Although currently on the “back burner”, the water issue I think is particularly important now for Oregon as we look to add 1.5 million Oregonians in the next 20-25 years, about two-thirds in the Willamette Valley.

So this event for Friday caught my eye, in case anyone else is interested: Oil, Water, and Oregon Symposium

Oregon faces significant challenges owing to diminishing oil and water supplies, and increasing demand, but if we act now, we can direct our future. The goal of the symposium is to create a forum for regional business, government, and citizen leaders to expand their understanding of how energy and water issues will impact our part of the world, and begin the process of finding solutions.

My two cents…

Most small town water plans (they are supposed to make 20-year plans) are very limited as they have seen little or no growth for decades.  Yet many (Lafayette, Carlton, Yamhill for example!) are suddenly seeing 20+% growth in the just the next two to three years.  With one million new people expected in the Willamette Valley in the next 20-25 years, these towns have no planning capacity, no planning experience, and no tax base to invest ahead of time.

At the turn of the next century, at the year 2100, how many Oregonians will there be?  8 million? 10 million?  15 million?  There is no stopping it; while the rate of growth is unknown, the direction and general magnitude is clear.

Where will we get the pure, safe drinking water for 10 million Oregonians while

• continuing to offer our exceptional “livability”?
• preserving watershed and wild fish and wildlife and forest health?

How will it be paid for?

Today, Oregon requires planning by cities for 20-year periods.  But Bull Run was not a 20-year water plan.  We can see the growth on the horizon in the expansion of cities across Oregon today. 

Can we take a broader view, identifying solutions now such as new Bull Run-style resevoirs while requiring higher water saving standards in the cities and farms that benefit and by funding stream restoration efforts on not only the streams blocked by resevoirs but also the surrounding watershed to mitigate the impacts?

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 1st, 2006 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Economy, Energy Future, Environment, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.