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46 of 150 jobs on block; fees seen as
way to plug gap Water
budget drained
Mitch Lies
Capital Press
SALEM - Water users from across
the state came to Salem on Monday, April 6, to
support the Oregon Water Resources Department
and protest proposed budget cuts.
In testimony before the Ways and Means
Subcommittee on Natural Resources, Rick George
of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation termed the cuts "a problem
for Oregon and a problem for Oregon's economy."
Among positions targeted for cuts is the
department's lone liaison between it and Indian
tribes.
Craig Campbell of the Umatilla Electric
Cooperative said the department "never has been
robustly funded." Reducing its funding could
adversely affect an agricultural economy
dependent on timely department action, he said.
Umatilla County Commissioner Dennis Doherty said
the proposed budget cuts will hinder the
department's ability to move forward with
long-term water plans.
Polk County Commissioner Mike Probst echoed
Doherty's concerns, saying: "We don't have a
lack of water. We have a lack of planning."
Cuts proposed last week would eliminate 30
percent of the department's general funds and 46
of its approximately 150 positions. The cuts
remove positions across the board, including
field staff, office staff, scientists, water
right application processors and data
collectors. Administrative support for field
offices is essentially gutted under the proposed
cuts.
Scientists and engineers whose jobs are at risk
under the cuts will be the hardest to replace if
and when the economy improves, OWRD Director
Phil Ward said.
In explaining the ramification of the cuts to
the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Natural
Resources, Ward said the cuts "will lengthen the
time it takes for us to get to these (water
permit) applications."
"The hardship goes to our user community
applying for water rights," he said.
As much as any state agency, the Oregon Water
Resources Department is heavily dependent on
general funds. The funds account for $25.4
million of the department's $33.7 million total
two-year budget.
Michael Carrier, the governor's natural
resources policy adviser, told committee members
Tuesday, April 7, the governor in his
recommended budget supported spending $2.5
million on moving to the next phase of an
aquifer recharge project started last year in
the Umatilla Basin. But that budget was
developed last fall, Carrier said, before the
current economic crisis came to light.
The governor will sit down with the Ways and
Means co-chairs in May after the next revenue
forecast and decide then if he still backs
moving forward with the aquifer recharge
program, Carrier said.
Most people involved in the budget expect the
project - like other new programs - will be put
on the shelf.
Lawmakers aren't expected to finish agency
budgets until after the May revenue forecast - a
forecast expected to show a revenue shortfall
topping $4 billion.
Department backers currently are circulating at
least two bills that could generate additional
funds for the department. Senate Bill 740 seeks
to establish a biennial fee of $100 for
water-rights administration. The bill caps the
amount any individual will be responsible to pay
at $200.
Irrigation districts and other larger entities
would be capped at $1,200.
If enacted, SB 740 could generate between $6
million and $8 million a biennium, according to
David Moskowitz, a lobbyist for conservation
groups.
Also on the table is a bill to increase the fee
for well construction start cards.
Staff writer Mitch Lies is based in Salem.
E-mail: mlies@capitalpress.com.
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