Drought and Water

Earlier this week, senators Tammy Baldwin and Susan Collins introduced the bipartisan Healthy Drinking Water Affordability Act, or The Healthy H2O Act.  Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat and Collins, a Maine Republican, say the bill will provide water testing and treatment technology grants directly to individuals and non-profits in rural communities.  Current...

Earlier this week, the EPA proposed the first-ever national drinking water standard for PFAS chemicals.  As part of EPA's PFAS Strategic Roadmap, the agency proposed to establish legally enforceable levels for six PFAS known to occur in drinking water.  Th...

The Oregon snowpack, and specifically the southern Oregon snowpack, is looking great for this time of year.  According to NRCS-Oregon, the Lake County-Goose Lake Basin is at 147% of average, the Owyhee is 140% of normal snowfall, and the Harney Basin is sitting at 156% of average.  In fact...

The U.S. House voted last week to repeal, on a largely symbolic 227-198 vote, the EPA’s controversial WOTUS rule.  The Senate could follow suit as soon as this week.  Democrats argued clean water is a human right that will suffer with the GOP’s move.  However nine Democrats, inclu...

Wildfires took center stage during a Senate Budget Committee hearing in Washington D.C. Wednesday.  Oregon’s senior Senator stressed that more must be done on the federal level to prevent wildfires and improve the workforce tasked with battle these blazes when they start.   “These...

It may be cold with snow on the ground, but the U.S. Forest Service is already looking to the fire season ahead.  Oregon’s ongoing drought, more frequent heatwaves and less rain and snow, mean longer and more intense fire seasons.   “The h...

When it comes to the snowpack in Washington’s higher elevations, it’s not looking bad; but it’s also not looking fabulous.  That’s how Scott Pattee with NRCS-Washington is describing the statewide snowpack, which is sitting at 99% of average.  Pattee noted while the Northwes...

Over the past couple of years, demand for water in the Harney Basin has increased while groundwater levels in the region have decreased.  Now the Oregon Water Resources Department is slated to begin rulemaking which intends to address those declining groundwater levels in the basin.   ...

The Northwest has seen several storms over the past couple of weeks, boosting the snowpack numbers.  But unfortunately, those storms have done very little to address the on-going drought.  Climatologist Zach Hoylman said the Pacific Northwest has seen cooler than average temperatures this winter, helping the region’s snowpack.  But, he was quick to po...

The Northwest remains very dry with two dozen days to go to spring.   According to the latest drought numbers, 92% of Oregon is Abnormally Dry, while 77% of the state is under a D-1, or Moderate Drought, designation.  Both of those figures increased over the past week.  Meanwhile, S...