Water regulators seek to close funding loophole
Oregon water regulators are aiming to close a loophole in the rules governing the state’s $10 million water supply development fund.
The legislature created the fund in 2013 with the goal of funding water projects that meet certain environmental conditions.
For example, storage reservoirs must comply with a “seasonally varying flows” requirement to ensure that enough water is left in-stream outside the irrigation season to ensure the proper functioning of watersheds.
While developing regulations for the fund, the Oregon Water Resources Department noticed that project developers who get a water right permit before applying for money could circumvent this requirement.
House Bill 2400 would clarify that water storage projects that receive state funding must comply with the “seasonally varying flow” conditions regardless of when the permit was obtained.
The bill has already passed the House 47-10 and is now being considered by the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.
During a May 4 hearing, some lawmakers said they were concerned about provisions in the bill that extend deadlines for the completion of key reports on the fund’s operations.
Sen. Alan Olsen, R-Canby, said he was concerned why the work wasn’t done in the time frame set by lawmakers.
Racquel Rancier, senior policy coordinator for OWRD, said the delay was caused by the untimely appointment of two task forces that were charged with writing the reports last year.
April Snell, executive director of the Oregon Water Resources Congress, urged the committee to pass the bill because the reports are now finished and being used to write regulations for the water fund.
As for the permit loophole, Snell said the intention of lawmakers all along was to condition funding on environmental requirements being met, and HB 2400 simply corrects the statutory language.
“We want to see it up and running and we want to see it workable,” she said of the water fund.
The committee also heard testimony on other bills that have already passed the House:
• House Bill 2445, which provides farm regulators with additional ways to notify people of agricultural quarantines beyond newspaper ads.
• House Bill 2474, which creates licenses for veterinary facilities that are owned by non-veterinarians.
• House Bill 2047, which corrects map boundary mistakes made in a previous bill dealing with urban and rural reserves.