Department looking at waste of water and more.

 

As discussed in your OGWA Summer 2026 newsletter, the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) is making use of the legislative interim by engaging in a robust rulemaking process. 

The Department is exploring rulemaking to amend OAR Chapter 690, Divisions 250, 260, 300, and 340 and sponsored open houses throughout the state in May and June. Topics included waste of water, bulges in the system, and violations and penalties. The new rules will also address required rule changes from recent legislation, including exempt use and water hauling.

 

Several members of the OGWA Legislative Committee and OGWA lobbyist Genoa Ingram attended several of the open houses held across the state to hear briefings on the proposed rules. Your Legislative Committee then met and drafted comments to the Department regarding the rules. 

Divisions 250 and 260 were last amended in 1988 and 1990, respectively. Since then, legislators have added new statutes and clarified expectations for lawful water use, including Senate Bills SB 85 (2023), and SB 326 (2023), and House Bills HB 2010 (2023), HB 2929 (2023), HB 3372 (2025), and HB 4061 (2022). 

 

While these rules are open to revision, OWRD is also interested in making other improvements. The new or amended rules would seek to:  

• Align rules with current statutory authority  
• Modernize watermaster regulation process  
• Build regulatory consistency   
• Add and clarify definitions  

The OGWA’s comments on enforcement fairness and consistency included a suggestion to clearly define “use” in statute. Additionally, OGWA pointed out that property owners may not have a true understanding of the provisions of their permits or certificated rights, despite attempts by the Department to educate them.   

OGWA understands that it is the property owner’s responsibility to establish whether they have a water right when they purchase the land, but they sometimes do not bother to read their permits or may not even be aware that they do not have a water right. Watermasters may not have the resources to respond unless there is a complaint. 

OGWA’s recommendation was that, in the interest of fairness and protection of the resource, the Department put greater efforts into identifying and enforcing against illegal users. 

The OWGA will attempt to have at least one member assigned to the Rules Advisory Committee when it is formed later this summer.