Chapter 703 Oregon Laws 1999

Session Law

AN ACT

HB 2164

Relating to water right application process; amending ORS 536.295; and declaring an emergency.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. ORS 536.295 is amended to read:

536.295. (1) Notwithstanding any provision of ORS 536.300 or 536.340, the Water Resources Commission may [accept] allow the Water Resources Department to consider an application to appropriate water for a use [in addition to the uses for which waters are] not classified in the applicable basin program if the use:

(a) [The use] Will be of short duration during each year;

(b) [The use] Will be for a continuous period of no longer than five years; [or]

(c) Is largely nonconsumptive in nature and not likely to be regulated for other water rights;

(d) Is necessary to ensure public health, welfare and safety;

(e) Is necessary to avoid extreme hardship;

(f) Will provide a public benefit such as riparian or watershed improvement; or

[(c)] (g) [The use] Is of an unusual nature not likely to recur in the basin, and unlikely to have been within the uses considered by the commission in classifying the uses presently allowed in the applicable basin program including but not limited to:

(A) Exploratory thermal drilling;

(B) Heat exchange;

(D) Facilitating the watering of livestock away from a river or stream.

(2) [An application pending before the commission or] A permit granted on or before January 1, 1993, for a quasi-municipal use of water shall be considered [an application or] a permit for a classified use under ORS 536.340 if[:]

[(a)] at the time the application was submitted or the permit was granted, the basin program identified municipal use as a classified use[; and]

[(b) For pending applications, the commission determines the proposed use would qualify as a quasi-municipal use].

(3) The commission by rule may determine the specific uses permitted within a classified use.

(4) In making the determination under subsection (1) of this section, the commission shall evaluate whether the proposed use is consistent with the general policies established in the applicable basin program.

(5) The Water Resources Department shall process and evaluate an application allowed by the commission under subsections (1) to (4) of this section in the same manner as any other water right application, including determining whether the proposed use would result in injury to an existing water right.

SECTION 2. This 1999 Act being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this 1999 Act takes effect on its passage.

Approved by the Governor July 14, 1999

Filed in the office of Secretary of State July 15, 1999

Effective date July 14, 1999

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