SALEM — As Oregon regulators hit the brakes on authorizing new irrigation wells, the decision is raising concerns that scant groundwater data may indefinitely hinder new drilling.

The state’s Water Resources Department is preparing to revise its groundwater regulations, but in the meantime plans to err on the side of caution in issuing new well permits.

Up to 80% of well permit applications have traditionally been approved even when it’s unknown whether the local aquifer is over-appropriated, but the agency recently decided to reverse that policy.

New permits are now likely to be denied if such information is lacking, which is intended to prevent groundwater from being depleted — already a serious problem in some basins.

The policy shift may preclude new well permits until OWRD has enough groundwater data to make such determinations, but collecting and analyzing the information takes time and money.

During a Sept. 22 public meeting in Salem on Oregon’s groundwater policy, some participants wondered whether such data gaps will become a long-term impediment to new well drilling.

“You can’t wait for decades to get enough data to make a decision,” one participant said.

Questions were also raised about the geographic extent of the problem and whether OWRD will commit to increased groundwater monitoring to obtain the data.

One participant asked if farmers can access a map showing where information is insufficient, or if being denied a permit is the only way to find out.

While OWRD does have good data available through its online groundwater information system, it doesn’t have a map delineating specifically where data is insufficient, said Ivan Gall, administrator of the agency’s field services division.

“That’s the kind of feedback we’re after,” Gall said, referring to the purpose of several planned groundwater meetings scheduled across the state in September and October.

Another participant disputed the wisdom of making a blanket change to the groundwater allocation policy statewide, since aquifer levels in the Willamette Valley have been more stable than in other basins.

That’s a troubling approach, given growing global food demands and the improved productivity that irrigation makes possible, he said. “It seems like you are arbitrarily denying somebody the opportunity to develop their farm.”

OWRD officials said they are acting under the direction of the commission overseeing the agency, which wants to avoid problems with declining aquifers such as those seen in the Harney Basin.

Allowing groundwater to become over-appropriated doesn’t lead to good outcomes for irrigators, since the costs of irrigation pumping eventually rise to the point they’re no longer economically feasible, officials said.

“We aren’t going to make more water or create more water,” Gall said. “Water levels declining year after year will eventually have an impact.”

Declining groundwater levels are already causing “collateral damage” by drying up domestic wells in some areas, he said.

New domestic wells, which represent less than 5% of groundwater withdrawal, are not affected by the policy shift, said Justin Iverson, OWRD’s groundwater section manager. “It’s a relatively large number of wells but a relatively small proportion of total use.”

Additional meetings about Oregon’s groundwater allocation policy are scheduled for Sept. 28 in Bend, Sept. 29 in La Grande, Oct. 5 in Central Point, and Oct. 10 online. More information can be found online at oregon.gov/owrd and clicking the “Groundwater Allocation Project” link.