Sept. 26, 2024
We need your help TODAY to support new legal protections for instream flows for fish in Oregon’s beloved Willamette River system! Comments are due today at 5 p.m., so please TAKE ACTION NOW.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has applied for 269 new instream water rights, including 102 in the North Willamette, 68 in the Mid-Willamette, and 99 in the Upper Willamette to protect the natural flows in dozens of the river’s associated waterways.
Public comment on these instream rights is occurring in three batches, with the first comment period closing today at 5 p.m. for the 102 applications in the North Willamette basin, including segments of the Clackamas River, Tualatin River, Johnson Creek, Gales Creek, Eagle Creek, tributaries to the Molalla River, and many more.
Approval of these applications falls to the Oregon Water Resources Department, so it is imperative for river lovers like you to weigh in with your support NOW.
Instream Water Rights don’t harm existing water rights, but do protect flows from new water withdrawals going forward. Establishing protection for instream flows for fish is critical to maintain healthy rivers in the face of our climate crisis. There’s more at the ODFW StoryMap Overview and an ODFW Frequently Asked Questions page on instream water rights.
With public comment for new North Willamette instream water rights closing today at 5 p.m., you can either comment on the full slate of applications or on individual applications.
How to Comment on the Entire Slate
To voice your support for ODFW’s entire slate of instream water right applications, create a comment email with our pre-formatted form.
Feel free to modify, change, or add your own words for a more personal comment, or add comments on specific rivers of interest to you. Comments written from your own point of view are especially impactful.
PLEASE NOTE — if you choose to comment on the full slate of applications, leave the application numbers we’ve included in the formatted email — it’s important to have all of them listed.
How to Comment on Individual Applications
To comment in support of individual applications, go to this PDF of the instream water right applications. The instream applications begin on page four.
Once you find the streams you wish to comment on, click the live application link in this PDF document to open a page that has “submit a public comment” on the bottom left. Click on that live link to submit your comments.
Suggested talking points for individual comments:
- Please issue the instream water right (i.e., your specific stream of interest) in the full amount requested by ODFW. For many of these applications, OWRD is proposing to issue the water rights in amounts lower than ODFW has requested. The ODFW applications reflect the flows needed for fish and should be protected in full.
- Please also make comments personal to you, like the value of healthy rivers to you and your family whether for fishing, boating, hiking, wildlife viewing, cultural values, or economic vitality.
PLEASE ACT TODAY! Comments are due by 5 p.m. this afternoon. Thank you!
Banner photo by Tommy Hough.