AG/BUSINESS
Wednesday, april 6, 2022
HerMisTOnHerald.COM • A9
Boardman resident opens Hermiston thrift shop
Bout with Coronavirus
leads to following a
long-time dream of
opening business
By ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Herald
Boardman resident Jas-
mine Landeros was able to
be productive when she had
COVID-19 last year.
“It was not fun. I
wouldn’t want to do that
again,” she said.
She said she suffered
worse than many of the
other people around her
with COVID-19. It did,
however, give her time to
think and do some research.
And she decided that, after
her recovery, she would do
something of which she
and her mother had long
dreamed — she would open
a thrift shop.
“I’ve always wanted to
be in business,” Landeros
said.
The Rabbit Hole Sec-
ond Hand Treasures, at 315
S.W. 11th St., Hermiston,
is the culmination of their
dreams. She and her mother
have been binge watching
“Storage Wars” for years,
she said, which documents
storage auctions, Landeros
felt inspired; she said she
thought she and her mother
could participate in auc-
tions, too. Then, she said,
they could build an inven-
tory and open a store.
Without many storage
locker auctions in the area,
Landeros said she partic-
ipates in online auctions.
Meanwhile, her mother
attends in-person auc-
tions to build their store’s
inventory. Also, they have
received many donations
from people.
“This has given us a lot
of stuff,” she said.
Racks of clothing fills
one wall of their store. In
addition, there are house-
hold goods, electronics,
toys and more.
An employee of Com-
munity Counseling Solu-
tions, she works only
part time in her shop. Her
mother works when Land-
eros cannot.
The Rabbit Hole is open
10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mon-
day through Saturday. She
added the store may expand
its hours this summer.
Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Jasmine Landeros poses in her new shop, The Rabbit Hole Second Hand Treasures, Thursday,
March 31, 2022.
Water rights tools for farms and ranches facing drought
By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
eO Media Group
As much of Oregon faces another
year of drought, water experts say
farmers and ranchers should be
aware of all the tools available to
them under the state’s water laws.
At a recent seminar, Elizabeth
Howard, Oregon water law attorney,
and Lindsay Thane, natural resources
attorney, both of Schwabe, William-
son & Wyatt, spoke about nine tools
for farmers through the state Water
Resources Department, or OWRD.
“There are tools available to water
users, especially in drought years,”
said Thane.
• Drought transfers: If Oregon’s
governor issues a drought declara-
tion for a county, water users in that
county can then access emergency
water use tools, one of which is a
“drought transfer.”
According to Thane, a farmer can
apply for an expedited, short-term
drought transfer of their water right
to change its type of use, place of use
or location of the point of diversion.
• Temporary emergency water
use permits: This tool is also
only available to drought-declared
counties.
According to Thane, if an exist-
ing surface water right doesn’t have
enough water during drought — for
example, a stream dries up — then
the farmer can apply for an emer-
gency permit to temporarily tap into
groundwater.
These expedited applications
should take 10 days to process.
• Temporary transfers: A tem-
porary transfer allows farmers to
move water to areas of critical need.
Applicants need not come from a
drought-declared county.
A farmer can change the place
of use, point of diversion or type of
use of a certified water right and can
move water on their own property
or temporarily transfer to another
farmer.
Unlike the first two tools, a tem-
porary transfer takes longer to apply
for and process.
“This isn’t a particularly speedy
process most of the time,” said
Thane.
Howard said this tool “is really
good to think about for long-term
planning.”
• Agriculture water use trans-
fers: Howard said an agriculture
water use transfer can be useful
during hot and dry years.
The tool enables a farmer with
an existing irrigation water right to
use that right for purposes other than
irrigation — “incidental agricultural
uses” including dust control, keeping
farm animals cool or giving drinking
water to livestock within limitations.
• Limited licenses: A limited
license is a short-term tool for a farmer
who does not have water right.
According to Howard, a farmer
can apply for a limited water license
to establish a crop for which further
irrigation won’t be required, such as
a vineyard or hazelnut orchard, or to
mitigate the impacts of drought when
water is needed “to avoid irreparable
damage to the user’s crop.”
• Exempt water uses: Howard
said it’s also useful for farmers to be
aware of exempt water uses in Ore-
gon — opportunities to use water
within limitations without applying
for a permit.
Farms may qualify for the sur-
face water stock water exemp-
tion, commercial and industrial uses
exemption and domestic water rights
exemption.
• Conserved water rights:
A conserved water right allows a
farmer to shrink a water right tempo-
rarily and move the balance to other
places, such as to in-stream flows that
benefit fish.
• New water right: A farmer can
also apply for a new water right, but
these are difficult to get.
“It’s pretty much impossible to get
a surface water right in Oregon right
now because basically all the water
has been allocated,” said Howard.
Thane said getting a new ground-
water right is more plausible, but
OWRD has labeled some parts of
Oregon as “groundwater restricted
areas” where new wells can’t be
drilled.
• Stored water right: The final
tool is called a stored water right,
enabling a farmer to create a pond or
reservoir.
For this tool, said Howard, a
farmer needs two rights — the right
to store water and the right to remove
water from a reservoir or pond for a
specific purpose. The right to store
water is separate from the right to use
the stored water.
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