Protect and Restore Free Flowing Oregon Rivers

Shortly after the New Year, WaterWatch began to help assemble a coalition of angling, land-use, and conservation organizations to prevent the giveaway of public lands in the Mt. Hood National Forest proposed by HR 655, a troubling bill that would sacrifice fish, wildlife, and clean water to benefit Google, one of the wealthiest corporations on the planet.

Passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in December, this legislation would transfer 150 acres around Crow Creek Reservoir in the Mt. Hood National Forest to the City of The Dalles. The carve-out would allow The Dalles to triple the size of the reservoir, eliminate public involvement in issues facing the project, and eliminate basic environmental oversight and review. As reported by OPB in January, Google’s data centers in The Dalles are a significant driver in the community’s increased water demand.

WaterWatch has identified a number of reasons to oppose HR 655

1. This legislation would eliminate 150 acres of public land in the Mt. Hood National Forest, permanently transferring land that belongs to all Americans to local politicians so it can be managed to benefit one of the world’s wealthiest corporations which has already received over $260 million in tax breaks for its facilities in The Dalles.
2. HR 655 would likely harm five runs of salmon and steelhead listed under the federal Endangered Species Act in the Hood River and the Dog River — an important tributary of the Hood River — and all fish species migrating in the Columbia River. In 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identified the Hood as an “excellent” cold water refuge for salmon migrating in the Columbia River that rely on its significantly cooler waters when temperatures in the Columbia are unsafe for salmon.
3. The lower Hood River already violates Oregon water quality standards for temperature, and the EPA identified the need to that at its confluence with the Columbia, Hood River flows are already overallocated from 144 to 216 percent (June through September). Removing cold water from the Dog River to benefit Google’s data centers in The Dalles will further reduce Hood River flows, and likely cause increased water temperatures downstream, thus undercutting the cold water refuge as well as the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s attempts to cool the Hood River’s temperatures.
4. HR 655 would sidestep meaningful consideration of harm to other water users and the environment. To date, neither the U.S. Forest Service or any other federal agency has meaningfully considered how Google’s exploding water demand and the expansion of The Dalles’ water use would impact those values.

The backers of HR 655 seem to feel the rules that safeguard Oregon’s salmon, water, and public lands are just “red tape” to be eliminated in the name of efficiency. They do not, apparently, understand these values are what makes Oregon such a special place, and that Oregonians don’t want to see them degraded to benefit one of the wealthiest corporations on the planet. 

Links:

• 2026 Spring edition of WaterWatch's Instream newsletter
• More information on HR 655 and action opportunities