By Communications Staff | WaterWatch of Oregon
In a move that could endanger fish and river health, in May the City of Salem agreed to sell up to half of its water right on the Willamette River to Hillsboro for $16.2 million.
“What’s happening is encouraging speculation in water in the Willamette Valley and across the state,” admonishes John DeVoe, executive director of WaterWatch. “These entitlements should not be permitted.”
Currently, Salem is allowed to divert 200 cubic feet per second of surface area. With this agreement, Hillsboro will now be entitled to 56 cfs, with an additional first right of refusal for another 44 cfs.
Salem has been sitting on this water right since 1976, when it first applied for the right. At that time, the City assured the Oregon Water Resources Department that it would complete construction projects and use the water by 1984.
Salem still has not done this. But in 2015 WRD gave it an extension anyway, to 2086 – a date at which Salem’s original water right application will be 110 years old.
The City doesn’t even get its drinking water from the Willamette, but instead from the North Santiam River.
This has happened before. An agreement between Hillsboro and Adair Village led the state to extend a water right held by Adair Village to 2050. The agreement fell through, but Adair Village got to keep the extension.
DeVoe says: “Adair Village got the extension based on its representation that it would sell much of the water to Hillsboro. Lo and behold, that’s not what ended up happening. Now Adair Village is sitting on a large water right. It’s out marketing the water.”
WaterWatch is worried this recent transaction will lead to speculative development and further imperil fish and wildlife.
There is no charge for this transfer of a public resource. Once transferred, cities can – and do – “turn around and market the water and profit from it,” DeVoe remarks.
WaterWatch engages in litigation, education, and lobbying to prevent exactly this from happening. Support our ongoing efforts with a contribution today, and send a message that river health and that of fish and wildlife should not be jeopardized by a chance to profit.
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