Water rights bill heads for state Senate

BEND, Ore. (AP) -- Individual property owners who use water rights to irrigate their land would own those rights outright under a bitterly debated bill that's passed the Oregon House and is headed for the Senate.

Currently, there are no existing state statutes that identify who owns water rights. Instead, attorneys and policy makers have relied on various case laws to establish who has authority over water rights.

The text of House Bill 3298 states that the person who has the title to the property described by the water right owns that right.

Bill proponents -- namely some individual farmers, the Oregon Farm Bureau, Water for Life and several other organizations -- say the proposed legislation guarantees landowners' private property interests in their water rights.

But opponents warn that the legislation could have devastating effects on irrigation districts, conservation projects and the agricultural lifestyle of Central Oregon.

"Ownership of a water right is inherently complex," attorney Gail Achterman said. "To categorically say the land owner owns it (the water right) is extremely simplistic and doesn't address the cooperative nature of ensuring water delivery of everyone who benefits from the system."

Achterman is also executive director of the Deschutes Resources Conservancy, a federally funded group that works with irrigation districts and others to develop more efficient irrigation systems and save water.

But to Matt Cyrus, whose family homesteaded a ranch near Sisters and continues to farm as well as to own and operate the Aspen Lakes Golf Course, it is time to "codify the status quo."

Cyrus has lobbied hard for the measure. He says irrigation districts have overstepped their boundaries and claimed ownership to some water rights.

"This bill protects our private property rights," Cyrus said. "The only reason we are trying to clarify the ownership is because the irrigation districts have taken the position that they are, at minimum, a co-owner of our right."

If the bill becomes a law, it would make it easy for landowners to directly sell their water rights, which would eliminate incentive to undertake conservation projects, said Dean Putnam, a farmer and board member of Tumalo Irrigation District.

Putnam opposes the bill because he anticipates that it could create problems for farmers in the future. He said he also fears that municipalities and others seeking water rights will tempt farmers to sell their rights, which could forever change the landscape and the way much of the land in Central Oregon is currently used.

"People right now say they wouldn't sell off their water rights, but when the highest bidder comes along, it becomes a financial deal," he said. "And once you lose the water right off the land, you will never get it back. Ever."

Brad Harper, executive director for Water for Life, an agriculture interest group that also supports HB 3298, said the proposed legislation won't spur a quick sell-off of water rights.

"The same people farming today are the same people who will be farming tomorrow," he said. "I don't expect any drastic change (if the bill becomes law)."