All the recent snow and rain can’t hide Oregon from its water problems. The state needs to invest in water.

The eye-popping price tag to get at that issue: A $250 million legislative package from Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, and Rep. Ken Helms, D-Beaverton. Oregon has problems that big and bigger.

Oregon’s water system is leaky. Water is not used efficiently. Much diverted water never gets where it was intended to go. Oregon is water-blind. There aren’t good measurements of how much water there is and how it is used. Oregon is water-scarce. Drought dries up wells, and irrigation canals run dry.

We could better manage groundwater and surface water. We need to protect drinking water supplies. We need to ensure farmers can farm. And state oversight needs to be improved.

A sample of what is in the legislative plan:

• Protect drinking water. The package has investments in water quality monitoring, a special effort to provide some of the state’s smallest water systems with technical assistance, investigate ways to help low-income ratepayers and more.

• Know what we have. In an age when even refrigerators are internet-connected, Oregon’s diversions and water monitoring are in large part dumb. Isn’t it about time monitoring of something as precious as water went digital — or at least was measured? The package of bills includes more statewide stream and groundwater monitoring, analysis of water availability, improvement of the accessibility of the data and more.

• Help farmers. Money would be set aside to help farmers with losses from drought. It is going to happen, almost no matter what is done. But there are also investments to help farmers become more resilient and improve irrigation techniques.

• Save fish and help stream health. There is money for fish passage barrier removal. It sets up money for restoration work and for state help for local projects to apply for federal dollars.

And there’s money to help tribes, to ensure the state climatologist has stable funding and much more we are leaving out.

Oregon has a vexing challenge that this package does not touch: Oregon’s system of water rights. Oregon’s water law was designed for a different time. But to try to address it in this package would stall or kill it. If this package, particularly the data pieces, moves forward, there will be more information to have that debate.

Oregon needs to invest in water and move its water system in the right direction. Without that, we are fermenting a sorrowful water future.