“'Fragmented' structure key hurdle in Lower Umatilla Basin water issues”

By Berit Thorson | East Oregonian | June 15, 2024

“The committee responding to contaminated groundwater in the Lower Umatilla Basin needs to improve communications with the public. But that’s no easy task given the nitrates in the groundwater come from different sources and the problem intersects with multiple regulators and requires solutions of varying levels.

That was the thrust of the message outside liaison Jane Hill delivered Friday, June 14, to the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area Committee.

“Everything you have to work with here is fragmented,” she said in her presentation to the committee.

Hill, who the National Policy Consensus Center hired in January as a liaison to help with interagency coordination, gave a review of what she has noticed in the six months since joining the team.”

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