At the 41^st Oregon Association of Water Utilities (OAWU) Annual Management and Technical Conference, Attorney Laura Schroeder was presented with the “Friend of Rural Water” award on March 6, 2019. To win this award, the individual must constantly “go above and beyond the call of duty” OAWU recognizes “a friend” as one who represents OAWU through “their work ethic, integrity, leadership and the servant attitude that they regularly demonstrate.”  Laura was quite surprised and honored to receive this award from OAWU where it is proudly displayed at Schroeder Law Offices, PC’s Portland, Oregon office.

On Tuesday, November 6, Schroeder Law Offices traveled to Keizer, Oregon to teach a Water Law Bootcamp for 200 attendees, hosted by the Marion Soil & Water Conservation District. The Bootcamp was attended by small farmers, commercial farmers, homeowners with domestic wells, and more. Attorneys Laura Schroeder and Lindsay Thane were warmly welcomed by members of the community eager to hear all about water use rights in Oregon.

If you are interested in hosting a Water Rights Bootcamp in 2019, please contact Legal Secretary Mollie Finke at 503-281-4100 or m.finke@water-law.com.

Schroeder Law Offices is celebrating 27 years of representing water users in the West! To celebrate, SLO’s attorneys and staff from several states will travel to Portland, Oregon for an Oktoberfest party at the Portland City Grill to thank our clients, consultants, friends, and families for their contributions to our success over the years. SLO will also be celebrating attorney Sarah Liljefelt as its newest shareholder, attorney Lindsay Thane’s admission to the Montana Bar, and our newest attorney in our Portland office, Jakob Wiley. As part of the weekend event, the SLO crew will visit a farmer and food processor client in the Willamette Valley to learn more about their operation. We are all very excited for the opportunity to spend time with the members of SLO from different states!  

On March 13, 2018, Oregon Governor Kate Brown declared a drought in Klamath County under Oregon Executive Order No. 18-02, with an expiration date of 12/31/2018. The drought was declared largely due to the low snow pack in the region. According to the Capital Press, Klamath County was, at that time, experiencing 45 percent of its usual snowpack for the year. Since March 13, the Governor has made drought declarations in five additional counties: Grant, Harney, Lake, Douglas, and Baker. To check for current drought declarations, click here.

The Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) is currently issuing emergency drought permits for the Klamath Basin.  According to OWRD, temporary emergency use groundwater permits may be issued in designated drought areas. These permits allow surface water users under drought declaration access to temporarily use groundwater wells to gain access to water. In addition, approved drought permits will require metering, record keeping, and reporting of groundwater use over the season to the Department. To access the emergency drought application’s, click here.

Due to the low snow pack in the 2017-18 winter, and the limited rain fall Oregon has experienced, much of the west is expected to experience higher than usual fire danger. From October 2017 through April 2018 rainfall was approximately 70 percent of what is typical in southwest Idaho, and approximately 50 to 70 percent of what is typical in southeast Oregon. The Capital Press reported that The National Interagency Fire Center’s Predictive Services Unit (NIFC) reported on May 1 that it expects warmer and drier than average conditions across the west. According to the Capital Press the NIFC report also went on to say that southeastern Oregon’s warm, dry April stood out in contrast to cooler, wetter conditions in much of the northwest. The NIFC reported on June 1 that April’s cooler than average conditions across the northwestern states were replaced by above average temperatures in May. The June report went on to say that the above average temperatures are likely caused by the El Niño weather pattern that is expected to hit by mid-fall. The National Ocean Service classifies an El Niño by an unusually warm waters in the Pacific Ocean. Typically, it will occur during winter months like December. According to the National Ocean Service, it typically brings wetter than average conditions off the US Gulf Coast.

US News reported that as of April, all basins in Oregon were well behind on snow pack, most measuring 40 – 70 percent of normal levels. The US Drought Monitor map shows (click here to see the map) abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions, extending through the month of August.

Oregon has already had 259 fires across the state in 2018, which have burned 2400 acres, as of June 28 according to the Oregon Dept. of Forestry (ODF), Fire Blog. According to the NIFC, there are 55 fires currently burning throughout 10 states, and as of June 28, seven of those are new, with 29 of the fires currently burning, in Alaska alone. Of those 55 fires, nearly 500,000 acres have already burned and only three of them are considered contained.

As a result of the unusually low snow pack, unseasonably dry heat, and over all conditions, the 2018 summer is expected to continue to be busy for wildland fire fighters and irrigators alike. Stay tuned to Schroeder Law Offices’ Blog for more news.

On Saturday, April 21, 2018, members of Schroeder Law Offices’ Portland office attended the Oregon Women for Agriculture’s 31^st annual auction and dinner, at the Linn County Fair and Expo Center. This year’s theme was “Good Things are Growing.” Schroeder Law partnered with Country Side Nursery and Fairdale Nursery to donate a large Japanese maple and pot to the organization’s auction. Benefits and proceeds from the auction go to Oregon State University’s Ag Honors Scholarships, Crop identification signs, and the Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation.

