NYSSA — Farmers in the nation’s largest onion-growing region who depend on shared public irrigation systems worry that proposed new federal rules governing the cleanliness of water will threaten their livelihood.

The Idaho-Eastern Oregon onion growing region is the nation’s largest in terms of volume, with more than 20,000 acres of big bulb onions grown annually. The region supplies about 25 percent of the nation’s total onion consumption.

The rules proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration focus on the amount of E. coli bacteria allowed in water that directly contacts with produce during or after harvest.

Growers say almost none of the surface water will meet the new standards.

“Most of the surface water in this area will never meet those standards,” said Kay Riley, chairman of a National Onion Association ad hoc committee that is studying the issue.

Idaho’s two Republican U.S. Sens., Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, and Michigan Rep. Dan Benishek, have introduced legislation that seeks to defund the proposed fresh produce rule, The Capital Press reported.

“If (growers) are not concerned, they should be,” Oregon onion grower Reid Saito said. “It’s a pretty critical issue in terms of our ability to produce vegetables, in our case onions.”

The proposed rules come as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act, passed in December 2010. They include two numerical standards on the amount of generic E. coli bacteria that can be present in agricultural water.

One standard applies to water that directly comes into contact with produce during or after harvest. The other standard applies to irrigation water and requires E. coli levels to be under 235 “colony forming units” of generic E. coli per 100 milliliters for any single water sample.

Growers who irrigate with surface water would be required to test weekly during the irrigation season under the new rules, at a cost of about $40 a test. If they fail a test, the only option is to quit using the water.

The FDA determined that five main commodity groups carry the risk of food-borne illnesses: herbs, leafy greens, melons, sprouts and tomatoes. It categorizes more than 200 other commodities as “other,” including onions.

Onion growers say the “other” designation unjustly lumps them in with hot peppers and green onions from Mexico, two commodities associated with food-borne illnesses.

“We believe that the commodity group ‘other,’ with hot peppers and green onions excluded, is safe and should not be regulated,” according to a letter to the FDA from the National Onion Association.

City of Bend

710 N.W. Wall St.

Bend, OR 97701

Phone: 541-388-5505

Web: www.ci.bend.or.us

• City Manager Eric King

Phone: 541-388-5505

Email: citymanager@ci.bend.or.us

City Council

• Jodie Barram

Phone: 541-388-5505

Email: jbarram@ci.bend.or.us

• Mark Capell

Phone: 541-388-5505

Email: mcapell@ci.bend.or.us

• Jim Clinton

Phone: 541-388-5505

Email: jclinton@ci.bend.or.us

• Victor Chudowsky

Phone: 541-749-0085

Email: vchudowsky@ci.bend.or.us.

• Doug Knight

Phone: 541-388-5505

Email: dknight@ci.bend.or.us

• Scott Ramsay

Phone: 541-388-5505

Email: sramsay@ci.bend.or.us

• Sally Russell

Phone: 541-480-8141

Email: srussell@ci.bend.or.us

City of Redmond

716 S.W. Evergreen Ave.

Redmond, OR 97756

Phone: 541-923-7710

Fax: 541-548-0706

City Council

• Mayor George Endicott

Phone: 541-948-3219

Email: George.Endicott@ci.redmond .or.us

• Jay Patrick

Phone: 541-508-8408

Email: Jay.Patrick@ci.redmond.or.us

• Tory Allman

Phone: 541-923-7710

• Joe Centanni

Phone: 541-923-7710

Joe.Centanni@ci.redmond.or.us

• Camden King

Phone: 541-604-5402

Email: Camden.King@ci.redmond .or.us

• Ginny McPherson

Phone: to be determined

Email: Ginny.McPherson@ci.redmond .or.us

• Ed Onimus

Phone: 541-604-5403

Email: Ed.Onimus@ci.redmond.or.us

City of Sisters

520 E. Cascade Avenue, P.O. Box 39

Sisters, OR 97759

Phone: 541-549-6022

Fax: 541-549-0561

City Council

• David Asson

Phone: 503-913-7342

Email: dasson@ci.sisters.or.us

• Wendy Holzman

Phone: 541-549-8558

wholzman@ci.sisters.or.us

• Brad Boyd

Phone: 541-549-2471

Email: bboyd@ci.sisters.or.us

• Catherine Childress

Phone: 541-588-0058

Email: cchildress@ci.sisters.or.us

• McKibben Womack

Phone: 541-598-4345

Email: mwomack@ci.sisters.or.us