Laurie Cook lives with her husband east of Salem surrounded by farmlands, several denied requests for water rights and scores of redrilled wells. She worries about what development under Measure 37 claims will do to the water supply in her rural area.

"We have already had to dig our well deeper," she says, "my daughter is a hydrologist. She showed me how to get well information. I went through all the local well logs and 21 people close by here also have had to redrill their wells." Cook and many of her neighbors support Measure 49 as a way to curb the excesses of development brought on by Measure 37 and avert a water crisis in their own neighborhood. The possibility is very real that the aquifer feeding Laurie's well and those in the surrounding area will run dry from the demand of additional households. Loopholes in Measure 37 today override the county land use rules that once took into consideration limited water supplies in areas like Laurie's.

That's why Laurie and many of her neighbors support Measure 49. They see it as a way to curb the excesses of development brought on by Measure 37 and avert a water crisis not just in their own neighborhoods but in neighborhoods all around the state.

Cook says about 125 additional homes are slated to be built under Measure 37 claims in their area. "That would just about double the size of this community," she says. Many of the neighbors are upset and have held meetings to try and figure out if they have any rights to object to the development. Like Cook, the neighbors are concerned about water, but also about the capacity of the roads, schools and other infrastructure needed to support 125 new families.

Some of the 37 claimants have gotten upset by the meetings. "Measure 37 is also turning neighbor against neighbor," she says sighing.

"Lots of people don't understand the water issues around this part of the state," Cook says, "just because it rains all the time, people don't understand that we have some serious water problems." Cook is upset that her fears for her neighborhood and the whole state of Oregon are being realized. She thinks Measure 49 "is an acceptable compromise" to poorly sited development from Measure 37.