As we prepare to go to court to help defend several challenges to ODFW instream water right applications in the Umpqua Basin, we need your help to support our efforts.
Signed into Oregon state law in 1987, the landmark Instream Water Rights Act remains one of WaterWatch’s earliest successes and lasting accomplishments, and allows three state agencies to apply for water rights to protect water instream on the same legal footing as traditional water rights.
Instream water rights create lasting protections for rivers, and Oregon now has over 1,600 instream water rights that provide protection for streamflows throughout the year, from iconic rivers to tiny streams. We continue to support new instream water rights and protect existing instream rights from harm.
WaterWatch works at many levels — in the legislature, in the courts, with state agencies, and in collaboratives around the state — to advocate for instream water rights. Over the last few years we’ve worked to support 550 new instream water right applications in the Willamette, Umpqua, Rogue, and coastal basins. While many of these applications have resulted in new instream water rights, some have been challenged.
As we prepare to go to court to help the state defend several instream water applications in the Umpqua Basin from a misguided challenge by Douglas County, we could use your help in supporting our efforts.
Your support plays a critical role in ensuring our work to defend instream water rights continues. Whether a gift of $200, $100, or $50 — or by becoming a monthly sustaining member — your gift makes a significant impact in our day-to-day ability to speak on behalf of Oregon’s rivers wherever water decisions are being made in the state.
Please help support our work to ensure every stream in Oregon someday has an instream water right in place to protect instream flows for fish, wildlife, and people.