Your Support for New Willamette Instream Water Right Applications is Invaluable — Upper Willamette Streams Up Next

Nov. 1, 2024

Earlier this year the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced it had applied for a total of 269 instream water rights in the Willamette River system to protect instream flows for fish, including 102 applications in the North Willamette, 68 in the Mid-Willamette, and 99 in the Upper Willamette.

Public comment for streams and tributaries 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 more concluded in September. A subsequent public comment period for the Mid-Willamette, which included segments of the North, Middle, and South forks of the Santiam River, Calapooia River, Luckiamute River, Long Tom River, West Fork Marys River, and dozens of others wrapped up at the end of October.

You came through with support for the North Willamette and the Mid-Willamette applications, and we’re going to need your support again very soon for new instream applications in the Upper Willamette, including tributaries and streams that make up the river’s headwaters. We expect public comment for this batch of instream rights to get underway soon.

Approval for these applications ultimately falls to the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD), so it’s important that those of us who love Oregon rivers weigh in with our support. Instream Water Rights do not harm existing water rights, but do protect flows from new withdrawals going forward. Establishing protection for instream flows for fish is critical to maintaining healthy rivers in the face of climate change. There’s more at this ODFW StoryMap Overview document, and an ODFW Frequently Asked Questions page on instream water rights.

During the previous two comment periods we created an easy-to-use, pre-formatted email to comment on the entire slate of applications. We’ll create a similar one for the Upper Willamette when that comment period begins, and once it’s posted we’ll not only encourage you to submit it, but to modify it or add your own remarks for a more personal statement that may mention specific rivers of interest to you and your family. Comments written from your own point of view are especially impactful. 

You can also comment in support of individual applications when the list of Upper Willamette instream applications goes online — we’ll share them here. If you make comments on individual allocations, please be sure to ask that the particular instream right you may be commenting on is approved in the full amount requested by ODFW, as OWRD is proposing to issue the water rights in amounts lower than what ODFW has requested for many of the applications. The ODFW applications reflect the flows needed for fish and should be protected in full. And again, feel free to make comments personal to you as well, like the value of healthy rivers to you and your family for fishing, boating, hiking, wildlife viewing, cultural values, or other activities.

Thank you for all of your support so far in this effort!

Photo by Tommy Hough.