Drinking Water Protection Specialist; Natural Resource Specialist

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. Visit Civil Rights and Environmental Justice page.

Are you passionate about preserving, enhancing, and protecting Oregon’s environment? If so, please consider a career with the State of Oregon at the 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 Specialist (Natural Resource Specialist
3). This position will be located in Portland, Oregon.

This is limited duration through June 30, 2027 with the potential of being extended and/or made permanent pending Budget and Legislature approval.

Please consider joining an innovative team, and work 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.

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 Protection Program for source water protection. The Section is also responsible for development and adoption by rule of 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 location, view our DEQ Offices and Vehicle Inspection Testing Stations map.

You will work with DEQ and Oregon Health Authority staff in partnership to develop strategies under authority of the Clean Water Act to meet the goals and objectives of the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act for drinking water source protection. In addition, you will provide outreach and technical assistance to Oregon’s public drinking water systems to identify sources of contamination and reduce pollution risks to their drinking water source areas.

The opportunity to work in a productive and creative environment where no two days are ever the same! DEQ cares deeply about employee wellness and benefits. We offer a competitive benefits package that offers comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans for the employee and their qualified family members, as well as paid sick leave, vacation leave, personal leave, and 11 paid holidays a year.

In addition, we offer…