Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1991)
Spilyay Tymoo Warm Springs, Oregon September 6, 1991 PAGE 3 I I 1 I I J Profit Your Reourcej Water right People unfamiliar with western water law are often baffled at the concept of a "water right.There is no equivalent for it in the East. (However, some eastern states are moving toward adoption of permit systems which resemble in some ways the prior appropriation sys tem of western water rights.) In brief, a water right is a legal right to a certain quantity of water from a certain point on a river (or from a well), during a specified time or season, for application at a particular place, for a particular purpose. Thus, a farmer might own a water right to divert a total of 300 acre-feet of water per year to apply to 100 acres of land for irrigating crops during the course of the growing season. The right is some times expressed in volumetric terms (typically acre-feet) and sometimes as a specific flow (typi cally, cubic feet per sound). Each western state has its own procedure for obtaining legal doc umentation of a water right. In all states except Colorado, a person wishing to obtain a water right must first apply to a state agency, often headed by a person called the state engineer. A hearing is held, objections are considered, and a permit authorizing the diversion of .. water is either granted or denied. In either case, disappointed parties may appeal the decision through the state courts. Most water rights are obtained through this case-by-case process. Western states, however, also con duct proceedings called "general adjudications" in which every per son then using water within a speci fied river basin is required to come forward and establish his or her water rights. These general adjudi cations are terribly complex and often go on for decades. When rivers cross state boundar ies, the states themselves often fight over how much water their citizens are entitled to use. If the states are able to work out a com promise, they enter into something called an interstate compact. If approved by Congress, these com pacts become binding agreements. If, on the other hand, no accord can be reached, the states may go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court Deschutes River meetings set Meetings on the Deschutes River Management Plan are sche duled at: Pendleton on September 9 at the Vert Little Theater; The Dalles on September 10 at The Dalles High School Auditorium; Madras on September 11 at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds; and, Salem on September 1 2 at the Employment Division Auditori um. All meetings start at 7:00 p.m. Testimony will be accepted until October 15, 1991. Written testim ony can be submitted to: Des chutes River Coordinator, Oregon State Parks & Recreation Dept., 525 Trade Street S.E., Salem, OR 97310. Water cycle is impartial, efficient, economical Even the water, in its own passive way, seen, economical in its motions. It responds to the rhythms of day and night, thawing, freezing, and thawing again, running drop by drop, a million drops together toward the sea. The little streams flow submissively, governed only by gravity and topography, mumbling, gurgling, skipping, sliding yet making not one wasted motion, following always the path of least resistance. Some of the water runs straight away to the ocean. Some percolates slowly through the soil, penetrates hidden membranes in many dark, subterranean passageways, and enters the peculiar chemistry of life, only to be transpired again into the air. There the vapors Join the clouds and fall again in a summer thunder shower, or blow on beyond the range to etch their phrases upon some other landmark. What wondrous stories a water molecule could tell, of wild peaks visited on stormy is legal right and request the Court issue an "equitable apportionment decree'' dividing up the water. These com pacts and decrees do not create individual water rights in them selves. Instead entire states are guaranteed the right to develop uses for a given quantity of water from a river system. It is then up to each state in accordance with its own law to determine how and by whom its share of water will be developed. Instream right How instream flows work While each western state has its own statutes and precedents gov erning the recognition (or nonre cognition) of instream flows, the basic principles remain the same. Typically states which recognize instream flow rights will allow a state agency, or in some cases a private party, to file for an in stream flow water right, which is then placed on the State Engineer's books and administered like any other water right. The only differ ence is that a consumptive water right usually has a single point of diversion. While an instream flow right applies to a specified reach of the stream from one point to another. Take a simplified example. Sup pose that the stream diagrammed above flows at 100 cfs. And sup pose that Farmer Jones has an 1 860 water right to divert the entire 100 cfs of water from the stream, but that 50 cfs of that returns to the stream as return flow. In 1989, instream flow rights could then be obtained for up to 100 cfs from the headwaters down to the Jones div ersion, and for up to 50 cfs down stream of the Jones Farm. (The instream right would not necessar ily be for