Subcommittee Chairperson, and U. S. Representative Cliff Bentz of the Natural Resources Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries, Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and other members of congress met with a panel of stakeholders for a discussion on the future of water in the Deschutes basin and the Pacific Northwest. An objective of the congressional field hearing was to assess the importance of collaboration in the basin and its impact on agriculture and species recovery. The collaboration is in reference to the Deschutes Basin Habitat Conservation Plan reached between the irrigation districts, US Fish and Wildlife, The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, conservation groups and the public, and signed December 2020. It governs water usage over a 30-year period.
The meeting was held October 8 at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds conference room. The stakeholders served as witnesses, to whom the committee members posed questions.
Witnesses included Bobby Brunoe, Sec/Treas/CEO of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Jeff Larkin of Redmond, Dr. Trish Backsen of Haystack Farm & Feeds, Culver and Oregon Feed & Irrigation in Redmond, Pat Gaylord, Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon, and Anthony DeBone, Deschutes County Commissioner.
Both Bentz and Chavez-DeRemer stated that the Deschutes Basin has been a poster child for effective collaboration on the sharing of water resources in the basin. This is the first time a subcommittee hearing was held remotely, evidencing the success of collaboration in our region. The subcommittee wanted to learn from our success and identify what tools have been used. Bentz stated that our Deschutes basin is the second largest water basin in Oregon, almost seven million acres. We recognize water users are being damaged by the Endangered Species Act, so what can be done to reduce and mitigate that damage?
Congresswoman Val Hoyle noted that the tribes had managed the forests for thousands of years, but federal forests have done poorly in the last century. She asked Brunoe how tribal forest management is different than federal forest management and how can we bring your success onto our federal lands? Brunoe stated “a stark difference is visible on our side of the forest boundary. We actively manage our forests - we do a lot of fuel reduction work, we treat areas where bug infestations have hit, and we treat an area after a wildland fire. We have 440,000 acres and had lightning strikes this summer, but we didn’t get the large fires like some other places did, perhaps because of our prevention treatments. He added that they could do more but need more funding.”
Chavez-DeRemer asked Backsen is there anything the federal government can do to help farmers and small business owners to mitigate those drought challenges? Backson replied “Fish & Wildlife is supposed to manage the recovery plan for the Oregon spotted frog but is not providing frog counts or releasing any public information on progress. The water districts have given them around $150,000 per year to manage recovery, in four years in that’s $600,000, but they have only spent $50,000 as of the end of 2023. How do we know if any of the measures are working? If we don’t get rid of the invasive bull frogs, the spotted frog won’t make it.”
Chavez-DeRemer asked about homeowners insurance given the wildland fires. Larkin responded “There is no guarantee for new buyers. In CO, the irrigated lands typically surround the city, providing a fire buffer, but as they lose irrigation water, that fire protection buffer is reduced.”
Congresswoman Maloy stated that sometimes the federal government can be an impediment to local governments being able to achieve their goals, and asked Commissioner DeBone what impediments can we help remove. DeBone answered “Empower the state to be clear, decisive and responsive to water needs at the local level.”
Congresswoman Hoyle discussed how the fires are getting hotter and are affecting our water table. We don’t have enough housing, but we must think about where we can build housing where there is water and the houses won’t burn. Hoyle asked Brunoe about the relationship between forest health and water management. Brunoe stated “Thinking about forest health and healthy watershed - healthy wetlands help capture water. Many systems are not healthy, and we have a lot of restoration work to do.”
Congressman Newhouse addressed the concept of minimum stream flows for irrigation and called on Backson, who stated “The future is pretty bad. You don’t have enough water to irrigate, but you cannot subdivide less than 80 acres. She suggested reducing junipers because of the amount of water they consume, and they are explosive if they catch fire. They are invasive. Removing more junipers will help the pines. We don’t seem to clean up after a major fire, which leaves fuel on the ground “
When asked about federal control of groundwater, Brunoe stated “We have a water settlement agreement with the government on our lands. The tribes are the oldest water rights holder in the Deschutes basin. We have to look out for our rights, that they not affected by others creating injury on our water rights.”
Chavez-DeRemer asked Gaylord who utilizes the survey data, and how it fits into this discussion. Gaylord replied “The data is collected and housed at the USGS and standardized across the country. It allows scientists to use analytical tools to look at the watersheds.”
Maloy asked Larkin as representative of the livestock industry, what impediments can be removed at the federal level and what aspects are working? Larken replied: “I don’t rely on them. The fires are burning our grazing lands, and we don’t see any relief. A lot of our people feel alone. 1600 cattle were lost to fire this summer.” DeBone suggested more USDA meat processors in Oregon.
Bentz asked Brunoe about the balance between local and federal input. Brunoe stated “A Place and space for everybody to be heard. Having everyone at the table to hear their views, open dialog and listen to move forward with good strategies and solutions. Need creative ideas.”
Chavez-DeRemer asked “What is the most meaningful message we can bring to our constituents re: water? Backsen stated “We need to see things get done. This plan calls for more water releases from the reservoir, so there won’t be enough water in the future.”
The other subcommittee members are U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl, (R-Ala.), U.S. Rep. Doug La Malfa, (R.-CA), U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT), U.S, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), and U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle, (D-OR).
The hearing was recorded as a video, and can be viewed on the Committee on National Resources website at: National Resources.house.gov.
The subcommittee invited written comments on issues discussed in the meeting. You can reach Cliff Bentz at: https://bentz.house.gov or Lori Chavez-Deremer at: https://chavez-deremer.house.gov
Brunoe spoke about the meeting afterwards stating "We can all agree this work is a priority, and we urge Congress to continue and grow support for collaboration throughout the Basin by creating new authorities and funding mechanisms for Tribal co-management. The Warm Springs people have been here since time immemorial. We’re not going anywhere. Our neighbors are going to be here forever. We’ve all decided to be working together to come up with solutions and ways to take care of the water. We get a lot more work done working together than alone."
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