Coalition pagesIrrigation & farmsEastern Oregon communities
LUBGWMA
Restored from the 2017–2023 coalition website, as captured on September 18, 2019. The text is kept as published. Dead links and contact details have been removed.
Info about 2016 plan: http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/shared/Documents/Publications/NaturalResources/UmatillaAWQMAreaPlan.pdf
Added in 2026
Context for “LUBGWMA”
LUBGWMA stands for the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area. Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality declared it in 1990 after finding nitrate in groundwater above the drinking-water standard across parts of northern Morrow and Umatilla counties. Sources named over the years include irrigated cropland fertilisation, food-processing wastewater applied to land, livestock operations and septic systems.
The coalition's page was never finished; it held only a link to the state's 2016 agricultural water-quality area plan. Nitrate in rural wells became front-page news again in 2022, when Morrow County declared a local emergency on June 9 after private well tests came back high, and began handing out bottled water.
What does LUBGWMA mean?
Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area, a nitrate-impaired groundwater area in northern Morrow and Umatilla counties designated by Oregon DEQ in 1990.
Is nitrate in well water dangerous?
At levels above the federal standard of 10 mg/L nitrate-nitrogen it is a health risk, especially for infants. Households on private wells in the area are advised to test regularly.