The U.S. Geological Survey and Oregon Department of Water Resources conducted a groundwater flow study of the Harney Basin to inform planning for future groundwater management.
The report on groundwater resources in the Harney Basin reveals groundwater development has increased in the past dozen years, for large-scale irrigation, while some areas have seen the groundwater levels decrease by more than 100 feet. Groundwater development has been limited until the Oregon Water Resources Department can get a better understanding of the groundwater-flow system in the area. The investigation encompasses the groundwater hydrology of the 5,240-square-mile Harney Basin.
"This new study is a tool for understanding and managing the basin’s groundwater resources," OWRD Groundwater Section Manager Justin Iverson said in an April 12 news release. "With it, we have a refined understanding of the basin water budget and rates of groundwater declines in different portions of the basin. Unfortunately, the results of the study indicate that groundwater is over-allocated and that groundwater- level declines in some areas are worse than anticipated. In order to achieve reasonably stable groundwater levels, groundwater use needs to be reduced in the basin, particularly in areas experiencing the greatest decline. This study provides us with an excellent technical foundation on which to work in partnership with the basin stakeholders to build strategies to manage the basin’s groundwater resource sustainably."
"Our groundwater study team compiled and analyzed a substantial amount of data including geologic maps, satellite imagery, climate, streamflow and water-level measurements, geologic logs from hundreds of wells and water-chemistry to better understand the amount, source and age of groundwater flowing through the basin,” said Stephen Gingerich, USGS research hydrologist and lead investigator on the study. “With these efforts, we’ve greatly improved our knowledge of the groundwater system and how it’s affected by recent agricultural pumpage."