On Thursday March 15, 2018, Schroeder Law Offices’ Portland office hosted first year law students for an annual “1L” (first year law student) reception, to learn more about our office and our water law practice. The students met with each attorney, Sarah Liljefelt, Laura Schroeder, and Lindsay Thane to learn about each of their practices at SLO. Next, Schroeder Law held a social gathering that allowed the law students to meet with the entire office.

The 1L reception program allows first year law students to tour multiple law firms, learn more about what each firm does, and begin to think about their career goals after law school. It also provides a “foot in the door” with potential employers for summer law clerk positions and eventual associate positions.

If you or someone you know is looking for a summer law clerk position and is currently a 2L or 3L student, Schroeder Law Offices’ Portland office is currently hiring. Click here to learn more.

Do you need funding for a water related study or water use project? The Oregon Water Resources Department’s Development Program is part of Oregon’s 2017 Integrated Water Resources Strategy. The program helps individuals and communities address instream and out-of-stream water needs now and into the future by providing funding opportunities for planning and investing in water use projects. The program is now accepting applications for two funding opportunities: Water Project Grants and Loans and Feasibility Study Grants.

Water Project Grants and Loans are available for instream and out of stream water supply projects that result in economic, environmental, and social/cultural benefits. Loan application materials can be found here, and are due by 5PM on April 25, 2018.

Feasibility Study Grants provide funding to help evaluate the feasibility of a proposed conservation, reuse, or storage project. A grant can provide up to 50% of the total costs of the study, but no more than $500,000 per project. Application materials can be found here, and are due by 5PM on October 17, 2018. 

For more information regarding these funding opportunities please visit the Water Resources Department page.

The Oregon Association of Nurseries annual convention was held on November 3^rd and 4^th at the Salishan Spa and Golf Resort, in Gleneden Beach, Oregon. The convention is a forum used to discuss issues vital to Oregon nurseries, vote on OAN bylaws, and honor the industry’s achievers at the annual president’s Awards Banquet. In an effort to support OAN, Schroeder Law Offices donated two bottles of Oregon whiskey for the silent auction at the President’s Awards Banquet.

In February 2017, the town of Oroville, California was in for quite the surprise! Butte County Sherriff’s Office issued a mandatory evacuation notice as the full reservoir (Oroville Lake) above Oroville threatened to wash out residents. The reservoir’s dam spillways were severely damaged by increased water flow caused by the seemingly unceasing rains. Now the question is when will it be fixed, and what happens next?

Many residents have noticed the hustle and bustle of workers and heavy machinery at the Oroville Dam and are wondering what is actually going on.  Rumors abound. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, some say the work must be a secret effort to mine undiscovered gold, or some suspect a missile is taking shape…not a new spillway. Regardless of what the rumor mill might be stirring, one question is on everyone’s mind – Will it be done in time for the winter and spring rains in 2018?

Officials say that they want the spillways to be operational by November 1^st, 2017 in case the lake fills up by then. Final touches, on the other hand, will have to wait until next summer. Some residents fear that the work is only a patch job and not a permanent fix, and skeptics are not going to wait around to be proven right or wrong.

One thing is for sure, the California Department of Water Resources is required to make sure that the dam is safe before it is fully operational. Arguably, residents should receive assurance of that the dam is safe before the 2018 rains hit and the lake fills up.

In the meantime, assignment of blame for the 2017 disaster continues. State officials are investigating the spillways and looking into the possibility that poor management is to blame for their damage. One official says that he expects the team’s findings to have implications for other dams in California, and beyond.

As many know, Oregon is home to some pretty diverse soil types that allows Oregon to grow a vast variety of food and fiber. The climate is varied from western to eastern Oregon that also allows farmers to have some choice in farming methods including irrigation practices.  The never ending issue is water, especially if “mother nature” provides too much or not enough at any given time in the growing cycle.

In Oregon, 2,040,200 acres are used for Field Crops (13.1% according to a 2010 study). Of those 2.04 million acres, 37,000 are used for barley, 30,000 acres are used for corn, 370,000 acres are used for alfalfa hay, and 6,600 are used for hops.  While barley and most grains can be grown without applied irrigation, on dry land, all other commodities generally require applied irrigation.   In 2009, hay (all types) and grass seed were among the top 10 commodities in Oregon according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture.  Hay is a feed crop necessary for meat protein production while grass seed is largely used by the landscape industry including golf courses. These two commodities, hay and grass seed, brought in nearly $2 Billion, according to the OSU Extension Service. We use more land on commodity agriculture than any other type of agriculture, it’s no wonder there’s sticker shock when shopping at grocery stores, particularly for organic foods that require more inputs.

You can learn more information about Oregon crops, by visiting the USDA website or by going to the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s website. To keep informed about water use issues and news, subscribe to our blog.