Property owners in parts of Linn and Benton counties may soon find themselves part of a new groundwater management area being created by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

Audrey Eldridge, a hydro-geologist with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and Denise Kalakay of the Lane Council of Governments presented their plans for the management area to the Linn County Board of Commissioners Wednesday.

Commissioners Cliff Wooten and Roger Nyquist questioned how the management area would function and what powers it would have. The commissioners said they understood the seriousness of well water issues but were concerned that the new management area not be an unelected, heavy-handed, additional layer of government bureaucracy.

Eldridge said the state wants to form the groundwater management area because of samples taken at 476 wells in the Willamette Valley in 2000 and 2001. About 100 wells showed a nitrate level of at least seven parts per million.

There is no legal standard for nitrate in private wells, but public water facilities are not allowed to have a nitrate level higher than 10 ppm. Nitrate is a form of nitrogren and some level can be naturally present in groundwater, due to the decomposition of leaves or from high levels of organic matter in soils.

A sample scoring higher than 1 ppm million indicates that nitrate contamination is taking place from septic systems, fertilization, confined animal feeding operations or other sources. High levels of nitrate can cause what is known as "blue-baby syndrome" and may be linked to other health problems.

Because of the test results, the DEQ wants to form a groundwater management area that would include a portion of northern Lane County, including Coburg and Junction City, and continue north to include a strip of both Linn and Benton counties. The area would run the length of Muddy Creek in Linn County and extend west all the way to Highway 99W in Benton County.

Eldridge said such management areas have been formed in the Lower Umatilla Basin and in Malheur County. They bring together interested parties, public and private, to study the problem and make recommendations for improvement.

In response to the commissioners' concerns, Eldridge said the DEQ does not have authority over private landowners' wells. Creating a management area will not increase the DEQ's authority but will provide additional resources.

"If people know their well has a nitrate problem, they want to take action," Eldridge said.

The existing management areas have worked on a voluntary basis, making recommendations that property owners can, but are not required by law, to follow.

If a management area comes to the conclusion that additional regulation is necessary, it would make a proposal to county officials, who would consider whether an ordinance should be enacted.

A formal announcement of the DEQ's plans for the groundwater management area will be made in October. The agency will then hold public hearings to solicit comment on the idea. The earliest the new area could be in place would be December, Eldridge said.

Information on well water issues can be obtained locally by calling Gail Glick Andrews at the OSU Extension Service, 737-6294. A copy of the DEQ's well water study is online at www.deq.state.or.us/wq/groundwa/UpperWillBasin.htm.