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HB 4006
This proposal did not become law. The measure streamlines administrative procedures for holders of specific Columbia River irrigation water rights (diversion points between river miles 252 and 303) by allowing them to change diversion points or places of use without filing full transfer applications, provided usage rates and seasons do not increase. It would have exempted certain intergovernmental irrigation entities from state ditch and reservoir distribution laws, formally integrates the Mid-Columbia Water Commission into a long-standing district mapping process, and mandates a decade of reporting on groundwater conservation and infrastructure integration.
Generated explanation · Introduced · Analyzed 8/19/2026 · Open official Introduced text
This proposal did not become law.
Generated analysis of Introduced text; it does not establish that the bill applies to you. Read the full decision brief.
No upcoming event is verified in the available records.
Plain-language analysis
Generated analysis, not an official summary or legal advice. Confirm with linked Oregon documents.
This proposal did not become law. The generated effects below describe what it would have required if enacted.
The measure streamlines administrative procedures for holders of specific Columbia River irrigation water rights (diversion points between river miles 252 and 303) by allowing them to change diversion points or places of use without filing full transfer applications, provided usage rates and seasons do not increase. It would have exempted certain intergovernmental irrigation entities from state ditch and reservoir distribution laws, formally integrates the Mid-Columbia Water Commission into a long-standing district mapping process, and mandates a decade of reporting on groundwater conservation and infrastructure integration.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Introduced
Official sources do not state why this measure was proposed.
Sponsor testimony, staff summaries, committee materials, or statutory findings may explain it.
Inferred from cited text; not a stated purpose.
The measure appears designed to reduce regulatory friction for agricultural water management in a specific Columbia River corridor while tracking environmental and infrastructure outcomes. The text creates administrative shortcuts for irrigation rights in the corridor and mandates reporting on groundwater avoidance and shared infrastructure efficiency, suggesting a policy goal to modernize water allocation tracking without triggering full transfer scrutiny.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Introduced
Could have changed diversion points or use locations with minimal paperwork if rate and season remain unchanged, reducing administrative burden but potentially increasing cumulative pressure on river flows if multiple holders exercise the exemption simultaneously.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Introduced
Potential effect if enacted: Exempted from certain state distribution laws, gaining operational autonomy over water delivery while retaining responsibility for internal management and compliance.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Introduced
Gains authority to participate in district water rights mapping and would have had to compile and submit annual reports for ten years tracking groundwater avoidance, property access, and infrastructure integration value.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Introduced
Receives fewer full transfer applications for the specified corridor but assumes new procedural obligations for notice processing, map would have updated, and long-term data collection and reporting.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Introduced
Potential effect if enacted: Retains legal standing to protest changes that cause injury, but faces potential hydrological uncertainty if cumulative diversion shifts alter flow regimes without triggering full departmental review.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Introduced
Right holders would have had to still provide sixty-day written notice to WRD and comply with fish screen requirements if requested by the State Department of Fish and Wildlife. Intergovernmental entities gain distribution control but would have had to manage internal compliance. WRD bears administrative costs for updated mapping, public notices, and a ten-year reporting cycle. Eligibility for the exemption is geographically and use-specific, limiting broad applicability while creating a targeted pathway for agricultural water flexibility.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Introduced
Agricultural cooperatives and regional water managers
Potential effect if enacted: Multiple right holders in the corridor successfully shift winter and shoulder-season irrigation to previously fallow lands using existing Columbia River rights, avoiding costly groundwater drilling entirely. Cumulative diversion rates remain within historical limits, leading to measurable regional aquifer recovery, optimized shared pumping infrastructure, and documented integration value over the reporting period.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Introduced
Downstream users and ecological systems
Potential effect if enacted: Concurrent diversion point changes downstream within the same reach during low-flow periods. While individual rate and season limits are not breached, cumulative hydrological shifts reduce instream flows below ecological thresholds, harming fish populations and triggering federal ESA conflicts despite the state law's injury prohibition.
