By Mateusz Perkowski | Capital Press | Jan. 8, 2021 Oregon irrigators may face complications from the commitment of about 1 million acre-feet of water behind Willamette Valley dams to in-stream environmental purposes. Until now, state water regulators have treated water released from the 13 dams as “live flows,” which can be accessed by irrigators with surface water rights in …

By Mateusz Perkowski | Capital Press | Jan. 8, 2021 Farmers, under new federal law, have gained access to about 328,000 acre-feet of water stored behind 13 dams in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. However, they’d be wise to wait until further regulatory processes are finished before installing irrigation structures to take advantage of the newly available water, experts say. “We’re not …

By Matuesz Perkowski | The Other Oregon | Dec. 24, 2020 Agriculture in Oregon’s Harney Basin faces a situation akin to being chased by an aggressive dog, according to farmer Mark Owens. Irrigators realize it’s going to hurt, he says, but they won’t know how much until it actually bites them in the ass. “Change is on the way and …

Gillian Flaccus | Associated Press | Nov. 11, 2020 A coalition of environmental and fishing groups are suing a water district in southern Oregon over an aging, privately owned dam that they say hinders the passage of struggling salmon populations in the pristine North Umpqua River. The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Eugene, asks a judge to …

By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI | Capital Press | Oct 8, 2020 Critics of large dairies are asking Oregon water regulators to limit new groundwater pumping by such operations within 257 square miles of Umatilla and Morrow counties. A coalition of environmental groups and others called Stand Up to Factory Farms has submitted a petition asking the Oregon Water Resources Department to restrict …

by Brian Posewitz | June 13, 2020 | Register Guard The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owns 13 reservoirs on major tributaries to the Willamette River, including well-known reservoirs such as Fern Ridge on the Long Tom, Lookout Point on the Middle Fork of the Willamette, Cougar on the South Fork of the McKenzie and Detroit on the North Fork …

WaterWatch of Oregon stands among those calling for racial justice and accountability after the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless other people of color at the hands of law enforcement and/or white supremacists. The brutal and horrific killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer compels us to express solidarity with black people across the …

Conservationist urges irrigation districts to focus on water markets by Michael Kohn | April 10, 2020 | Bend Bulletin For decades, Rob Rastovich relied on flood irrigation to water the hay fields on his family-owned ranch outside Bend. The system was archaic and wasted large amounts of water, which ran off the edge of his 200-acre ranch. Today his system is …

Environmental groups say the Army Corps of Engineers’ reallocation plan will hurt threatened fish species by Emily Green | March 20, 2020 | Street Roots  The Army Corps of Engineers has proposed a drastic cut to the volume of water stored among its 13 dams and reservoirs in the Willamette River Basin that goes to supporting fish flows. Environmentalists are …

By WW Staff | March 18, 2020 | Willamette Week   BUSINESSES SEEK TAX MEASURE RELIEF: Oregon business groups, facing crushing pressure from COVID-19 impacts, on March 17 proposed 14 steps the state could take to help. Among the biggest: “Delay implementation of the new corporate activities tax, at least for the first quarter of 2020, so those funds can be diverted …

by John DeVoe, WaterWatch Executive Director | 25 Sept 2019 | The Bend Source Weekly   On Oct. 4, a long awaited proposal from eight irrigation districts and the City of Prineville called a Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) will be made public. The Plan, and an accompanying draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will outline and analyze the actions that the …

by WaterWatch of Oregon Staff | 5 Aug 2019 | Bend Source Weekly On Sunday, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued a press release that House Bill 2437 is one of the bills that she may veto before Aug. 9. WaterWatch of Oregon is urging the Governor to indeed veto this bill. We also want to use this opportunity to clarify …

The state has done little to prevent water scarcity as climate change and population growth take hold by Emily Green | 5 Jul 2019 | StreetRoots 2015 was not a good year for water in Oregon. It was the third year in a row of drought. As spring and summer slogged on, 25 counties across the state entered into a state …

Recently, WaterWatch executive director John DeVoe sat down with Phil Busse, journalist and host of XRAY Radio’s “The Non-Profit Hour.” The two talked about all things water during a leisurely half-hour conversation that also included tidbits on Handel and James McMurtry’s “Levelland.” Click to listen to their conversation.

The two bills present a test for Gov. Kate Brown. By Nigel Jaquiss | 12 Jun 2019 | Willamette Week Last month, Portland commemorated the 71st anniversary of the Vanport Flood, which killed 15 people and displaced 40,000 from a black neighborhood in North Portland. But state officials may not have learned all the lessons of that disaster. Vanport was …

FOR 30 YEARS, POWERFUL OREGON INTERESTS INCLUDING CITIES, FARMERS, INDUSTRY AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS HAVE BEEN SLUGGING IT OUT FOR ACCESS TO THE WATER. Bill Poehler and Tracy Loew, Salem Statesman Journal Published 6:00 a.m. PT May 29, 2019 | Updated 9:21 a.m. PT May 30, 2019 Billions of gallons of water have been hidden behind the Willamette River Basin’s 13 dams …