the facility.  

This fall, for the first time in almost 50 years, adult and juvenile Chinook salmon were able to migrate freely through several rivers in northwestern Oregon, including the waters of Clear Creek in the Nestucca watershed. For decades, an outdated culvert—a barrier built across a river that alters its flow—impeded five fish species from completing their migration journey up these creeks.

Now, a partnership project on Oregon’s North Coast is reestablishing over 180 miles of riverine habitat. The project will encompass six major coastal rivers that feed Tillamook and Nestucca bays and represent some of the best opportunities for salmon and steelhead recovery in the continental United States.  

The Salmon SuperHwy, a collaboration that includes the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Forest Service, local businesses, Tillamook County, and the advocacy group Trout Unlimited, is working to reconnect historical fish habitat, reduce chronic flooding, improve recreation opportunities, and boost the local economy.

About 400 miles of fish-bearing streams and 2,500 miles of other waterways were affected by wildfires that burned 1 million acres of forests in the state this year, said Kyle Abraham, chief of the Oregon Department of Forestry’s private forests division.

“After severe fire, soils once held together by vegetation and protected by ground cover no longer have the ability to retain water or the root support to prevent erosion,” Abraham testified Dec. 7 before the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

Towns in the Santiam Canyon area, including Detroit, Gates, Lyons, Mehama and Stayton, face high potential risk to their water supplies, as do Estacada and Roseburg, he said.

Overall, about 1 million people in Oregon experienced wildfires in areas that serve as their water sources this year, said Joel Cary, chair of the Oregon Water Utility Council.

Natel Energy, a supplier of sustainable hydropower solutions, today announced the successful completion of the Monroe Hydro Project with the installation of its 1 MW class D190 Restoration Hydro Turbine (RHT), and 100% safe fish passage test results from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

The Monroe Hydro Project in Madras, Oregon is a first-of-its-kind design making use of an existing irrigation canal and a new fish safe turbine technology to generate reliable, renewable energy. With the installation of the commercially released 1 MW class D190 RHT, the site will now contribute 100% renewable energy to the local grid. 

• City of Salem - Drinking Water Improvements, $20 million
• Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation, $14 million
• Deschutes Basin Board of Control Piping Project, $10 million
• City of Sweet Home - Wastewater Treatment Plant, $7 million
• City of Newport - Big Creek Dams, $4.1 million
• City of Hood River - Waterfront Stormwater Line, $1.7 million

• Water Supply Development Account, $15 million
• Levee Grant Program, $15 million
• Storm Drainage Improvements, $1.88 million