Water For the Future: Knowing Your Options

1
Water For the FutureKnowing Your Options

• Presented by Michael Mattick
• Watermaster, District 2
• November 14, 2006

2
Answering Your Questions

• Participants surveyed asked
• Status of water availability
• How limited water is protected
• How to accommodate growth
• Planning strategies for water use

3
Water Availability

• Enough water?
• County survey declared 214 water quantity limited
  plots
• Planning for change
• Population growth, land use policies, changes in
  climate, etc.

4
Protecting Limited Water Areas
80 exceedance allows 0.1 cfs in summer

• River Basin Programs
• Restrict new water right issuance
• Only McKenzie and Mohawk still available
• Groundwater use requires a permit
• Exempt use for domestic and ½ acre irrigation
  (15,000 GPD max)
• Interference with SW and availability review
• Restrictions on springs
• Treated as surface water if run off property in
  defined channel

5
Is Water Available?

• Not really, water already limited in many areas
• So how do we accommodate growth?

6
Two Paths You Can Go By

• Transfer existing water rights

• Apply for new rights

7
Transferring Water Rights
Place of Use Transfer

• Transfer Types
• Temporary
• Permanent
• Water rights can be transferred in 3 ways
• Place of Use
• Point of Diversion
• Type of Use

Point of Diversion Transfer
8
Transfer Criteria

• No enlargements allowed
• Existing water right must be valid
• Irrigation rights restricted to irrigation season
• No injury to other water rights

9
Do I Already Have Rights?

• You can look for them online

10
Finding Water Rights
11
Enter Location Info
12
(No Transcript)
13
(No Transcript)
14
Seeking New Sources

• Groundwater rights still available
• Evaluation criteria for applications
• Potential for substantial hydraulic interference
  with surface water
• Unconfined aquifer within ¼ mile of stream
• 30 day pump test

15
Finding Well Logs

• Use the web
• www.wrd.state.or.us
• You will need
• Township, range, and section for property
• Where property is in section or
• Street Address
• and maybe more

16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
Looking Forward

• Options exist
• Knowledge of water laws essential
• Possible strategies
• SW in the McKenzie Mainstem below
• Multi-use reservoirs
• Acquisition of existing rights (transfers)
• Ground water where you can find it