Water News

Support New Instream Water Rights in the South Willamette Basin by Jan. 16th

Jan. 7, 2025 As mentioned in Currents and elsewhere on the WaterWatch of Oregon website, the final package of new Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) instream water right applications to legally protect natural flows in the basins of the Willamette River includes 98 streams and tributaries now being considered in the South Willamette, […]

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Make a Gift Today to Support Our Work Freeing the Rogue

Dec. 20, 2024 As we showcase our 2024 End of the Year Accomplishments report, one campaign where WaterWatch continues to get big results is our long-standing effort to Free the Rogue from artificial barriers to native fish in order to bolster salmon and steelhead populations, enhance recreation and fishing opportunities, and increase resiliency to climate change. For decades, WaterWatch

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Double Your GivingTuesday Impact for WaterWatch with a Huge Matching Opportunity — Today Only!

With Thanksgiving behind us, the holiday season has arrived. And with it, the arrival of GivingTuesday today through 9 p.m. this evening! Since its inception in 2012, GivingTuesday has grown into a global generosity movement that inspires people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity in efforts to transform their communities and the world. You can

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A Message from Our Executive Director on the Presidential Election

Nov. 8, 2024 I realize many of us have been feeling upset, anxious, and concerned over the last couple of days. The presidential election results present new and unprecedented challenges for the environment and the conservation movement. It’s understandable to feel disheartened. While there is no doubt the second Trump administration will bring fresh threats

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Your Support for New Willamette Instream Water Right Applications is Invaluable

Last spring the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced it had applied for over 260 new instream water rights in the Willamette River system to protect instream flows for native fish and wildlife, including applications in the North Willamette, Mid-Willamette, and South Willamette basins. Public comment for streams and tributaries in the North

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Coalition Letter to EPA: Use of Safe Drinking Water Act in Areas of High Nitrate Contamination

Oct. 29, 2024 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Bruno PigottActing Assistant Administrator of WaterU.S. EPA Office of Water1201 Constitution Ave. NWWashington, DC 20004 Dear Mr. Pigott, Everyone in America deserves access to clean drinking water. But in multiple states and rural communities across the country, the undersigned organizations have documented numerous instances where communities face increasing threats

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Instream: WaterWatch-Led Fish Barrier Removal Project Wins Award

Oct. 24, 2024 By Jim McCarthy We’re thrilled and honored to announce the WaterWatch-led Takelma Creek Barrier Removal Project, completed in 2023, has won the 2024 Western District American Fisheries Society Award of Excellence in Riparian Management. This multi-faceted project is primarily located on Siskiyou Field Institute property in the Illinois River subbasin of the

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Support New Instream Water Right Applications in Willamette River Streams and Tributaries

Oct. 22, 2024 We need your help generating support for new legal protections for instream flows for fish along the middle basin of the Willamette River, including segments of the North, Middle, and South forks of the Santiam River, Calapooia River, Luckiamute River, Long Tom River, West Fork Marys River, and many more. As we

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WaterWatch’s 22nd Annual Celebration of Oregon’s Rivers — What to Know Before You Go

Oct. 5, 2024 We’ve arrived! Today is the day of our annual auction event. We can’t wait to see you this evening at our 22nd Annual Celebration of Oregon Rivers! To help you get ready, we’ve added some final details and reminders below. Please feel free to connect with development officer Jesse Robbins if you

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Virtual Columbia River Treaty Presentation This Monday at 12 Noon

As WaterWatch recently detailed, along with fellow environmental organizations in a Columbia River Treaty Conservation Caucus press release, and as reported by the Associated Press and PBS, the U.S. and Canada have reached an agreement in principle on some items that were the subject of negotiations in the ongoing update to the Columbia River Treaty. Unfortunately, that update remains focused on utility revenue and flood control at the

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Instream: Summertime River Hikes

July 3, 2024 By John DeVoe with Tommy Hough Wenaha River Tim Palmer’s Field Guide to Oregon Rivers calls the Wenaha “one of the Northwest’s wildest streams … with no roads, dams, development or diversions.” He should know. A few years ago, Tim and a couple of friends hiked up the Wenaha from the lower

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Written Remarks in Support of Revised Groundwater Allocation Rules

May 21, 2024 The public comment period has now closed on this initiative. If enacted, long-overdue updates to the state’s groundwater allocation rules will begin to rein in Oregon’s decades-long pattern of over-issuing pumping rights, and implement the guidelines of Oregon’s forward-looking, landmark 1955 Ground Water Act, including proposed changes to better account for impacts

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Instream: At Long Last, Revised Groundwater Rules for Oregon

April 18, 2024 By Lisa Brown After an exhaustive and scientifically rigorous process, the Oregon Water Resources Department published proposed groundwater allocation rules reliant upon science and data to implement Oregon’s forward-looking 1955 Ground Water Act — and put Oregon on a more sustainable path to smart, sensible, environmentally-sound groundwater allocation. On March 1st, the

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Comment on the State’s Integrated Water Resource Strategy (IWRS) Update

March 27, 2024 Note: We’re currently between Oregon Water Resources Department comment periods for the IWRS update. When the state resumes taking comments we’ll let you know — thanks! The Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) will soon resume collecting public comments on its ongoing update of the state’s Integrated Water Resources Strategy (IWRS). Originally adopted

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