Basis: Inferred · Source: Introduced
The text would have legally permitted streamlined administrative changes but does not mandate real-time flow monitoring or third-party verification of usage rates. Reliance on self-reporting and static historical baselines would have created vulnerability to misclassification of seasonal use and cumulative hydrological harm.
Sources · Introduced
The measure would have reduced regulatory friction and administrative costs for agricultural water management in exchange for relying on self-reported compliance and retrospective tracking rather than proactive hydrological impact assessments.
Potential effect if enacted: Streamlined operations for irrigation right holders, reduced application fees and processing delays, potential groundwater conservation through optimized surface water use, and structured tracking of shared infrastructure efficiency.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Introduced
Cumulative flow impacts might have goed undetected until protest periods or reporting cycles, reduced transparency for downstream rights holders during administrative changes, and administrative burden shifts to WRD through mapping would have updated and decade-long data collection mandates.
Basis: Bill text · Source: Introduced
Model self-rating: high. The analysis is grounded exclusively in the provided introduced bill text. No external versions, sponsor statements, or administrative rules were available for cross-reference. This is the model’s assessment of its own analysis, not independent verification or human review.
8 records currently loaded
Records available in the current snapshot.
Earliest loaded signal
Introduced bill text posted
Posted Jan 28, 2026, 3:25 PM PST
Not a qualifying replacement
Only the introduced water-rights proposal is available.
AI assessment dated 2026-09-29. This classification is separate from enactment and legal effect.
Evidence snapshot: 2026-09-29. Later legislative records are not automatically reassessed.
Policy purpose: broadly retained.
Reviewer: /root/review_recent_a · 2026-09-29
Not a qualifying replacement
Only the introduced water-rights proposal is available.
Policy purpose: broadly retained.
“SECTION 1. ORS 537.211 is amended to read: 7 537.211. (1) The approval of an application referred to in ORS 537.140 or 537.400 shall be set 8 forth in a water right permit issued by the Water Resources Department.”
Introduced
Reviewer: /root/review_recent_b · 2026-09-29
Not a qualifying replacement
The introduced water-right proposal is the sole official version.
Policy purpose: broadly retained.
“SECTION 1. ORS 537.211 is amended to read: 7 537.211. (1) The approval of an application referred to in ORS 537.140 or 537.400 shall be set 8 forth in a water right permit issued by the Water Resources Department. The ”
Introduced
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Oregon records no individual sponsors.
Presession filing record
Introduced and printed pursuant to House Rule 12.00. Presession filed.
LC 244 became HB 4006
Mapping document posted: January 6, 2026 at 3:00 PM PST
Informational Meeting — <b>Review of “Color of Water” Committee LC (LC 244)</b> J.R. Cook, Director, Northeast Oregon Water Association David Filippi, Partner, Stoel Rives LLP
House Interim Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water introduction work session
Committee meeting: January 13, 2026 at 11:30 AM PST
HR 40
Committee introduction motion
Committee meeting: January 13, 2026 at 11:30 AM PST
A motion was made to adopt the listed legislative concepts as committee bills.
Official vote: 10-0-1
Committee introduction allows consideration; it does not imply every member supported the introduced or final text.
Records already listed in Activity are not repeated here.
Official origin records are incomplete; missing facts are not inferred.
8 events
Full timeline
8 entries shown.
In committee upon adjournment.
Work Session held.
Work Session
Heard · Agenda item 3 · Room HR 70 · Authorizes holders of certain Columbia River water rights to change the point of diversion or use the water right on land to which the right is not appurtenant, provided certain conditions are met.
Public Hearing held.
Public Hearing
Heard · Agenda item 4 · Room HR 70 · Authorizes holders of certain Columbia River water rights to change the point of diversion or use the water right on land to which the right is not appurtenant, provided certain conditions are met.
Referred to Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water.
First reading. Referred to Speaker's desk.
“Authorizes holders of certain Columbia River water rights to change the point of diversion or use the water right on land to which the right is not appurtenant, provided certain conditions are met.”
Confirm with the official record.
Supplemental, source-linked analysis from project researchers and community contributors. It is separate from Oregon's official record.