State lawmakers, spurred by reporting in The Oregonian/OregonLive on unsustainably high groundwater extraction, say they'll discuss how to pay for in-depth studies of Oregon's aquifers in a hearing this month.

Members of the House Rural Communities, Land Use, and Water Committee had already been planning a session on dwindling groundwater levels, said Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, the committee's chair.

But Clem said issue has taken on new urgency in light of reporting showing that extensive efforts are needed to get a better handle on the problem of disappearing groundwater.

"We are expanding our hearing to explore several of the items and proposed solutions covered" in the The Oregonian/OregonLive's reporting, Clem wrote in an email Friday.

That session is now planned for Sept. 21, part a run of committee hearings meant to help lawmakers prepare for the 2017 legislative session.

"The September hearing will be just the first effort to delve deeper into the issue," Clem also wrote, saying the committee will continue discussing groundwater during hearings scheduled for November.

The Oregonian/OregonLive's series found Oregon has handed out far more permits to drill new wells than can be sustained by aquifers in many parts of arid eastern Oregon. When in doubt about whether enough water is available, regulators with the Oregon Water Resources Department grant the permit.

The stories also showed that legislators haven't budgeted anywhere near enough money to study how much water Oregon's aquifers have to give. It would cost $45 million to $75 million, plus additional staffing, to complete in-depth studies of the state's 15 uncharted basins.

At the current funding level, the work won't be finished until 2096.

"For those of us who have worked on groundwater issues for years, this is by no means a new topic," said Sen. Chris Edwards, D-Eugene, chairman of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee. "But for the wider public, this has kicked off a conversation that previously wasn't being nearly so actively discussed."

Clem said he will continue pursuing a groundwater bill introduced in the 2016 legislative session. The bill would create a "Dry Day Fund" -- the equivalent of a monetary "rainy day fund" -- to designate amounts of public water that should be set aside to help in times of critical water shortages.

Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, has studied groundwater shortages for years and said The Oregonian/OregonLive's series shed new light on how the problem got this bad and where it may evolve. Support for possible legislative fixes, however, won't be clear until after this November's elections, he said.

In addition, the fate of Measure 97 -- a controversial $3 billion-a-year gross-receipts tax -- will play a critical role in determining whether additional money is available for groundwater solutions, Bentz said.

"If we are looking at who is responsible for the system we now have, we need to look directly at the Legislature," he said. "If we want a water system that works, we have to invest in it. And we haven't."

Sen. Alan Olsen, R-Canby, joined Bentz and others in calling The Oregonian/OregonLive articles "enlightening." He has already forwarded the stories to colleagues, he said. But Olsen, who serves as vice-chairman of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, said he's not sure more money for the Oregon Water Resources Department "is necessarily the answer to this."

"They'll contend that they lack funding," Olsen said, "but they are always doing that. We obviously need to take a much closer look at all of this to figure out what's really going on."

-- Dana Tims

503-294-7647; @DanaTims