Oregon’s outdated water laws have long prioritized extraction over protection, and our rivers and fish have paid the price. But right now we can do something about it: by passing Senate Bill 427 and closing a dangerous loophole that currently allows the state to approve applications for water right changes even if they hurt our streams. 

We just got word that Senate Bill 427 has been scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Natural Resources and Wildfire Committee—and it’s happening on Tuesday, February 25! Please take a moment to tell legislators that you support this bill, and they should too. (See sample testimony below!)

What it is: Senate Bill 427 would require the state to consider potential streamflow impacts as part of the existing process for reviewing proposed water right changes (called “transfers”). With this fix, old water rights can still be modified to meet new uses, AND fish and other stream-lovers won’t be left high and dry.

Why it’s important: Did you know that right now, Oregon can approve applications to change existing water rights—modifying where and how water is used, and where it is extracted—with zero consideration of environmental harm? That’s right: current law allows the Oregon Water Resources Department to approve water right changes even if these changes hurt our streams.

Why we need SB 427: With many streams at risk of running dry, reforms like this are critical for the future of salmon. It’s time to close this dangerous loophole and keep our rivers flowing cold and deep.

Help us by taking action now:

• Drop comments supporting SB 427 in the “submit testimony” web form for the bill.
  
• Make sure to enter your “position on the measure” as “SUPPORT.”
  
• Then click on “text testimony” at the bottom of the form and add your written testimony.
  
• Your message can be very simple. You’re encouraged to copy and paste the message below, but note that by adding your personal experience about the value of healthy streams, your message carries even more power.

Dear Chair Golden, Vice Chair Nash, and Members of the Committee,

I support Senate Bill 427 to safeguard streamflows in water right transfers.

The water in our streams is our state’s lifeblood. It grows our salmon and our food, and it fuels our families. It ties us to our neighbors upstream and downstream. It belongs to all of us. 

Yet for far too long, an outdated loophole has allowed the Oregon Water Resources Department to approve applications for water right transfers without adequate consideration of whether the change will harm streamflows. Lower water levels in a stream can hurt fish, impair water quality, and decrease scenic and recreation values.

Senate Bill 427 safeguards our streams—and the fish, water quality, and scenic values they support—by ensuring voluntary water right changes won’t further diminish streamflows. This narrow fix closes a dangerous loophole and brings modern environmental values into Oregon’s outdated water right transfer review process.

I urge your support of SB 427 and the life-sustaining streamflows it will safeguard.

Sincerely,

This bill is your bill: Senate Bill 427 was brought by Oregon Water Partnership, which relies on the collective power of seven statewide conservation groups (Wild Salmon Center is one!) that have joined forces to tackle Oregon’s toughest water challenges. Can we rely on YOU to take a moment to tell legislators that you support this important bill—and that they should, too?

Fact sheet: Why it’s time to pass SB 427 and safeguard streamflows

Thanks for speaking up for our hardworking rivers and the ecosystems and livelihoods they sustain.