Drinking Water Protection Program Coordinator; Natural Resource Specialist

Initial Posting Date: 02/09/2026

Final date to receive applications: 02/25/2026

Agency:
Department of Environmental Quality

Salary Range: $6,900 - $10,593

Position Type:
Employee

Position Title:

Drinking Water Protection Program Coordinator (Natural Resource Specialist
5)

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality strives to build and sustain an inclusive and equitable environment that embraces and values diversity. Employees at all levels of the agency work together to foster fairness, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We strive to be a workplace where we share our authentic identities, while advancing our individual professional goals, and while collaborating to protect, preserve, and enhance the environment for current and future generations.

We celebrate and appreciate diversity, champion equity, and treat each other with respect and dignity.

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, age, or physical or mental disability in the administration of our programs and activities. Civil Rights and Environmental Justice page.

If so, please consider a career with the State of Oregon at Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). At DEQ, employees have the opportunity to work with a dynamic and supportive team of mission-focused individuals tasked with maintaining, restoring, and enhancing the quality of Oregon’s air, land, and water.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has a full-time opportunity available for a Drinking Water Protection Program Coordinator (Natural Resource Specialist
5) in Portland, Oregon.

Please consider joining an innovative team, and working to advance our agency’s mission to protect and improve Oregon’s environmental quality.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is the primary regulatory agency of the government of the U.S. State of Oregon responsible for protecting and enhancing the state's natural resources. Here is a video about DEQ:

The Water Quality Division has a critical role in achieving the Department’s mission by developing policy, implementation tools, and implementation priorities for improving and protecting the quality of water in Oregon’s waterways. The Water Quality Division works cooperatively with the Department’s three regional offices and the Laboratory to deliver programs and services that protect and enhance the quality of the waters of the state to protect public health and the environment.

The Standards, Source-water Protection, and Assessment Section is responsible for the implementation of DEQ’s Drinking Water Source Protection Program for source water protection. The section is also responsible for development and adoption of Oregon’s water quality standards, identification of outstanding resource waters and water quality limited waters, conducting a statewide water quality assessment and assembling a biennial status report on Oregon’s water quality, and providing scientific and technical assistance to the regions, laboratory, and other water quality program sections on water quality standards.

For a visual representation of DEQ’s offices and their locations, view our DEQ Offices and Vehicle Inspection Testing Stations map.

You will coordinate the statewide implementation of the Drinking Water Source Protection Program, including leading and developing goals and strategies for DEQ’s Drinking Water Source Protection Program projects; leading the coordination of drinking water source protection activities with other state and federal agencies; working collaboratively with Oregon Health Authority to evaluate and solve implementation issues for the Drinking Water Source Protection program;

and representing the Department at hearings and meetings with the Legislature, local government officials, other State agencies, and the public. DEQ and the Oregon Health Authority partner closely in Oregon’s Drinking Water Source Protection Program, combining expertise and…