Oregon
Water
Resources
Congress
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Testimony before the House Energy and Environment Committee Senate Bill 89 March 5, 2007
Madame Chair and members of the Committee,
I am Anita Winkler, Executive Director of the Oregon Water Resources Congress.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of SB 89 today. We appreciate the Water Resources Department’s effort to extend the sunset on the pilot project involving district water rights changes in place of use.
The Oregon Water Resources Congress represents irrigation districts, water supply districts, and other entities that supply irrigation water throughout Oregon.
OWRC requested this legislation in 2003 in order to provide additional flexibility managing water rights inside districts. Our members were and remain hopeful that this flexibility in water movement will help the district manage water in a manner that will satisfy all their water users while complying with federal and state regulations.
The three districts that are part of the pilot project represent diversity in size, location and type of operation of irrigation districts. We wanted this diversity in order to have better information to evaluate the value of this type of water management for application elsewhere in Oregon.
As sometimes happens, it took time to get the rules in place and for the districts to complete their preparations to implement the program. That means we simply did not have enough time to fully test and evaluate this management tool and be able to come back to you with a definitive statement of its utility. Or, for that matter, for others to observe the use of this tool and provide their assessment to you.
For that reason, we are before you today supporting the Water Resources Department’s request to extend the sunset date on this pilot project. That extension will give the participating districts more time to use this flexibility and provide better information about the new tool.
I will be happy to answer any questions.
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