Organizations working to protect Oregon's water are calling on state lawmakers to permanently limit how much water factory farms can use.

A more than century-old state law known as the Stock Water Exemption allows factory farms to draw unlimited ground water for livestock to drink, which new research shows amounts to billions of gallons each year. In 2023, temporary limits were placed on new or expanding facilities but the protections expire next year.

Kat Ruane, senior researcher for the advocacy group Food and Water Watch, called the sunset provision shortsighted and argued the caps must be made permanent and expanded.

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"Allowing this stock watering loophole to fully reopen would just be a gift to industrial animal agriculture and it would be at the expense of Oregon's water security and people's safety," Ruane contended.

Ruane pointed to new findings from Food and Water Watch showing Oregon’s 125 largest farms use more than 4 billion gallons of water per year, or enough to supply over 275,000 people with their daily water needs. Industry representatives argued tighter caps could hinder milk and meat production and drive up costs.

Ruane explained Oregon's factory farms do not just use a lot of water, they also pollute it. The report showed large operations produce more than 8 billion pounds of manure annually, leading to dangerous levels of nitrates in groundwater, which can cause cancer and other serious illness.

Ruane pointed out it has been a problem for decades and in places like the Lower Umatilla Basin in Eastern Oregon, the issue is getting worse.

"We're still seeing these problems crop up today with well testing that was conducted in 2023, finding that 40% of wells in the area exceeded the federal drinking water limit," Ruane reported.

Food and Water Watch is gathering signatures in support of a bill to be introduced next year to impose a permanent water use cap for all factory farms.