Chapter 189
AN ACT
HB 2100
Relating to nonemergency fire-fighting
training; amending ORS 537.141.
Be It Enacted by the People of
the State of
SECTION 1. ORS 537.141 is amended to read:
537.141. (1) The
following water uses do not require an application under ORS 537.130 or
537.615, a water right permit under ORS 537.211 or a water right certificate
under ORS 537.250:
(a) Emergency
fire-fighting uses;
(b) Nonemergency
fire-fighting training [conducted by
public fire departments and rural fire protection districts], provided:
(A) The source of the
water is existing storage and the use occurs with permission of the owner of
the stored water; or
(B) If the source of
water is other than existing storage, the use occurs with the prior written
approval of the watermaster in the district where the training will take place
and subject to any conditions the watermaster determines are necessary to
prevent injury to existing water rights and to protect in-stream resources;
(c) Water uses that
divert water to water tanks or troughs from a reservoir for a use allowed under
an existing water right permit or certificate for the reservoir;
(d) Fish screens,
fishways and fish by-pass structures, as exempted by rule of the Water
Resources Commission;
(e) Land management
practices intended to save soil and improve water quality by temporarily
impeding or changing the natural flow of diffuse surface water across
agricultural lands when storage of public waters is not an intended purpose.
Such practices include but are not limited to:
(A) Terraces;
(B) Dikes;
(C) Retention dams and
other temporary impoundments; and
(D) Agronomic practices
designed to improve water quality and control surface runoff to prevent
erosion, such as ripping, pitting, rough tillage and
cross slope farming;
(f) Livestock watering
operations that comply with the requirements under subsections (2) and (3) of
this section;
(g) Forest management
activities that require the use of water in conjunction with mixing pesticides
as defined in ORS 634.006, or in slash burning;
(h) The collection of
precipitation water from an artificial impervious surface and the use of such
water;
(i) Land application of
ground water so long as the ground water:
(A) Has first been
appropriated and used under a permit or certificate issued under ORS 537.625 or
537.630 for a water right issued for industrial purposes or a water right
authorizing use of water for confined animal feeding purposes;
(B) Is reused for
irrigation purposes and the period of irrigation is a period during which the
reused water has never been discharged to the waters of the state; and
(C) Is applied pursuant
to a permit issued by the Department of Environmental Quality or the State
Department of Agriculture under either ORS 468B.050 to construct and operate a
disposal system or ORS 468B.215 to operate a confined animal feeding operation;
and
(j) Surface mining
practices that result in the removal of water from a surface mine subject to an
operating permit or reclamation plan approved by the State Department of
Geology and Mineral Industries, unless the water is used for a subsequent
beneficial use.
(2) The use of surface
water for livestock watering may be exempted under subsection (1) of this
section if:
(a) The water is
diverted from a stream or other surface water source to a trough or tank
through an enclosed water delivery system;
(b) The delivery system
either is equipped with an automatic shutoff or flow control mechanism or
includes a means for returning water to the surface water source through an
enclosed delivery system; and
(c) The operation is
located on land from which the livestock would otherwise have legal access to
both the use and source of the surface water source.
(3) If the diversion
system described in subsection (2) of this section is located within or above a
scenic waterway, the amount of water that may be used without a water right is
limited to one-tenth of one cubic foot per second per 1,000 head of livestock.
Nothing in this section shall prevent the Water Resources Commission from
approving an application for a water right permit for a delivery system not
qualifying under subsection (2) of this section.
(4) The Water Resources
Department, in conjunction with local soil and water conservation districts,
the Oregon State University Extension Service, the State Department of
Agriculture and the State Department of Fish and Wildlife and any other
organization interested in participating, shall develop and implement a
voluntary educational program on livestock management techniques designed to
keep livestock away from streams and riparian areas.
(5) To qualify for an
exempt use under subsection (1)(g) of this section,
the user shall:
(a) Submit notice of the
proposed use, including the identification of the proposed water source, to the
Water Resources Department and to the State Department of Fish and Wildlife at
the time notice is provided to other affected agencies pursuant to ORS 527.670;
and
(b) Comply with any
restrictions imposed by the department pertaining to sources of water that may
not be used in conjunction with the proposed activity.
(6) Except for the use
of water under subsection (1)(i) of this section, the Water Resources
Commission by rule may require any person or public agency diverting water as
described in subsection (1) of this section to furnish information with regard
to such water and the use thereof. For a use of water described in subsection
(1)(i) of this section, the Department of Environmental Quality or the State
Department of Agriculture shall provide to the Water Resources Department a
copy of the permit issued under ORS 468B.050 or 468B.215 authorizing the land
application of ground water for reuse. The permit shall provide the information
regarding the place of use of such water and the nature of the beneficial
reuse.
Approved by the Governor May 30, 2007
Filed in the office of Secretary of State May 31, 2007
Effective date January 1, 2008
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