Casie Smith, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, and Harney Basin Wetlands Collaborative partners started a mesocosm study in Malheur Lake in 2021. The study involved using wave barriers and flocculation to see how both would impact turbidity in the lake.

In January 2026, something unprecedented happened in Harney County: the Burns Paiute Tribe, Harney County, the City of Burns, and the City of Hines signed a joint groundwater resolution — the first time, to many participants' knowledge, that all four governments have come together to address a shared challenge.