House Bill 3623 (ORS 540.155) Evaluation of the Deschutes Mitigation Program
The Department has completed its most recent legislatively required evaluation of the Deschutes Groundwater Mitigation Program. Every five years, the Department is required under ORS 540.155 (also known as House Bill 3623, Chapter 694, 2011 Oregon Law), to evaluate the Mitigation Program and provide a report to the Oregon Legislative Assembly. This statute and House Bill reauthorized the Mitigation Program and extended its sunset date to January 2, 2029. Under ORS 540.155 this evaluation and report must include a summary of:
- Program impacts on other water users of the Deschutes River Basin;
- Potential timing of mitigation;
- Identification of zones of impact;
- Review of impacts on the headwaters of the Metolius River and other key reaches of the Metolius River system;
- Potential timing of federal, state and local storage improvements;
- Other issues identified by stakeholders; and
- Identification of regulatory and statutory changes that may improve the program in order to address and mitigate injury to existing water rights and spring systems and to offset measurable reductions of scenic waterway flows.
The most recent five-year evaluation of the Mitigation Program under ORS 540.155 was completed on December 23, 2021.
House Bill 3494 Evaluation of the Deschutes Mitigation Program
The Deschutes Groundwater Mitigation Program was originally authorized under House Bill (HB) 3494 (Chapter 669, Oregon Laws 2005), which sunset on January 2, 2014. This law required the Department to report to the Seventy-fifth Legislative Assembly no later than January 1, 2009, on the implementation and operation of the Deschutes Groundwater Mitigation and Mitigation Bank Programs. This report was required to include:
- The cumulative rate of water appropriated under all ground water permits approved in the Deschutes River Basin after the effective date of HB 3494;
- The volume of water, in acre-feet, provided for mitigation; and
- The measured stream flow of the Deschutes and it major tributaries.
The report also included information on the progress of restoring stream flows to support anadromous fish and identification of any statutory changes necessary to accomplish the needed stream flow restoration. HB 3494 directed the Department to consult with Deschutes River Basin water users and organizations in evaluation of the Mitigation Program and development of this report. To assist in the development of the HB 3494 report, the Department formed the Deschutes Work Group, which was composed of a variety of stakeholders and local water users representing various interests. The Group identified where the program was being successfully implemented and where members of the group believed the program could be modified or improved.