By Brian Posewitz
WaterWatch recently completed a contested case hearing seeking to prevent a water right transfer from exacerbating low streamflows in Bridge Creek, a tributary to the John Day River with important habitat for threatened steelhead.
Bridge Creek Ranch, an affiliate of Papé Machinery that owns and operates Painted Hills Reservoir, wants to move the point of diversion for several of its water rights off Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property to avoid a BLM requirement intended to protect steelhead that requires diversions to stop when flows in Bridge Creek are below 10 cubic feet per second.
WaterWatch argued, in part, that allowing Bridge Creek Ranch to move the point of diversion without being required to follow the instream flow condition would be contrary to requirements that water right transfers not “injure” other existing water rights, including instream water rights, or result in “enlargement” of water rights. Closing briefs in the case are due later this spring, and a decision from an administrative law judge is expected after that.
This article originally appeared in the spring 2025 issue of WaterWatch of Oregon’s Instream newsletter.
