60 Ways to Leave Your Water – Cleaner: Support and Progress for Implementing a Groundwater Protection Plan

60 Ways to Leave Your Water – Cleaner:  Progress and Support for Implementing a Groundwater Protection Plan
In Oregon, a Groundwater Management Area (GWMA) to address water quality issues can be declared when monitoring demonstrates a large geographic area with groundwater nitrate levels at or above the Action Level of 7 parts per million.  After several testing events, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) knew it was faced with large-scale groundwater contamination of a mostly rural agricultural area.  The ODEQ realized early on that in order to gain acceptance for resolving such an issue in the Southern Willamette Valley, full community involvement and acceptance would be necessary.  ODEQ sought input from residents and concerned individuals from the onset of the groundwater investigation; asked for their concurrence to proceed to a resolution to address contamination sources; and instituted a “Groundwater Management Area” (GWMA) Action Plan which requested that all who live and work in the GWMA take some actions to protect the groundwater on a regular basis.  Despite budgetary concerns and a overlying reluctance to create more ‘government’, there was considerable support coming from all sectors to move forward with the GWMA.  This talk will present the planning process, the results of implementing the Action Plan over the last 2+ years, as well as the corresponding (and surprising) groundwater data.