The Register-Guard has run a series of articles this week on developer Greg Demers’ plans to siphon off our area’s most valuable resource, the McKenzie River, to sell to non-existent customers. He also wants to overturn ODFW’s low-water limit of 2,000 CFS in the summer months that protects our world class fisheries.
The Oregon Department of Water Resources is a rubber stamp agency that rolls over for developers and agriculture, and won’t even enforce its own administrative rules. Thankfully there’s Oregon’s WaterWatch, probably the most effective, diligent conservation organization in the state.
From the RG: “In Oregon, water belongs to the public, and only those who actually need water can acquire a right to use it,” said John DeVoe, executive director of Portland-based WaterWatch.
“Allowing a private company, with no known water needs or customers for this water, to lock up a large amount of water for future sale warps the system and encourages speculation.”
Today’s RG editorial concluded: What more evidence does the state need to prove that Demers’ application is not in the best interests of the McKenzie — and of the many Oregonians who love and want to protect the river and its precious unclaimed water rights?
Folks, put your money where your mouth is and donate to Water Watch today. I love planting trees, tagging trout, and railing against hatchery fish as much as the next person. But what these fish need, more than a bunch of cheerleaders like me who want to save fish so we can put hooks in their face, is water.
-MS
