REDMOND, OR -- Redmond officials have been working with a state board to increase its allocation of groundwater to accommodate future growth. Mayor Ed Fitch tells KBND News it appears the request will be denied, "We did get a preliminary letter from the Water Resources Department, saying that it’s unlikely they’re going to approve our permit for additional groundwater. They have offered to allow us a rate increase, which would allow us to pump more water in the summer. But not a volume increase, for the need for water long-term."

Fitch says, "Right now, the city’s in actually fairly good shape, water-wise. We are bumping up against our limit for pumping in the summertime, so that’s why the rate is important. But we have enough water to sustain the city for the next 15 years or so." But under state law, Fitch says, the city is required to plan for water use beyond that. Other Central Oregon cities struggle with the same issue. "We are going to look at convening all our legislators and others with an interest in water in the Deschutes Basin, in May, to craft a proposal to the Legislature that would allow the cities to have certainty of access to water in the future," says Fitch, "And give cities the ability to plan long-term and to assure new businesses, new developers, new people that there will be water available when they come to Redmond or Bend or La Pine or whatever city there is in the Deschutes Basin."

He’s frustrated city water systems are limited by the state, when 17,000 unregulated wells in Deschutes County pump water out with no limitations. Fitch also notes cities in the Deschutes Basin use about 3% of the groundwater; the vast majority of the rest is used for agriculture.