MEMO
TO:
Chair Jenson
Members of the House Water Committee
FROM:
Kristina McNitt on behalf of the
Oregon Water Resources Congress
RE: HB 3201—Irrigation District Mapping
__________________________________________________________________________
April 17, 2003
For the record, my name is Kristina McNitt and I am
representing the Oregon Water Resources Congress. Joining me this evening are Mr. Brent Stevenson, manager at
Walla Walla River Irrigation District located in Milton-Freewater and Mr. David
Filippi, a partner in the Portland law firm Stoel Rives.
HB 3201 was introduced by Representative Jenson at the
request of the Oregon Water Resources Congress and is one of three priorities
for the Congress this session.
HB 3201is intended to re-establish the “3111” mapping
process for irrigation districts formed after July 1, 1994.
This mapping process allows a district to petition the Water Resources
Commission for approval of a map indicating the location and use of its water
rights within any part of its district.
This process was originally established by the 1989
Legislative Assembly as an opportunity for water districts to establish a
permanent record of where water is actually used within a district.
At that time, the water rights transfer process had not kept up with
actual activity on the ground as crops rotated and changed from year to year.
Consequently, district and department records often contained conflicting
information. Since passage of the
3111 process, approximately 30 districts have had their re-mapping petitions
approved by the Commission. The
enabling legislation, however, expired for any petition submitted after July 1,
1994.
The Walla Walla River Irrigation District formed after the
“3111” process expired. Additionally,
unlike “new” districts, this district formed to combine over 500 different,
individual water rights in order to aggregate in a way to meet Endangered
Species Act concerns on the Walla Walla and Columbia Rivers.
Without being able to take advantage of the same provisions previously
granted to districts, the district has limited options to legally protect the
ESA in-stream flows that each individual water right holder contributed to the
district.
The Congress is supportive of the Department’s proposed
amendments that clearly specify that the qualifying districts pay the
Department’s actual costs of research and processing related to their
petition.
Additionally, the Congress has been working with other
stakeholders who have indicated an interest in clearly specifying that
provisions of HB 3201 be limited to application by the Walla Walla River
Irrigation District. We are happy
to add this accommodation as, in fact, no other districts appear to qualify for
the process.
With that brief introduction I would like to turn the issue to Mr. Stevenson to talk about the situation facing farmers within the Walla Walla River Irrigation District and to Mr. David Filippi to answer any questions. Thank you for your consideration of this important piece of legislation.
House Water
Committee Chairman Bob Jenson
900 Court St. NE H-480
Salem Or 97301
RE: House Bill 3201
Dear
Chairman Jenson:
Thank
you for the opportunity to comment and testify on House Bill 3201.
I am the manager of the Walla Walla River Irrigation District.
The District is located in Milton-Freewater, and is responsible for
delivering water to approximately 3,500 acres and 470 water users in the Walla
Walla basin in Northeast Oregon. The
District was formed in November 1994, to provide for more centralized water
delivery operations in the basin.
The
District strongly supports House Bill 3201.
This bill would allow the District to petition the Water Resources
Commission for approval of a map indicating the location and use of water rights
within any part of the District. The
bill provides a process for confirming and updating the Water Resources
Department's records with respect to actual on-the-ground use of water in the
District. Having up-to-date records and accurate descriptions of the
place of use in the water rights that are within the District boundaries is
essential to the District and its members.
As you know, over the past several years, the District has been the
subject of intense scrutiny by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others
with regard to the District's operations and the potential effect of such
operations on species listed under the Endangered Species Act.
While the District has entered into settlement agreements covering the
District's operations for the last three years, the District is under pressure
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others to account for all water use
within the District, and, where possible, to conserve water for purposes of
adding to instream bypass flows. With
accurate mapping and accurate descriptions of the place of use for water
delivered to District members, the District will be in a better position to
address the concerns of the various federal agencies, states, Tribes, and public
interest groups currently focused on the Walla Walla Basin.
House
Bill 3201 is modeled after House Bill 3111 (1985).
This earlier bill provided all of the other irrigation districts in the
state of Oregon with the opportunity to update their district water use maps.
Many irrigation districts worked through this process with the Water
Resources Department, and the results were favorable for all parties involved.
House Bill 3111 (1985), however, required that all maps be submitted by
no later than June 30, 1994. Because
the Walla Walla River Irrigation District was not formed until after this date,
House Bill 3111 (1985) was not available to the District.
House Bill 3201 simply makes the same process that was available to all
other irrigation districts in the State available to Districts that formed after
the deadline in House Bill 3111 (1985) expired.
Thank
you for the opportunity to present this testimony.
Very
Truly Yours,
Brent
Stevenson
Manager, Walla Walla River Irrigation District