Document text
By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune November 03. 2014 2:00AM Well owners can help map groundwater quality Scott Curry, of Rogue River, stands at his pumphouse Friday. Curry is volunteering to have his well tested as part of a state Department of Environmental Quality groundwater study. Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch Scott Curry is a water engineer by trade who works on municipal water-treatment plants, so the groundwater well and storage tank on his 13-acre rural Rogue River property gets his personal and professional eye. At 20 gallons a minute, it has a strong connection to the aquifer 500 feet below. When he deepened the well four years ago, water-quality tests showed it to be clean of pesticides, bacteria and even naturally occurring arsenic found in bedrock throughout the Rogue Valley. "It tastes really good," Curry says. "Good, clean water shouldn't taste like anything, but I would like to have it tested again." Curry hopes to get that well tested again, but without shelling out the $650 to do so. He's volunteered his well as part of an upcoming state Department of Environmental Quality study meant to gauge whether the valley floor is indeed a "hot spot" for groundwater contamination. DEQ officials want to sample 60 wells around Grants Pass and the main Jackson County urban areas for everything from arsenic and ions contributing to water hardness to pesticide and herbicide residues that could have leached into groundwater reserves 20 or more years ago. In exchange for allowing their wells to be used as portals in the study, the landowners' names and addresses  will remain anonymous and they will receive written reports on exactly what's in their well water. The data will allow DEQ to determine whether and what contaminants pose health risks to people relying on groundwater here and help educate landowners on how to treat their water. "The folks allowing us to sample their water get something, and we get something," says Audrey Eldridge, a DEQ senior hydrogeologist overseeing the study. Using volunteer well owners will save the agency from having to drill test wells that cost anywhere from $4,000 to $20,000. Interested well owners can apply through Nov. 30 by emailing [email protected]. The sampling will occur next spring and fall, and the program mirrors similar testing done in the southern Willamette Valley over the past decade. Curry was quick to toss his well into the fray. "Free water tests?" Curry says. "I'd think they'd get people flocking to take part in this. "It's free information, and it's good information to have," he says. Municipal water suppliers are regularly required to test their water for contaminants, but groundwater wells are required to undergo a water-quality test only when the ownership is transferred. Since 1989, these well tests done during property transactions have been collected by the Oregon Health Authority, which keeps the names and addresses of the well owners private. The tests show clusters of high nitrate levels in the Rogue Valley along major waterways such as the Rogue River and Bear Creek, but it's unclear why, Eldridge says. Nitrates could be showing up from herbicides and fertilizers used agriculturally 30 or more years ago that slowly crept into the groundwater, which moves quite slowly here, Eldridge says. Also, the region is known to have naturally occurring arsenic, which is commonly found in the same areas as gold and silver, she says. Bacteria can come from many sources. "Everybody should test their wells for arsenic, bacteria and nitrates," Eldridge says. "That's the standard tests to do." Arsenic levels don't tend to fluctuate, so they don't have to be tested regularly, Eldridge says. But nitrates and bacteria levels can change regularly, she says. Contaminated water can be treated, but reverse osmosis treatment to rid groundwater of arsenic can be expensive, Eldridge says. Eldridge reminds rural landowners that, when it comes to contaminants, the sniff test doesn't cut it. "People tell me how good their water tastes, and if it tastes good to them than that means there's nothing wrong," Eldridge says. "But that's not how it works." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected]. Follow him at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman. How to volunteerThe state Department of Environmental Quality is looking for 60 well owners to join a voluntary testing program next spring meant to determine what pollutants are in the Rogue Valley's groundwater and at what levels.The tests are free and the property owners and their addresses will remain anonymous. Well owners will receive a copy of the results of their well water test.To apply, send an email to [email protected]. Applicants will be selected based on the locations and characteristics of their well. Not all applicants will be selected. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141103/NEWS/141109932 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->