the entire remaining flow. It might claim considerably less if a lesser amount is all that is needed to protect the natural values of the stream). Because instream rights are ad ministered within the priority sys tem, Farmer Jones (and any other existing consumptive users on the stream) would not be affected. An instream use added in 1989 cannot interfere with a water right ini tiated in 1860. If that means that nights, of quiet Ft M I l Fa -x. til traveled, of peaceful fogs and sun-colored clouds, of glaciers snowf lakes and the seething protoplasmic retorts of living cells a zillion places visited since the earth's beginning. If only the water could speak our language, but instead we must read of Us work among the rocks among the living At the source of the river and all along its course, we find that water, like life, responds to a basic natural no matter how severe, leaves a scar which cannot be healed eventually. No mountain range is worn away that cannot be rebuilt, no plants are torn from the ground that cannot be resown, no rain falls to the earth that cannot be evaporated again years. The water splendidly economical Hydrologist works toward resource balance The relationship of the Tribe's water resource to logging activities occupies the thoughts of Warm Springs hydrologist Paul Gregory. He ponders ways to prevent damage to the Reservation's streams and considers mitigation possibilities for areas already injured by logging. Stream channels and water, says Gregory, can be affected by any small activity. "Just driving a cross a watershed will impact the hydrologic (water) cycle." he says. Recreation, grazing and logging activities can have severe impacts. Trained in both Forestry and Watershed Management, Gregory is aware of the consequences of poor logging practices. He is aware, also, of what a productive watershed needs. Before logging activities begin, during the planning stages, Gregory visits the individual logging sites, taking notes and looking at the history of the area in terms of all human activities. If the unit is over the "stability threshold," which indicates there is a greater possibility of erosion and water quality problems, he will recommend the area be withheld from logging activities for a few years. Some watersheds on the Warm Springs Reservation have been determined to be over the "stabil ity threshold. According to Gre gory, these watersheds are very protects flows t 4-soth the stream continues to run dry while the senior irrigator continues to water his or her crops, that's the way it works. What good, then, is an instream flow water right with a junior priority? The answer is that it pre serves the status quo. It does this in two respects: First, if there is any water left in the stream after the seniors satisfy their needs, that remaining flow may be protected from subsequent appropriators. For instance, a nM.y user could not build a hydro diver sion project upstream of the Jones Farm, nor take additional water out of the protected stretch down stream of the Jones Farm. Second, and this is important, the junior instream right prevents seniors (like Farmer Jones) from moving their points of diversion upstream into the protected reach. Suppose that in 1995 Farmer Jones decides to sell his water right to Major Metropolis, and Major Metropolis wants to take out the water farther upstream in the headwaters. Even though Major Metropolis steps into Farmer Jones' shoes and obtains a senior 1 860 water right, it may not change the point of diversion so as to injure any other water right-including junior instream flow rights. In other words, it is possible to protect pristine mountain streams with very junior instream flow water rights. The long and the short of it is that instream flow rights pose no threat to any existing use of water. But they may prevent future changes and new users from fur ther dewatering what is left of our streams and rivers. rivulets and raging rivers and ocean currents, of fragile crisp little frost crystals, and oji it etches and tumbles, and organisms it helps to fashion. economy. No wound it inflicts, in a moment or a million cycle is impartial, efficient, and -N 1 1 1 sensitive to human activities: Shi tike Creek. Upper Mill Creek, Seckscqua Creek, Coyote Creek, Quartz Creek, Upper Warm Springs River watershed, Coyote Creek, Quartz Creek, Upper Warm Springs River watershed, Upper Metolius, and Mutton Mountain watershed. Letting a watershed rest will permit vegetation to recover and the ground to heal. Continuing activities in sensitive areas can increase erosion, may cause a hillside to cave in, or could wash more sediment into streams. The Integrated Resource Management Plan, when it is implemented, will address concerns about overused watersheds. Watersheds affected by cumulative activities will be carefully examined before further activities are allowed. But for now, Gregory is helping to watch these sites. Although Gregory has an opportunity to input his recommendations during the planning stages of logging activities, he expresses his concern about the Bureau of Indian Affairs Forestry Office's reluctance to use Environmental Assessments and Environmental impact State ments which are mandated. These reports detail the effects of logging activities. They take much more time, but the reports can help make tribal planners