April 20, 2007   OREGON WATER METERING public hearing
A friend of mine in Linn County was required by Water Resources to meter her well.  The meter and installation was over $1,000.  She was required to read the meter monthly for 90 days and submit the usage information to Water Resources.  They allotted a monthly usage based on the 3-month average.  If she goes over the allotment, she pays a hefty fine to Water Resources.) 

H. Franklin

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This Friday (April 20), the House Environment and Energy Committee will hold
a public hearing on House Bill 2564.  HB 2564 is a bad bill that must be
defeated.

If approved, House Bill 2564 will require every Oregon resident who uses a
well or who uses groundwater for any other purpose to install a meter at the
wellhead and report the water use to a state bureaucracy.

That's right - if you have a residential well (or if you plan on installing
one) you will have to place a meter at your wellhead and report your water
usage to state government.

Who pays for the meter - you do.

Who pays to install the meter - you do.

Who must gather the data and report it to the government - you do.

Who must pay to maintain the meter and fix it if it breaks - you do.

But that's just the beginning.  HB 2564 does not specify what the state will
do with all of the information they gather, but you and I both know that
there are only two reasons why the state wants to know how much water you're
using - 1) they want to regulate your water usage, or 2) they want to tax
you for the water you use.

The hearing on House Bill 2564 is this Friday (April 20) at 1:00 p.m. in
Hearing Room C at the State Capitol.  If you are interested in testifying,
please come to the Capitol and let the legislators know that this is a bad
bill.

A copy of HB 2564 can be found here:

http://www.leg.state.or.us/07reg/measpdf/hb2500.dir/hb2564.intro.pdf

In the meantime, you should also contact the members of the House
Environment and Energy Committee and let them know you oppose HB 2564.  The
members (and their telephone numbers) are:

Terry Beyer (D - Springfield)       (503) 986-1412  rep.terrybeyer@state.or.us

Chuck Burley (R - Bend)            (503) 986-1454  rep.chuckburley@state.or.us

Ben Cannon (D - Portland)         (503) 986-1446  rep.bencannon@state.or.us

Jackie Dingfelder (D - Portland)   (503) 986-1445  rep.jackiedingfelder@state.or.us

Bob Jenson (R - Pendleton)        (503) 986-1458  rep.bobjenson@state.or.us

Greg Macpherson (D - Lake Oswego)      (503) 986-1438  rep.gregmacpherson@state.or.us

Greg Smith (R - Heppner)           (503) 986-1457  rep.gregsmith@state.or.us

 

Other Representative contact info: 

Oregon State Legislature - House of Representatives

 

Senate contact info: 

Oregon State Legislature - Oregon State Senate

 

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Also, check out the latest on M37 gut & stuff legislation (from Oregonians In Action):

 

Oregonians In Action/Property Rights

 

hf