Tomorrow's groundwater, today's challenge
Agriculture researcher Betty Klepper explains water in the Umatilla River Basin

By BETTY KLEPPER Umatilla County Critical Groundwater Taskforce

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third in a series of biweekly articles by members of the Umatilla County Critical Groundwater Taskforce about the work the group has been doing.

Have you ever looked at the water in the Umatilla River and thanked your lucky stars? You probably couldn't make a living here if we did not have this essential resource. Without the waters of the Umatilla River Basin, our region would be much less developed and prosperous than it is today.

The Umatilla River flows from high in the Blue Mountains to the Columbia River and drains an area of nearly 2,500 square miles. This drainage area is the Umatilla River Basin. Within the basin, terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, native and cultivated plants, and humans and their domesticated animals all depend on the precipitation that falls inside the basin boundaries for their water.

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