The goal of the project is to characterize the nitrate concentrations in oregon's morrow and umatilla counties through additional well sampling, outreach to domestic well users, and evaluation of…

This $1,700,000 Cooperative Agreement awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Congressionally Mandated Projects program (CFDA 66.202) aims to characterize nitrate contamination in domestic water wells and evaluate options for providing safe drinking water in Oregon's Morrow and Umatilla Counties. Key activities include:

• Sampling additional domestic wells to understand the spatial extent of nitrate contamination that poses risks to public health
• Integrating well sampling data into a database and GIS to enable ongoing tracking and analysis
• Conducting a preliminary engineering analysis to evaluate alternatives for mitigating nitrate contamination, such as connecting private well users to public water systems
• Educating the community on nitrate issues and opportunities to participate in the sampling effort

The county of Morrow is the primary recipient, with a $124,000 sub-award to Umatilla County to coordinate data collection and alternatives analysis efforts within its jurisdiction. This project aims to develop the data and planning necessary for the counties to take actions to address nitrate contamination and expand access to safe drinking water for affected residents.

The goal of the project is to characterize the nitrate concentrations in oregon's morrow and umatilla counties through additional well sampling, outreach to domestic well users, and evaluation of opportunities to connect well users to public water systems and other alternatives for providing safe drinking water to affected residents. Work to be accomplished includes characterizing the nitrate contamination issues in domestic groundwater wells that pose a threat to human health. Information gained will be used to understand the extent and severity of the problem to develop potential solutions. Impacted well users will also be updated with the potential health hazards and for evaluating short-term and long-term management options.activities:the objective of the project is to understand the spatial extent of the nitrate contamination and identify areas where connection to public/community water systems is feasible, wells will be sampled with the potential for follow-on sampling based on the initial results. Data collected through the project will be integrated with relevant data from previous sampling events into a usable database and GIS for ongoing tracking, analysis, and for a preliminary planning-level engineering analysis to evaluate alternatives for well owners impacted by the nitrate contamination. The project will also educate domestic well users and the community at large about regional nitrate issues and impacts to domestic wells as well as opportunities to participate in well sampling under the project.subrecipient:umatilla county coordination ($124,000): this sub-award will support umatilla county staff coordinating on the project for data collection in the county, staff time for development and analysis of alternatives affecting drinking water supply within umatilla county, and travel to attend the conference and meetings described above under travel in conjunction with morrow county staff. This sub-award is necessary to fulfill the objectives of the congressionally directed spending in addressing the nitrate issues present in both morrow and umatilla counties.outcomes:to identify areas where connection to public/community water systems is feasible, a database of sampled wells and geographic information system (GIS) layer(s) showing spatial analysis of nitrate levels will be developed. Community members will be made aware of nitrate contamination issues and how to protect their health through outreach materials. To evaluate alternatives and evaluate the feasibility of making connections to existing community water systems, an alternatives analysis using selected evaluation criteria along with an action plan (preliminary engineering report) will also be developed for community members and the county governments involved so that they can develop plans to mitigate nitrate contamination and potentially expand public water systems to areas of the county that are accessible to public water systems.