During Step 3 of the planning process, three working groups learned about current and future water needs and challenges of three categories of water users and uses: instream/ecological water needs, municipal and special district water providers, and self-supplied water users (self-supplied rural residents, agricultural producers, and industries). Agency partners provided presentations, technical memos, and other information to inform the Step 3 proceedings. This section of the document summarizes the information assembled to support Step 3. All materials developed in support of Step 3 can be accessed in an online folder. Findings from Step 3 related to Water Use in the Mid-Coast are located in the Water Use Summary (OWRD, 2021).
 

Water Law and Water Rights

Under Oregon law, all water belongs to the public. With some exceptions, cities, irrigators, businesses, and other water users must obtain a permit or license from the Water Resources Department to use water from any source—whether it is underground, or from lakes or streams. Generally speaking, landowners with water flowing past, through, or under their property do not automatically have the right to use that water without authorization from the Department.
 

Oregon’s water laws are based on the doctrine of prior appropriation—the first person to obtain a water right on a stream is the last to be shut off in times of low streamflows. In water-short times, the water right holder with the oldest date of priority can demand the water specified in their water right without regard for the needs of junior users. Generally, Oregon law does not provide a preference for one kind of use over another. If there is a conflict between users, the date of priority determines who may use the available water.

You can find more information on Oregon’s water laws and water rights in a primer developed and maintained by the Oregon Water Resources Department.
 

Overview of Instream Water Uses and Needs

Instream water—water left in rivers and in the ground—provides immense value to the Mid-Coast region by supporting natural watershed processes, water quality, habitat and water needs of fish and wildlife, recreational opportunities, navigation, and aquaculture (e.g., oyster hatcheries). Instream water provides cultural, spiritual, and aesthetic values. Instream water is vital to maintaining healthy commercial, recreational, and tribal fisheries, which are socially, culturally, and economically important to the region. Instream resources are of significance to the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians. A public survey conducted by Oregon’s Kitchen Table also identified that residents and visitors place a high value on water needed to support Mid-Coast ecosystems.

​

The Partnership prioritizes the sustainability of healthy ecosystems that support the economy and cultural values of the Mid-Coast region. Supporting healthy freshwater ecosystems provides benefits beyond those important to fish and wildlife. Therefore, an integrated approach to managing water resources must include the flows necessary to protect all these benefits, and consider impaired flows, reduced water quality, and diminished fish and wildlife as early warning signs of potential impacts to public benefits.

​

Ecological Values and Instream Water Rights

Instream flows are critical for maintaining many ecological functions and supporting aquatic species. Aquatic species evolved in response to the natural variability in stream systems and rely on the full range of flows represented by a natural hydrograph to meet their needs. “Streamflow quantity and timing are critical components of water supply, water quality and the ecological integrity of river systems. Indeed, streamflow, which is strongly correlated with many critical physiochemical characteristics of rivers, such as water temperature, channel geomorphology, and habitat diversity, can be considered a ‘master variable’ that limits the distribution and abundance of riverine species and regulates the ecological integrity of flowing water systems” (Poff et al., 1997).
 

NOAA-NMFS’s 2016 Final ESA Recovery Plan for Oregon Coast Coho identified reduced streamflows as one of many interrelated factors affecting the health and viability of Oregon Coast Coho, which will likely be exacerbated by climate change. Reduced streamflows also result in increased water temperature, which is a significant limiting factor for fish and wildlife. According to the Recovery Plan, “in freshwater habitats, lower summer flows, higher summer stream temperatures, and increased winter floods, would affect Coho salmon by reducing available summer rearing habitat, increasing potential scour and egg loss in spawning habitat, increasing thermal stress, and increasing predation risk (NMFS, 2016, 3-32).”
 

Under Oregon water law, rivers, streams, and springs do not have a legal right to their own water. Instream water rights are needed to protect instream values and are subject to the system of prior appropriation. This means that, similar to all water rights, they are subject to curtailment to meet senior out-of-stream water rights. Allocations for instream water cannot take away or impair any legally established water right having an earlier priority date.
 

In Oregon, three agencies (the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Environmental Quality, and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department) are legally allowed to apply for instream water rights that are then held by the Oregon Water Resources Department in trust to support public uses such as recreation, pollution abatement, navigation, and maintenance and enhancement of fish and wildlife and their habitats.
 

