Water Rights
Water Rights
This domain tests Oregon's prior-appropriation system: who may divert or pump water, how much, for what use, and with what priority. OWRD administers permits and certificates; groundwater and surface water are managed together, with special rules in groundwater limited areas and critical groundwater areas.
Core rules
- Priority date controls in shortage: first in time, first in right. A later permit holder is curtailed before an earlier certificated right.
- A water right is defined by rate, volume, season, place of use, and purpose. Using water outside those terms is unauthorized, even if the rate is small.
- Beneficial use without waste is required; perfection and certification depend on documented use.
- Oregon recognizes exempt groundwater uses under ORS 537.545-for example stockwatering, domestic use up to 15,000 gallons per day, and small noncommercial irrigation-but exemption is not a permit and does not override local restrictions.
- Nonuse can lead to forfeiture after five years unless an exception applies.
Worked example
A household proposes a 12 gpm domestic well pump run continuously. Convert to daily volume: 12 gpm × 1,440 min/day = 17,280 gpd. That exceeds the 15,000 gpd domestic exemption, so the use is not fully exempt; the excess needs a water right or must be limited by storage or management.
Traps
Treating "exempt" as "unregulated"; confusing a well log with a water right; assuming a permit is a certificate; and ignoring place-of-use or forfeiture issues when a property changes hands.