Oregon Water Resources Department Instream Transfers Permanent or - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Oregon Water Resources Department

Instream Transfers

Permanent or Time-Limited

• Time-limited may end after set number of years or set conditions being

triggered Reverts back to original place and type of use

Similar criteria as for other types of transfers

• No Injury to other existing water rights
• No Enlargement of the water right being transferred

Must “dry up” the “from” lands

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Instream Leases

Lease term may be 1 to 5 years

• No limit on renewability

Full season or split-season instream lease

• In general, out-of-stream use suspended for duration
• Split season = 1 out-of-stream use period and 1 instream use period during same

irrigation season

Again, similar criteria as for transfers

• No injury and No Enlargement

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Evidence of Use – Instream Transfers & Leases

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Leases (OAR 690-077-0076) Transfers (OAR 690-380-3000)

Statement verifying use in last 5 years Affidavit(s) attesting personal knowledge

• f use in last 5 years
• r

Verification of delivery of water by water purveyor/District

and

Supporting evidence

(e.g., crop receipts, FSA reports, district records, dated aerial photos)

• r

Explanation of why right is not subject to forfeiture under ORS 540.610

• r

Explanation of why right is not subject to forfeiture under ORS 540.610

Deal Breakers – Instream Transfers & Leases

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• Cannot injure other water rights
• Cannot result in enlargement of right
• Land must be dried up
• Typically protect flows from point of diversion downstream to mouth of

stream If measurable quantity, can be protected further downstream into a receiving stream Instream reach can be as short as a point

• Leases - can be modified or terminated after approval if injury discovered

Advantages of Leasing

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For the stream

Could increase stream flows Could provide for additional flows during droughts Longer leases could provide stream flow stability

For Water Right Holder

Provides security (will not lose water right) Allows holder to provide environmental benefits Allows for flexibility in changing practices or uses Provides for testing or modifying water needs without risk Could lead to permanent transfer of a portion or all of a water right

Lease Submission Deadlines

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Seasonal rights

Prior to July 1

Year round rights

Prior to October 1

Split-season lease

Minimum of 2 weeks prior to any use on land or instream use

Allocation of Conserved Water

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A conservation measure is the physical change that allows a water user to satisfy an existing beneficial use with less water.

Photo Credit: Kyle Gorman, OWRD Staff Photo Credit: T.P. Martens Flickr Creative Commons

Wheel Lines and Sprinklers to Center Pivot with Drop Pipe Irrigation Ditch or Canal Piping or Lining

ACW – The Basics

• Only decreed or certificated

water rights eligible

• Conservation measures must

be implemented no more than 5 years prior to date of application

• Conservation measures cannot

expand/enlarge the water right

• r harm other existing rights

Photo Credit: Kyle Gorman, OWRD Staff

ACW – The Basics

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• Allocation of water conserved based on:

Amount of non-reimbursable federal and state funds (grants) received by applicant Up to a maximum of 75% of conserved water goes to the state, unless applicant agrees to allocate more to the state

• State’s portion of conserved water converted to an instream water

right if determined the water is necessary to support instream flow purposes

ACW – STATISTICS

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Processing time for new application

Approximately 6 months for approval Completion and Finalization dependent on applicant timeline (completion of construction and up to 5 years for testing)

To date: 105 Applications have been filed

9 – pending approval 4 – approved, but pending completion of construction 5 – construction completed , but pending finalization (in 5-year testing phase) 13 – denied or withdrawn 74 – finalized

ACW program has resulted in approximately 213.6 cfs protected instream

Forbearance Agreements

Basics

• Rarely used; not advertised
• Temporary short-term fixes
• Potential mitigation tool to offset impacts to resource or other water rights
• Private contract (OWRD not involved)

Difficulties

• Hard to find legitimate senior water rights to “forbear” that will provide real mitigation to
• ffset impacts

If can’t show evidence of use (right not actively used), it won’t provide “real” offset

• OWRD does not have any statutory authority pertaining to forbearance agreements

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Water Use Measurement

Why we measure

• Water regulation and distribution
• Timely and efficient dispute resolution
• Confirm water right compliance
• Data collection for scientific studies

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Water Use Measurement

Measuring Programs

• Commission’s 2000 water measurement strategy
• Cost share program to facilitate device installation
• Remote sensing technology

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Water Use Measurement

Measurement vs Reporting

• Broader authority to require measurement
• Measurement is obtained via:
• significant points of diversion program (SigPODs)
• permit condition
• order of the Watermaster
• voluntary, such as through cost-share program

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Measurement & Reporting Measurement & reporting required for:

• Water rights with permit conditions (early 1990s)
• Water rights held by a governmental entity (ORS 537.099)
• Water rights in a Serious Water Management Problem Area
• Typical reporting is monthly totals, reported annually

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Water Right Statistics

• Close to 89,000 water rights issued in Oregon

(surface water, groundwater, and storage)

• 14,800 (17%) are required to measure and report water use
• In 2015, the Department received water use data for 10,200

water rights (11% of total water rights; 70% compliance rate)

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Water Use Data Options

STAGE Water Level, $ RATE Instantaneous; units of gpm, cfs, $$ DUTY Volume; units of acre-feet, gallons, $$$$ REAL-TIME Data transmitted to database system, $$$$$ BASIN-WIDE Remote sensing, $$$$$?

Selecting the right device

• Not one-size-fits-all (e.g., gravity vs. pressurized)
• Piped diversion versus ditch or canal
• Open channel (stream and river, reservoirs)
• What the information will be used for
• Many factors to consider when selecting measuring option
• Accuracy
• Longevity
• Other factors (topography, tidal influence, etc.)

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Flow Restrictor

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Rectangular orifice and weir

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36-inch submerged orifice

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Parshall flumes

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Ramp flume with recorder

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Totalizing flow meter

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Real-time data: gaging station

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Remote Sensing

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Kc

0.00 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.4

ET from individual fields can be valuable for:

Water Rights, Water Transfers, Farm Water

Management

Source: Rick Allen, University of Idaho

Questions

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