After a decade of study and discussion, the Deschutes County Commission on Wednesday unanimously passed an ordinance that requires property owners in the southern part of the county to reduce nitrate contamination from septic systems.

The move, made to keep nitrates from seeping into the groundwater and the Deschutes River, requires property owners to upgrade existing septic systems to nitrate-reducing ones by 2022 or take other measures to reduce nitrates, such as connecting to sewers or installing composting toilets.

The vote was the culmination of a year of public hearings, and more than a decade of research on how nitrates from septic systems are seeping into the aquifer in and around La Pine and Sunriver. The nitrate problem has attracted the attention of Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality and has drawn millions of dollars from federal, state and local governments to fund research.

“I don’t know of very many instances like this in the nation that have had this level of effort applied to it,” said Barbara Rich, a senior environmental health planner for the county.

Elevated levels of nitrates have already been found in some wells, and the DEQ wrote a letter to the county earlier this year saying nitrates will eventually pose a public health hazard if nothing is done.

In the past year, the ordinance, also known as the “local rule,” has drawn staunch opposition from many south county residents, some of whom do not believe there is enough evidence that a problem exists.

Some residents have even discussed seceding from Deschutes County because they feel left out of decisions about nitrate contamination and other issues.

The vote Wednesday was for the first reading of the ordinance, and it will become effective 90 days after a second reading, currently scheduled for July 23.

Years of research

Groundwater concerns in southern Deschutes County date back to the 1960s, when land was subdivided into more than 12,000 lots and population growth led to an increasing threat of nitrate contamination from septic systems.

The water table in the area is higher than elsewhere in the county, making it more susceptible to contamination. Concerns have centered on drinking water quality and possible pollution of the Little Deschutes and Deschutes rivers.

High nitrate levels were first detected in La Pine in 1982, and DEQ found increasing levels outside of La Pine in 1994.

Most scientists agree consuming high levels of nitrates can be harmful to people’s health — particularly infants, pregnant women, nursing mothers and the elderly.

When the county introduced a draft of the “local rule” ordinance in early 2007, it would have required property owners to upgrade their septic systems in 10 years.

Rule adjustments

The rule has since been adjusted to provide 14 years to upgrade and allow other methods of reducing nitrates, such as sewer systems and composting toilets. A provision was added to issue variances to people whose conventional septic systems fail in an area with sewers, or where sewers will be installed within five years.

Variances are also available for “extreme or unusual financial hardship” or personal hardship, and they will be considered based upon the availability of financial assistance to sufficiently offset cost; the applicant’s advanced age or poor health; and environmental impacts of the variance, among other factors. A hardship variance will also require the septic system to be upgraded when the property is eventually sold.

In order to provide financial assistance to homeowners who need help upgrading their septic systems or taking other nitrate-reduction measures, the county plans to raise money from land sales in the Newberry Neighborhood, where the county is selling lots to developers. This process, expected to generate $30 million, has stalled during the real estate market downturn.

If the land sales raise the expected amount, they will cover a significant portion of the $43 million to $65 million estimated cost of upgrading septic systems in the south county. The county currently has $350,000 available for a low-interest loan program, according to a July 2 Deschutes County staff report.

The county formed a Financial Assistance Advisory Committee of south county residents in late 2007 to recommend how to allocate money from the planned land sales.

The committee has issued some decisions, and will continue working until at least the end of July.

Commissioners convinced by studies

Although the commission voted unanimously to adopt the “local rule” Wednesday morning, it was unclear earlier in the week whether Commissioner Tammy Melton was ready to vote on it.

On Monday, all three commissioners were initially ready to vote, but then Melton asked to wait until Wednesday after a south county resident raised a question county staff were unable to answer: What is the probability that the predictions of the U.S. Geological Survey study are correct?

County staff came back Wednesday morning with a response from David Morgan, a hydrologist with the USGS.

Morgan wrote in an e-mail that “the model does a good job of matching the mean concentrations for the past, and … the model should do an equally good job of predicting mean concentrations for future scenarios.”

During development of the three-dimensional computer model, Morgan wrote, USGS compared its predictions for nitrate concentrations against actual well measurements.

There were some hiccups in the county’s community involvement efforts a year ago, Melton said, “but what I’ve seen in the last year and a half is now reflected in this document.”

Commissioner Mike Daly, who is running for re-election, said his yes vote on the ordinance that has drawn much opposition could prove to be a political liability.

“There comes a time in every politician’s life when a tough decision has to be made,” Daly said. “To vote to pass this local rule would in all probability cost me a large number of votes in the upcoming election. It would be easy to say, ‘We do not have enough information to go forward with this,’ and I would be a hero.”

“I have been convinced beyond a reasonable doubt,” he continued, “and I have a decision to make.”

Commissioner Dennis Luke said the ordinance will not be written in stone, and may need to be changed if options to reduce nitrates evolve in the future. Luke said the option for south county residents to install sewers, which DEQ allowed earlier this year, was an important step.

Many still opposed

Robert Ray, the chairman of the financial assistance committee, said he wished the county had adopted a more comprehensive plan that spelled out a strategy for the formation of sewer districts.

“I think there’s still a lot of people that don’t agree with the science,” Ray said. “I have some reservations. That model has never been used on an aquifer area this size before.”

Karl Rousett, who owns a vacation home in the south county and worked as a wastewater lab analyst for 22 years in Clackamas County, said he has doubts about whether nitrate-reducing septic systems will function well in south county. As for the ordinance, “the impact has been lessened because of the changes they’ve made,” he said.

Mike Neary, of La Pine, said the computer model of contamination may be correct, but it has not been adequately tested.

“It may be for our own good, but I have serious doubts about that,” Neary said.