Andy Tullis / The BulletinEmployees of Cascade Pump & Irrigation Services construct a new pump for a water well in an unincorporated area west of Redmond last week. Officials say that such pumping removes a relatively small amount of the groundwater that passes through Central Oregon.

As California continues to deal with a devastating drought, some may be questioning the availability of water in Central Oregon, specifically groundwater often used in places outside of city limits and at destination resorts.

But even though the region has seen declines in groundwater since the early 1990s — with climate as a key factor according to the U.S. Geological Survey — state officials do not foresee future restrictions for water-well drilling in the region.

“The volume of groundwater that passes through Central Oregon is enormous,” said Kyle Gorman, the region manager for the Oregon Water Resources Department, said last week.

“The amount of water that is pumped from the system is relatively small from that amount.”

The department monitors water wells throughout the Upper Deschutes Basin and collects data quarterly for the state.

“There’s no indication of over-pumping from domestic use so severe that we would have to restrict that,” said Gorman.

The U.S. Geological Survey released a report last year about Central Oregon groundwater levels. The study monitored groundwater in the region from 1997 to 2008 and found that declines in some areas were larger than expected.

Researchers determined that some of the decline was likely caused by increased groundwater pumping. They also considered how irrigation canals were being revamped and not allowing as much water to escape through the bottom.

All three were found to have an influence on water levels, said Marshall Gannett, a hydrologist with the USGS in Portland who worked on the report.

“We found, depending on where you are, these things have different influences,” Gannett said. “Climate was the biggest cause of decline.”

The report states that between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, water levels near Redmond declined by as much as 14 feet. Water levels in the Cascade Range rose by more than 20 feet from the mid-1990s to 2000, but then declined by the mid-2000s.

The study developed estimates of groundwater pumping by municipalities and irrigation districts. The volume increased by about 68 percent between 1994 and 2008, according to the report.

“We’ve been in a dry cycle and that natural climate signal gets exacerbated by increases in pumping,” said Gannett.

Gorman said that in some areas the levels have dropped by 20 feet, but nothing has been “sharp or sudden” in the decline.

Doug Aiken, a water-well driller in Central Oregon for 44 years, says he hasn’t seen any sharp declines over the years either.

“We’re real fortunate here in Central Oregon and Central Washington,” he said.

Aiken said he still drills to about the same level to hit water as he did early on. “That hasn’t changed at all over the years.”

The longtime driller dug a new water well for a small water district west of Redmond last week.

James Bozarth, a resident who uses the groundwater there, shared some of his personal concerns about the water level being low.

“They keep telling us there’s so much water here and will never run out,” Bozarth said. “That’s not a fact at all.”

Gorman said although there is a general decline, the state does not intend to change the amount being pumped because of the adequate supply.

“That’s not something at this point in time that the department is even looking at,” Gorman said.

— Reporter: 541-617-7820,

tshorack@bendbulletin.com