Published 10:00 am Thursday, April 30, 2026 The best hope for progress on southern Deschutes County’s groundwater contamination could be the polite feud between Commissioners Phil Chang and Tony DeBone that flared up at Wednesday’s Deschutes County Commission meeting. First, you need a smidge of background. Chang had written a guest column in The Bulletin saying DeBone’s legacy on south county groundwater was neglect. DeBone fired back with a column of his own in Wednesday’s paper saying Chang sat on the crisis as a commissioner. You can read them here: tinyurl.com/Changwater and here: tinyurl.com/DeBonewater . If they are fighting over who is not doing enough, maybe the county will do more. At Wednesday’s meeting, Chang asked to add an item to the agenda to discuss policy proposals he has made in the past on groundwater. “Seems like there is renewed interest in what the county is doing about groundwater stewardship,” Chang said, glancing over at DeBone.…