“Oregon water audit long on plans, short on enforcement”

January 26, 2023 Jean B Font

By Antonio Sierra | OPB | January 26, 2023

An Oregon Secretary of State’s Office audit released on Thursday painted a dire picture of the state’s water management system, but its authors frequently stopped short of blaming the agencies in charge of distributing and regulating one of Oregon’s most precious resources. The audit was subtitled, “State Leadership Must Take Action to Protect Water Security for All Oregonians,” but it fails to mention major industries that have had deleterious effects on the state’s water supplies, including agriculture and developers. The actions suggested by the audit were less direct than the solutions offered by the communities affected by drought, who were more likely to identify the sources of Oregon’s water problems and where the agencies in charge of regulating them were falling short.