There are 133 instream water rights in the Mid-Coast planning area covering 11% of river miles in the planning area, or about 450 of 4,070 total river miles. Fifty-one streams have existing instream water rights. There are 3,620 river miles without instream water rights, which includes most of the ocean tributaries. The instream water rights have priority dates in 1966, 1974, 1976, 1983, 1991, 1992, and 2018. Understanding instream needs for the full range of flows needed to support multiple instream needs and values is a significant data gap that should be prioritized to aid in future planning and project prioritization. Administrative actions, such as instream leases and instream flow transfers, are underutilized in the Mid-Coast and may present an opportunity for future streamflow restoration and protection activities. You can explore the instream water rights by sub-area in the Mid-Coast StoryMap (under “Is There Enough Water For All?”).
 

The amount of water specified in instream water rights varies by month and by reach. Many of the earlier instream water rights were minimum perennial streamflows that were converted to instream rights by the Oregon Water Resources Department. All of the other instream water rights were filed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife to support fish and wildlife and their habitats. No instream rights have been filed to support pollution abatement, recreation, or navigation.
 

The natural flow of rivers has been altered through time through diversions for out-of-stream uses, climate, groundwater pumping, infrastructure, land development, and various management practices. Water diverted from streams for municipal, agricultural, industrial, and domestic uses reduces the water available instream for fish and wildlife and other instream values. This is most evident in areas with significant out-of-stream water use relative to natural streamflows. According to the 2001 Mid-Coast Watersheds Council Sixth Field Watershed Assessment (Garono and Brophy, 2001, 14), “stream flow restoration is a high priority for 6th field watersheds in the Schooner/Drift Creek sub basin, and in the lower Yachats basin.”
 

In the Siletz River watershed, there are multiple out-of-basin diversions that divert water from the Siletz River to other basins. It is an increasingly common occurrence for Siletz River flows to dip below the instream water right, triggering curtailment of junior users. Some of the largest water users, including the City of Newport, City of Toledo, and Georgia Pacific have rights that are senior to the instream water right, which may limit the effectiveness of the instream water right.
 

The Partnership recognizes that current instream water rights neither fully represent nor protect ecological values or other instream values, and there is a need to develop a more comprehensive understanding and approach to protecting and restoring these values, especially in light of climate change impacts. When water is not legally protected instream in important reaches and flow targets are not established using ecologically based methods, there are many possible consequences to streams, including:
 

• Water may be allocated to out-of-stream uses, leaving limited water instream during times of water shortage.

• Flow targets established by instream water rights inadequately capture the full range of flows needed to protect current instream ecosystems, especially for flows during winter months.

• Without ecologically based flow targets, it is difficult for collaborative efforts to act in the interest of the stream.
   

Current and Future Instream Water Needs for Fish and Wildlife

All aquatic species have water needs related to the timing, amount, and quality of water that provide habitat and support different life stages. In the Step 3 discussions, the Partnership requested assistance from ODFW in performing a preliminary analysis of instream needs. The analysis included a summary of existing instream water rights in the Mid-Coast Planning Area, along with an analysis of how often existing instream water rights are likely to be met. However, additional data was needed for a more complete understanding of instream needs. Using instream water rights as a proxy for instream need has limitations because they do not represent the actual water needed by aquatic species, or the full range of ecological flows, and do not consider the important relationship between flows and water temperatures needed to sustain healthy fisheries.
 

The Partnership recognizes the value of instream flows and is committed to acquiring information to fill data gaps identified in Step 3, including a more comprehensive understanding or ecological water needs. That information can be used to plan, implement, and monitor projects in high-priority areas as advised by ODFW and other agencies with instream values. The Partnership is interested in taking an ecosystem-based approach to increasing water supply, meeting the needs of fish and wildlife, and improving water quality for all users.
 

Critical Issues

The working group that examined instream and ecological water needs identified the following key issues for strategy development:
 

• The need to develop a more comprehensive understanding of instream needs that considers the full range of ecological flows, with the intent of establishing more legal protections and developing flow targets to guide restoration efforts;

• The need to restore and protect riparian vegetation that shades streams and provides other ecological benefits;

• The need to restore and protect beavers and their habitat to support reestablishment of natural processes in watersheds;

• The need to address water quality impairments that negatively impact instream values, with a focus on addressing elevated water temperature and low dissolved oxygen levels associated with low flows and high turbidity associated with high flows; 

• The need to promote and encourage management activities on public and private lands that provide multiple ecological benefits;

• The need to prepare for and mitigate the impacts of climate change on streamflows, water temperature, and other ecological functions;

• The need to improve streamflow monitoring efforts to track streamflow conditions and protect instream water rights and instream values.
   

The working group identified the need to limit future out-of-stream allocations on rivers and stream with high ecological values and where out-of-stream uses are significant, partner with those users to reduce out-of-stream uses and restore streamflows to protect aquatic species and ecological functions.
 

Overview Out-of-Stream Water Uses and Needs

Table 3 provides an overview of the out-of-stream water uses in the Mid-Coast planning area.