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Measure 49 will protect groundwater, rural areas

October 20 , 2007

By Arthur Comolli for The Bend Bulletin

Soon, Oregonians will begin voting in a special election that will impact our state for generations to come. Measure 49, one of two measures on ballots due Nov. 6, will fix the problems posed by the controversial Measure 37.

Measure 37 was sold as a way to provide property owners a chance to build a few homes for their children or for their retirement. But that’s not how it has turned out. The poorly written measure is filled with unintended consequences.

Two of the most important and perhaps least understood consequences of Measure 37 are especially relevant here in Central Oregon: impact on groundwater resources and increase in fire risk.

Almost all rural residents here rely on groundwater. We are a High Desert region, and all our water was fully allocated long ago. But Measure 37 development is progressing regardless of whether or not it can be supported by the groundwater resources of the Deschutes basin.

Across the state, there are 4,973 Measure 37 demands for subdivisions ranging from four to 17,000 houses on roughly 681,000 acres. In Central Oregon, Measure 37 claims affect 99,000 acres of farm and forestland.

The wells that will be drilled to support these new rural subdivisions are exempt from permitting and regulatory requirements. The Oregon Water Resources Department has little information on how groundwater is affected by a single new well, let alone by the wells to support a 1,000-lot subdivision like the Measure 37 claim filed on 4,000 acres outside of Prineville.

As Measure 37 subdivisions spring up on farm and forestlands where they were never contemplated, neighboring residents in Central Oregon are right to worry that they could lose their own wells, along with their home values.

The Oregon State Fire Fighters Council has endorsed Measure 49. Firefighters are well aware of the fire risks posed by rural subdivisions.

Central Oregon is at high risk for wildfires. Ponderosa forests burn, on average, every seven years. Residents near Sisters were evacuated this year for the second summer in a row, as thousands of acres of our forests went up in flames. Far from the nearest fire district, this summer the rural Juniper Acres subdivision in Crook County was severely threatened by wildfire.

The large rural subdivisions proposed by Measure 37 claims in Central Oregon would mean we either pay a lot more for firefighters and ambulance medics or wait a lot longer for them. The Measure 37 claims filed to date are almost all on working farm and forest- lands, miles from the nearest fire station or hospital.

Fire trucks and ambulances will be drawn into distant reaches of Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties. The time spent in travel will be time unavailable to respond to other emergencies. Because our country roads weren’t built for big trucks, response times will be especially slow, giving fires time to grow. Our local budgets are already strained, and we will be hard put to find the millions of dollars needed to build and staff new fire stations.

Everyone I talk to about Measure 37 thought it was about helping small individual landowners build a few houses. No one thought it would mean a pumice mine on East Lake at Newberry Crater or subdivisions on Steens Mountain. No one foresaw threats to our groundwater resources or increased risks associated with fire.

All this is why Measure 49 is so badly needed.

Measure 49 restores the balance between fairness to property owners on the one hand and protection of our natural resources on the other. Measure 49 allows landowners to add a few homes on their property, if they could do so when they bought it. But it limits housing subdivisions in rural areas where they don’t belong.

Measure 49 helps individual landowners who have a valid Measure 37 claim. Unlike Measure 37, it makes sure landowners’ development rights can be passed on to their heirs, as well as to new owners.

A growing number of organizations support Measure 49, including Brooks Resources Corp., Oregon Business Association, Jefferson County Farm Bureau, Friends of the Metolius, Ecumenical
Ministries of Oregon, US Bank, Oregon Farm Bureau Federation, the League of Women Voters of Oregon and the Oregon State Fire Fighters Council.

Measure 49 restores the balance between protecting the rights of individual property owners and protecting our natural resources. Please vote “yes” on Measure 49.

Arthur Comolli lives in Bend.

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