The Greater Harney Valley Groundwater Study Advisory Committee held its final meeting Dec. 12-13, in Burns to share the data collected about groundwater resources in the area.

At the Harney County Court meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 18, Commissioner Mark Owens spoke about the findings of the study, which began in 2016 and was conducted by Oregon Water Resources Department and United States Geological Survey (USGS) scientists.

Owens said the “near final numbers” were presented at the meeting, explaining that the report still has to undergo a USGS peer review, with the final report expected to be published in about 10 months.

The numbers that came out on the water budget show that the basin is using 120,000 to 130,000 acre-feet of water more than is coming into the basin.

“I believe that the numbers that are in the study are correct. I believe that the data that was collected is correct,” Owens said.

He went on to say that the next step will be to make management changes on the ground in a controlled and precise manner to try and get the desired outcome. The Greater Harney Valley groundwater area of concern is about 3.1 million acres, and within that area, there are three to four “hot spots” where management is going to need to change sooner rather than later.

The advisory committee asked the state to delineate those areas on the map to explain who will be affected by management changes. The committee also asked the state to provide the base rate of groundwater decline and a base rate of water usage in those areas.

“Until we understand that, we can’t start the discussion on a community level,” Owens said. “Once we have that information, we’ll understand the users in the community who will be directly affected in those areas and can start those conversations.”

The state is expected to provide that data by February.

“I don’t know where it goes. I believe we have to now work through it methodically over 10, 20, 30 years in order to see if the data they collected, the published coefficients they’ve used, actually relate to here in Harney Basin, but it’s what we’re going to be managed off of,” Owens said.

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Bill Wilber attended the meeting to provide the court with an update on the Natural Resources Advisory Committee.

Wilber thanked the court for appointing him to the committee, and said the committee is comprised of intelligent and educated people dedicated to the future of Harney County. He added that the committee can be the court’s offensive in solving difficult problems and take some of the burden off the court. During its first two meetings, the committee met with various agencies. The committee is now asking the court for a directive.

Wilber said that, from his personal experience, the Bureau of Land Management has an “improving, positive attitude of cooperation with landowners and permittees.”

He added that there is some work to be done with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), especially in the areas of landowner preference tags, an overabundance of the elk population, and decreasing deer population.

Wilber said the ODFW’s favorite term for explaining how they do their work is to say that they have a “toolbox,” and he told them that the “toolbox” is empty, and has been empty for a long time.

He said hunters provide a positive economic impact to the community, but if the game numbers decline because of poor management, hunters will go elsewhere.

“The other thing that came up at the meeting was the Forest Service and the fact [that] we don’t salvage dead trees,” Wilber said. “You all know the reasons for that, but I think there’s an opportunity here to make an effort to do something about salvaging dead trees. If you get out in the forest, I don’t know how many of you do, but there’s dead trees everywhere. It’s sickening.”

Wilber said the committee plans to set objectives for 2020 during its meeting in January and the court’s input would be appreciated.

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The court approved an order ratifying its decision to appoint Dan Jenkins as Harney County Sheriff until the next election, effective Jan. 2, 2020.

Owens said that, after the last court meeting when Jenkins was selected to fill the vacancy for sheriff, all three candidates should have been contacted immediately about the appointment. He apologized for the court’s oversight, and said the court will try and make sure nothing like that happens again.

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In other business:

• Rhonda Karges asked about the status of the flood plain map and working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to change the map.

Judge Pete Runnels said they are still one to two years out on the city map, as studies are still ongoing. He added that the goal is to get more accurate numbers than what FEMA has presented. Owens noted that county maps regarding the flood plain should be completed within a year;

• Lynn McClintock, representing the High Desert Park and Recreation District, told the court that the walking trail is going to need a lot of work this spring, including weed control. She said new gravel is also needed and asked the court to help out in any way it can. The court owns the trail, and the Park and Recreation District maintains it;

• the court recognized Virginia Lopez of the Harney County Health Department for her five years of service to the county;

• Commissioner Patty Dorroh noted that Harney County Emergency Management Coordinator Paul Gray earned a certificate of completion from the FEMA National Emergency Basic Academy. The accomplishment will allow Gray to conduct training sessions locally;

• the AlertSense program, which is being used by the county Wolf Advisory Committee, was activated recently to notify subscribers that wolf tracks were confirmed near the junction of Highways 20 and 395;

• Harney County Treasurer Bobbi Jo Heany was asked if the transfer of funds from the county road department to the general fund — which was used to help make up the budget shortfall until December — was paid back. She replied that it was;

• the court approved the appointment of Savanna Cate to the Local Community Advisory Council for the Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization;

• the court approved Resolution No. 2019-34 in the matter of approving the Revised Harney County Investment Policy;

• the court approved the sale of county-owned land (Lot 412). The party purchasing the property will be required to clean up the property, and the court will hold the deed until the clean-up is finished.

The next county court meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, in Judge Runnels’ office in the courthouse.