Oregon Conservation Network Common Agenda

Water Legislation

WaterWatch worked on over a dozen water bills in the Oregon legislature during the 2007 session. With tremendous help from new lobbyist, Dave Moskowitz, along with our long time lobbyist Doug Myers, we pushed for needed reforms and fought bad bills. A few highlights include:

The original bill called for all water users to measure and report water use.  The amended version, which passed out of the House Committee on Energy and the Environment, proposed to codify the Water Resources Commission's strategy on measurement, called for measuring significant diversions in priority basins. The bill also broadened the Commission's general authority to require reporting of water use. While not requiring all users to measure and report, this bill would have improved management of Oregon's precious water resources.  The bill eventually died in the Ways and Means Committee. While we did not pass the bill this session, we built a strong coalition around the bill and did move the concept farther than in any prior session.

HB 2566 Exempt Wells

The original bill called for the elimination of a "loophole" in Oregon law that allows some groundwater uses to go forward without first obtaining a water right, thereby avoiding any review to understand impacts of the new use on other users, streamflows, fish or groundwater resources. The amended version, which passed out of the House Committee on Energy and the Environment, reduced this loophole by granting the Water Resources Commission the authority to water rights for groundwater users in critical groundwater areas and other groundwater restricted areas.

The bill also sought a $250 registration fee on exempt wells, with the moneys earmarked for further groundwater studies and reduced the size of certain exempt uses from 15,000 gallons/day to 5,000 gallons/day. While the bill died in the Ways and Means Committee, it was alive until very late in the session. We also built a strong coalition around the bill that should be helpful in future efforts to move this legislative concept.

HB 3585/SB 483 (“Oasis”)

This bill directed the Water Resources Department to issue permits to appropriate 500,000 acre-feet of additional water from the Columbia River during the summer months and to repeal any fish or flow protection standards that would get in the way. It sought to eliminate Oregon’s existing protections for streamflows in the Columbia River and its imperiled salmon and steelhead runs, in spite of huge investments and multi-state efforts to protect and restore those flows for these imperiled fish.

WaterWatch worked very hard throughout the session with a number of interests to kill this bill. After procedural wrangling, the proponents succeeded in moving the bill to the floor of the House, where it passed. Fortunately, the Senate leadership and a veto letter from the governor killed this blatant special interest water grab.

HB 2785

This bill streamlines procedures for certain small-scale hydropower projects on existing diversions or irrigation canals. WaterWatch amended the bill in several important ways. First, we secured amendments to allow a new use of water on the existing diversion but to ensure that no new water right for hydropower was created for this new use of water. This allows hydropower projects on existing diversions, but does not create a new water right that could lock in the diversion of water if the underlying beneficial use (usually agricultural) goes away due to urbanization or other pressures on the underlying use.

We also amended the bill to ensure Oregon will not regulate for or against the new hydropower use. This is important to protect existing instream water rights from regulation in favor of the new hydropower use. Finally, we amended the bill to ensure that if public interest issues are raised during a comment period, the proposed project will be reviewed under the existing stringent hydropower project siting rules.

SB 838 A

This bill established renewable portfolio standards (RPS) for electric utilities and electricity service suppliers. WaterWatch supports most forms of renewable energy but proposed an amendment that would place needed limits on new hydropower development. Our suggested amendments would have made the bill comparable to the renewable portfolio standards of neighboring states with regards to new hydropower development, and would have made it consistent with Oregon’s leadership role in river conservation.

Unfortunately, the bill that was signed by the governor did not include these amendments and leaves Oregon with the weakest renewable standards for new hydro in the region, inviting proposals for bad harmful new dams and diversions.

Water Resources Department Budget

WaterWatch, working with a coalition of water stakeholders, strongly supported full funding of the Department's proposed budget. In the Joint Ways and Means Committee, we were successful in securing funding to pay for a measurement specialist position, groundwater investigations and restoring five field staff positions to better manage water across Oregon.

The Department's proposed budget included its Water Supply and Conservation Initiative, with the following five components:

While WaterWatch generally supported these studies, we could not support a statewide investigation of basin yield estimates, without a concurrent assessment of peak, flushing and other ecological flow needs in each basin.

Before Oregon gives away winter water, the state must understand and protect the ecological and channel maintenance flow needs of rivers - particularly where new storage projects are proposed. Channel maintenance and ecological flows analyses are needed to ensure we can maintain healthy river habitat and to honestly assess how much water might actually available for new storage projects. The initiative received funding, but without the basin yield investigation.

SB 600

This bill tracked the Water Supply and Conservation Initiative but also called for study of withdrawals of water from the Columbia River. WaterWatch objected to this part of the bill, as current water availability rules and policies provide answers as to when water is available from the Columbia. We proposed substantial amendments at the public hearing on the bill. The bill eventually died in Committee.

SB 30

This bill addressed two proposals for destination resorts in the Metolius Basin. WaterWatch testified in favor of this bill and lobbied actively in support of the restrictions on destination resorts in the basin. The bill eventually died in Committee.

HB 3203

This bill would have created a fund to provide matching fund grants to entities proposing to study new water storage projects. We initially opposed the bill, but became neutral after securing important amendments. By the end of the session, WaterWatch supported the bill as part of a strategy to kill the Oasis legislation. The bill eventually died in the Ways and Means Committee.