In September, the Oregon Water Resources Commission adopted the 2025 update to the Integrated Water Resources Strategy (IWRS), Oregon’s blueprint for meeting instream and out-of-stream water needs into the future.
In 2009 WaterWatch helped shape the law that sets the framework for the IWRS. Working closely with then-state Senator Jackie Dingfeler, WaterWatch convinced the Oregon legislature to add the word “instream” to the bill’s directive to develop a plan to meet the state’s water needs. WaterWatch then served on the multi-year Policy Advisory Committee that helped build the original 2012 IWRS, and that single inclusion of the word “instream” proved pivotal to ensuring tthe IWRS include robust measures to protect and restore instream flows.
In a salient example of one of WaterWatch’s fundamental principles that “words matter,” when a prominent Republican legislator urged the Oregon Water Resources Department to remove key instream directives, the agency declined citing the statutory inclusion of the word “instream.”
The inclusion of the word “instream” in statute also helped stave off dilution in the 2025 plan. The 2025 update had a rocky start, with drafters choosing to wholly rework the plan rather than build upon the original framework that was intended to provide the scaffolding for the next 50 years. Among our many concerns, the words “instream” and “out-of-stream” were dropped from many areas of the plan. We showed up at every Commission meeting to urge a reset, advocate for the retention of the existing framework and language, and focus on simply filling the gaps, such as bolstering climate change direction.
The Commission took note and directed reinstatement of the original framework.
A huge thank you to all our WaterWatch members who submitted comments to help get the 2025 IWRS back on track. Your work resulted in a plan that will continue to move Oregon’s work to meet both instream and out-of-stream needs forward, modernize water management, and urge legislative funding of water.
This article originally appeared in the fall 2025 issue of WaterWatch of Oregon’s Instream newsletter.
