FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 7, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For information, please contact:
Tommy Hough, WaterWatch of Oregon, tommy@waterwatch.org
Thornburgh Resort Defeat Marks Reprieve for Central Oregon Fish, Wildlife, and Water
State agency’s earlier denial of a limited water use license was upheld because the proposed resort would use water far more quickly than it can be naturally replenished and recharged.
Bend, Oregon — In a major win for Central Oregon fish and wildlife, a ruling by the Deschutes County Circuit Court last Monday, March 31st, dismissed an attempt to overturn an earlier Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) denial of a limited water use license application for the proposed 2,000 acre Thornburgh Resort, located in the Cline Buttes area west of Bend.
The ruling marks an important victory for preserving regional groundwater that would have otherwise been impacted by the resort, and is a victory for WaterWatch of Oregon and other stakeholder organizations committed to preserving the surface water and groundwater of the Deschutes Basin. WaterWatch of Oregon was represented in this case by attorneys Karl G. Anuta of the Law Offices of Karl G. Anuta, and Mike Sargetakis from Crag Law Center.
The court upheld earlier OWRD conclusions that the Deschutes Basin has become much drier over the past 30 years, even as development has continued to grow at a rapid pace in the region. Changes in precipitation and snowpack levels due to climate change, as well as overpumping of groundwater aquifers, have already impacted groundwater levels in the region. In the Deschutes Basin, groundwater and surface water are hydrologically connected, so groundwater declines in the area can harm surface flows and rivers.
Both Anuta and WaterWatch executive director Neil Brandt praised the judge’s findings, particularly that the OWRD’s initial determination that Thornburgh’s “proposed use” of water as part of their application was not within the capacity of the available water in the area. According to Court opinion, OWRD’s denial of the limited license was “rational, fair, and principled.”
“This decision to uphold OWRD’s limited license denial is great news for the many fish and wildlife that depend on groundwater inputs in the Deschutes Basin to survive,” said Brandt. “Building a large, water-hungry resort with two golf courses in the high desert in an area with already declining groundwater levels is simply not sustainable.”
“We applaud the Oregon Water Resources Department’s denial of Thornburgh’s limited license application, and the Court’s decision to uphold that denial,” said Anuta. “We expect that the agency will apply this same approach in other basins that have serious groundwater decline issues. In addition to the Deschutes, the Crooked River and Whychus Creek would also have been harmed by water pumping for Thornburgh Resort.”
WaterWatch continues to pursue a number of long-term conservation goals in the Deschutes Basin, including:
- Restoration of streamflows to the mainstem of the Deschutes River and its tributaries to support a healthy ecosystem.
- Protection of streamflows from the impacts of growth and groundwater development.
- Ensure salmon and steelhead introduced above the Pelton Round Butte Dam have the streamflows needed to thrive.
- Preservation of the biologic, scenic, and recreational values of the Deschutes River.
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For 40 years, WaterWatch of Oregon has been committed to a single, clear mission: To protect and restore flows in Oregon rivers and waterways to sustain native fish, wildlife, and the people of Oregon who depend on healthy rivers. WaterWatch of Oregon was the first organization in the west to seek structural reform of antiquated water laws to protect and restore our rivers, and facilitated passage of Oregon’s landmark Instream Water Rights Act in 1987.