Water allowed the Umatilla Basin to blossom, transforming a parched stretch of eastern Oregon into what one farmer calls the bread basket of Oregon. Acres that once produced only dryland wheat flourished with irrigated beans, peas, corn, melons and potatoes after farmers sunk deep wells and tapped aquifers as far as 1,000 feet below ground.But there was a cost, and the bill quickly followed the benefit. Since the 1970s, water levels have dropped 500 feet in some parts of the basin's aquifers. And in an area that gets only 12 to 13inches of rain per year -- a third of what falls in the Portland area -- water is being used faster than nature can provide it.

Out of that conundrum comes a bold plan that supporters say may be copied worldwide in regions struggling with rising populations and sinking water supplies. A coalition of farmers, engineers and state officials propose to divert billions of gallons from the Columbia River during the winter months and store it underground for use during bone-dry summers.

The method of recharging aquifers has been used on a smaller scale -- one of the basin's farmers does the same thing on his land -- but the project would involve moving, storing and recovering up to 32 billion gallons of Columbia River water annually. Preliminary engineering work shows there is "high potential" for storing massive amounts of water underground within the cracks and crevices of deep basalt formations that underlie the basin, the very areas drained by decades of heavy irrigation.

In a region where it's estimated half the jobs are somehow connected to irrigated agriculture, the study is welcome news.

"I'm getting a little more optimistic as we progress here," farmer Chet Prior said.

The basin's farmers and the communities they support have a lot riding on the outcome. Umatilla and Morrow counties are sparsely populated -- ranking 13th and 29th, respectively, among Oregon's 36 counties -- but they are agricultural powerhouses. In 2007, Umatilla ranked third statewide in farm sales, with $358 million. Morrow County was fifth, at $322 million.

Aquifers not refilling

But the farmers have long been aware of the problem their success was creating: The aquifers could not recharge quickly enough to keep pace. Carbon 14 age-dating -- indicating when the water was last exposed to Earth's atmosphere -- showed some of the water that farmers were drawing had been underground 27,250 years.

The greatest water-level declines were in areas where irrigation was the heaviest. The Oregon Water Resources Department gradually curtailed how much farmers could pump from some wells and ordered other wells shut down. Umatilla Basin users now are allowed to draw only 30 percent of the groundwater allocated to them on paper under the state's water rights permit system. No other region of the state has such extensive water shortages.

"Over time, as the aquifers declined, the state has been shutting us off," farmer Kent Madison said. "They kept whittling away at us."

Farmers in the area responded in part by investing in irrigation techniques the state Department of Agriculture says are the most technologically advanced and efficient in the world, such as laser-guided land-leveling to assure even application and low-pressure sprinklers. But efficiency only gets you so far, and farmers have long eyed the Columbia as a source for more water.

Taking water during the summer when it's needed for crops, however, runs up against a political and environmental roadblock: The river flow produces electricity and supports endangered salmon and steelhead migrations.

But removing water during the winter, when the river runs high, may be a different story. The question has always been how to store it. Building reservoirs above ground was an expensive proposition.

Would use existing pipes

A group led by Hermiston engineer Fred Ziari proposed another way. Largely using an existing infrastructure of irrigation pipes, pumps and wells, they envision drawing up to 100,000 acre feet of water annually from the river. An acre-foot is enough water to cover an acre of land a foot deep; 100,000 acre feet is about 32.5 billion gallons. For perspective, the Portland Water Bureau produces about 38 billion gallons annually.

The water would be discharged into shallow, alluvial aquifers -- essentially sediment resting on top of the deeper, basalt aquifers. After several months, researchers believe about 25 percent of the water would percolate to the Umatilla River, emerging in July and August to increase and cool its flow.

The remainder would be pumped out of the alluvial aquifers and into wells. Two-way valves would allow the water to spread from the wells into the deep aquifers. One of them, called the County Line aquifer, appears capable of storing up to 70,000 acre feet of water.

In summer, the water would be pumped back out for irrigation. As much of the developing world struggles to provide water for booming populations, the project will be closely watched, said Ziari, the engineer.

"It's a no-brainer"

The idea of recharging aquifers wasn't new to farmers such as Madison. He obtained a license to carry out a miniature version of the project in the mid-1990s after the state warned he would have to shut off one of his wells. Diverting winter water from Butter Creek, he floods a 15-acre field, percolating murky water through the soil, which also cleans it. The water enters drain tiles buried 25 feet deep, gathering in a pool. Madison then pumps it to a deep well.

"We've been doing this for years, but this takes it to a bigger scale," Madison said. "To us, we know it's a no-brainer, we know it works."

Multiple details remain, including financing, water rights and forging agreements with farmers and irrigation districts. Gov. Ted Kulongoski's proposed budget contains $2.5 million for the next phase of the project. Ziari said the total could range from $22 million to $100 million, depending on the scope.

A key environmental group offers some cautions, however.

Oregon appears to be embarking on a strategy of storing high winter river flows without considering the implications, said John DeVoe, executive director of Portland-based WaterWatch. The flows scour gravel in the river bed, push back vegetation crowding the channel, flush migrating fish to the ocean and lure adult fish back to spawn in the spring, he said.

But, DeVoe said, "if it can be done without interfering with the health of the Columbia, we're not going to stand in its way."

-- Eric Mortenson; ericmortenson@news.oregonian.com