A new rule that would
allow water for human
consumption and stock
watering during drought in
Klamath County has been
proposed by the Oregon Water
Resources Department (OWRD).
The rule, which must be
approved by the Water
Resources Commission after a
public rule-making process,
may grant a preference to
water rights for stock water
and human consumption when
the governor declares a
drought emergency in the
area, according to a news
release. The rule would
allow water to continue
flowing for these uses when
water would otherwise be
shut off during an
adjudication water call by a
senior user.
OWRD adjudication
regulation, which
provides surface water
rights based on priority
date of property claims,
was first implemented in
the Klamath Basin last
year. The older the
claim date, the more
senior the water right —
junior water users could
have irrigation supply
shut off if a senior
water right makes a
claim to that water.
“Whenever there is a
drought declaration by
the governor,
essentially, it would
put these rules into
effect,” said Racquel
Rancier, an OWRD
spokeswoman.
Comments regarding the
proposal can be
submitted at a public
meeting Sept. 18, from 6
to 7 p.m., in the Oregon
Institute of Technology
Mount Mazama Room.
According to the
release, in 2013 and
2014 Gov. John Kitzhaber
declared drought
emergencies in Klamath
County. During that
time, to ensure
residents and livestock
had access to water,
temporary rules were put
in place to prevent the
water from being
regulated off when water
calls were made. The
rules are good for 180
days.
According to Rancier,
the public rule-making
process may help prevent
the temporary rules from
expiring Sept. 27.
According to an OWRD
fact sheet, the
rulemaking process does
not address, impact or
modify how the
department determines
whether groundwater and
surface water are
connected for the
purposes of regulation,
nor does it determine if
a well interferes with
surface water. The rules
define human consumption
for “drinking, cooking
and sanitation,” and
stock watering as “the
use of water for
consumption by
domesticated animals and
wild animals held in
captivity as pets or for
profit.”
