Laws and Regulations that Affect the Livestock Industry

 

Water Rights

 

           Water Resources  Department

Oregon Water Laws water management in Oregon

 

The Water Code

Under Oregon law, all water is publicly owned. With some exceptions, cities, farmers, factory owners and other users must obtain a permit or water right from the Water Resources Department to use water from any source— whether it is underground, or from lakes or streams. Landowners with water flowing past, through, or under their property do not automatically have the right to use that water without a permit from the Department.

 

Prior Appropriation

Oregon’s water laws are based on the principle of prior appropriation. This means the first person to obtain a water right on a stream is the last to be shut off in times of low streamflows. In water-short times, the water right holder with the oldest date of priority can demand the water specified in their water right regardless of the needs of junior users. If there is a surplus beyond the needs of the senior right holder, the water right holder with the next oldest priority date can take as much as necessary to satisfy needs under their right and so on down the line until there is no surplus. The date of application for a permit to use water usually becomes the priority date of the right.

 

The prior-appropriation doctrine is the basis of water law for most of the states west of the Mississippi River. East of the Mississippi, the riparian doctrine usually applies. Under the riparian doctrine, only landowners with water flowing through their property have claims to the water. In Oregon, the appropriation doctrine has been law since February 24, 1909 when passage of the first unified water code introduced state control over the right to use water. Before then, water users had to depend on themselves or local courts to defend their rights to water.

 

Generally, Oregon law does not provide a preference for one kind of use over another. If there is a conflict between users, the date of priority determines who may use the available water. If the rights in conflict have the same date of priority, then the law indicates domestic use and livestock watering have preference over all other uses. However, if a drought is declared by the Governor, the Department can give preference to stock watering and household consumption purposes, regardless of the priority dates of the other users. Ground water rights for geothermal uses, such as heating or air conditioning, are always junior in priority to other uses of water unless the water is also used for another purpose, such as irrigation, or injected back into the ground water reservoir.

 

Some uses of water do not require water rights. These are called “exempt uses.”

  

Exempt uses of surface water

 

1. Natural springs: a landowners use of a spring which, under natural conditions, does not form a natural channel and flow off the property where it originates at any time of the year.

 

2. Stock watering: where stock drink directly from a surface source and there is no diversion or other modification to the water source. Also, use of water for stockwatering from a permitted reservoir to a tank or trough, and, under certain conditions, use of water piped from a surface source to an off-stream livestock watering tank or trough.

 

3. Salmon: egg incubation projects under the Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program (STEP) are also exempt. Also, water used for fish screens, fishways and bypass structures.

 

4. Fire control: the withdrawal of water for use in emergency fire fighting.

 

5. Forest management: certain activities such as slash burning and mixing pesticides. To be eligible, a user must notify the Department and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and must comply with any restrictions imposed by the Department relating to the source of water that may be used.

 

6. Land management practices: where water use is not the primary intended activity.

 

7. Rainwater: collection and use of rainwater from an impervious surface (like a parking lot or a building’s roof).

  

Ground water exempt uses

 

1. Stock watering.

 

2. Lawn or non-commercial garden watering: of not more than one-half acre in area.

 

3. Single or group domestic purposes: for no more than 15,000 gallons per day.

 

4. Single industrial or commercial purposes: not exceeding 5,000 gallons per day.

 

5. Down-hole heat exchange uses.

 

6. Watering: the grounds, ten acres or less, of schools located within a critical ground water area.

 

NOTE: While these water uses are exempt from the requirement to obtain a water right, the use is only allowed to the extent that water is used for a beneficial purpose without waste.

 

Oregon’s minimum well construction standards must be followed for the construction, maintenance, and abandonment of exempt wells.

        

 For Information about Oregon’s Water rights go to:  

 

http://www.wrd.state.or.us

 

The Water Resources Department web pages provide links for the following:

 

1.  Access well logs

2.  Real time river and stream levels

3.  Water Rights

4.  Water Rights Public Notices

5.  Water Rights Maps

6.  Copies of Water Resources documents

7.  Submission of water use reports

 

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