Klamath Water Users oppose two Senate bills they say would hinder transfers; Department of Interior signals near‑term water deliveries

Dave Hensley, a lobbyist with United Strategies and Consulting representing the Klamath Water Users Association (KWA), briefed the Klamath County Board of Commissioners on the association’s 2025 legislative priorities and recent federal communications about water availability.

Hensley described three legislative measures the association is watching: two Senate bills (identified in the presentation as SB 427 and SB 1153) that KWA opposes, and a House bill (HB 3501) that KWA supports as a countermeasure. He said the opposing Senate bills would increase obstacles to transfers of water‑right points of diversion and would expand protest and review processes, including a new section described in the bill as "tribal review of transfer applications." KWA’s concern, Hensley said, is that the bills would allow additional objections and extend timelines for transfers that in some cases already take years to resolve.

Hensley explained the practical effect he expects from the bills. Under SB 427, he said, any measurable reduction in streamflow between an original and proposed point of diversion would be grounds for denial of a transfer application; he argued this could block otherwise beneficial transfers (for example, moving a diversion upstream for operational reasons or dedicating water to a refuge) even when total water use and acreage irrigated would not increase. On SB 1153, Hensley said the bill would expand avenues for protest and would add a tribal review requirement; he characterized that provision as a delegation of state transfer decisions to a sovereign entity and said the association opposes the approach.

KWA supports HB 3501, Hensley said, because it would bar the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) from considering certain "public interest" detriment factors and therefore could streamline transfers under existing water‑law rules. He described HB 3501 as intended to create a pause for conversation after the two senate bills were filed and to create a framework for a negotiated path to modernize transfer processes.

Hensley also reported recent federal correspondence from the Bureau of Reclamation. Quoting a department letter, he said: "based on current anticipated hydrologic conditions in the Upper Klamath Basin, Reclamation anticipates that it will be possible to satisfy buy up requirements and to satisfy irrigation demand for the project … Reclamation anticipates that water will be available beginning April 1." Hensley said KWA’s internal math shows the expected allocation is about 320,000 acre‑feet, leaving an estimated shortfall of about 15,000 acre‑feet for a full/allocation scenario; he urged cautious optimism and said the association will continue to work with federal and state partners.

Hensley summarized KWA’s priorities: (1) advance groundwater storage and recharge opportunities, (2) support critical project‑infrastructure modernization, and (3) avoid new restrictions on irrigation water management and use. He said KWA represents irrigation districts and water delivery agencies for roughly 1,200 family farms and ranches and protects water deliveries to what the presentation later identified as approximately 170,000 irrigated acres within the Klamath Project.

Commissioners thanked Hensley for the update and agreed to schedule quarterly updates. Hensley said the association is hiring a new executive director and that federal momentum on reexamining science and management in the basin has increased KWA’s engagement with federal officials.

(Ending) KWA urged commissioners and local stakeholders to monitor the three bills and to support efforts—state and federal—to streamline transfers, advance aquifer recharge projects and modernize aging irrigation infrastructure.