aware of the sensitivity of partic ular areas. The report can also protect the BIA from suits of mismanagement. The protection of water and fishcrics.Grcgory explains, must be balanced with the timber resource River Rendezvous set for Sept. 6-8 The Central Oregon Environ mental Center, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm springs Reser vation and the Klamath Tribe are sponsoring the 1991 Oregon River Rendezvous. The two-day conference is scheduled for September 7 and 8 at Shevlin Park in Bend Oregon. The agenda for the Rendezvous includes activities for three days. Friday , , Poetry reading and Coyote stories by John Daniel and Susan Strauss. Saturday Field trips beginning at 8:30 a.m. include: 1. The ancient forest along the Metolius River; 2. Metolius River Conservation Area; A discussion of the endangered Bull Trout and a tour of its habitat; Discussion and tour of wild trout in the Metolius River. The afternoon sessions include talks on various environmental top ics including: Salmon decline in the Water cycle Next to air, wav is the most vital substance for human exist ence. Water has been a subject for scientific study for many years and its complexity and intricacy is slowly becoming understood. The water or hydrologic cycle has no beginning or end and many processes are involved. Water e- vaporates from the oceans and land, becoming a part of the atmosphere. The evaporated mois ture is lifted and carried in the atmosphere until is eventually pre cipitates to the Earth either on land The Hydrologic Cycle Vvr -A- Cloud Formation PRECIPITATION P 4 i y EVAPORATION DPercolatior The Hydrologic Cycle, the ocean surface back to the ocean, may be as little as a few as thousands of years. which is an important economic base for the Tribe. The final decisions regarding management of the resources, however, lie in lb' hands of tribal members. The hydrologist would like to see a Warm Springs tribal member study hydrology. Now, Gregory discusses problems and solutions about water with tribal members with whom he comes into contact, but he sees a more effective resource management team when tribal members are knowledgeable in these areas and directly involved in the resource. Gregory received his training at the University of Arizona, coming a "" '. I 'urn . - 'A T'r TV; v -"- w. . " "-r . if ,- - , ivt " .. fr . y . - , 4 x '-rV - ..... V Warm Springs hydrologist Northwest; Forest ecology ana salmon; fish management; saving the salmon; and salmon in the Native American Culture. A salmon bake and keynote ad dress by former secretary of the In terior and governor of Idaho Cecil Andrus and Edison Chiloquin follows workshop sessions. Drums and dancers will entertain beginning at 8:00 p.m. Sunday Rights and remedies for saving the salmon will be discussed begin ning at 9:00 a.m. followed by a meeting of the Citizens Congress. The meeting this year has been changed from Cold Springs Camp ground to S hevlin Park. Coordinators for the Rendezvous hopes everyone makes these changes in their plans. All tours will begin at Shevlin Park. Conference fee is $20.00. Partici pants may camp at the conference has no beginning, end or over the oceans. The precipitated water may be intercepted in the evaporation pro cess by plants which utilize it for growth, by infiltration into the ground, or it may occur as runoff into streams eventually traveling back into the sea, again evaporat ing into the atmosphere to begin the cycle again. Although the total amount of water in the global hydrologic cycle remains essentially constant, the distribution of this water is contin ually changing on continents, in time needed for water to complete the cycle from the degree in Forestry and a masters degree in Watershed Management in 1976. He worked as a soil scientist for a short time. His hydrologist experience comes from work with the U.S. Forest Service in Arizona and Colorado. He focused on water rights while working for the Arizona Department of Water Resources. Protection of Indian water rights highlighted his career with the BIA in Phoenix and while working with the Flathead Indian Reservation. Before coming to Warm Springs, Gregory served as natural resources manager for the San Carlos Agency in Arizona. Paul Gregory site. Send registration fee to COEC, 16 N.W. Kansas Street, Bend, OR 97701. Rendezvous location change A sensitive plant species, penstimon peckii, has been found at the site of the planned Oregon River Rendezvous location near the Coldspringscampground.Thcevent had to be moved and will be meeting at Shevlin Park, three miles west of Bend. Free camping is still avail able. All field trips will leave the Shevlin park parking lot. Directions to the Rendezvous ore: From Highway 97, turn west on Greenwood Ave.; proceed through two stoplights and across the Deschutes River. Proceed 5 miles to Shevlin Pork on Tumalo Creek. regions, and witnin local drainage basins. The behavior of water in an area is fundamentally determined by the climate of the region and by natural features of the area includ ing geologic formations, top ographic features and types of vegetation. Man also has its impact on water, gradually encroaching upon the natural water environment some times disturbing the natural hydro logic cycle and initiating new hydro logic processes and events. hours or days or as much