The use of groundwater in Oregon is expected to increase owing to continued population growth and to surface water supplies that are inadequate to meet present or future demand. The major groundwater issues in Oregon are: conjunctive use of surface and groundwater; contamination from hazardous wastes, leakage from underground gasoline and diesel tanks, naturally occurring brackish water, and high concentrations of dissolved iron; groundwater availability; and Indian water rights. Before 1987, the Oregon Water Resources Department, in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), maintained a network of about 400 observation wells in Oregon to monitor fluctuations in groundwater levels. Water levels currently are measured cooperatively only in active project areas. The USGS has conducted more than 120 hydrologic investigations in Oregon. During fiscal year 1987, the USGS entered into cooperative agreements with 23 local, State, and Federal agencies to conduct hydrologic investigations in Oregon; six investigations included quantitative studies of groundwater. Examples of these groundwater studies are: groundwater hydrology of the Portland basin; groundwater hydrology in the Umatilla Plateau; and iron geochemistry of a sand dune aquifer near Coos Bay. (Lantz-PTT)
