Suction Dredge Report 2nd Half, Biased yet Informative Options

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Oregon Water Resources Department (WRD)


• WRD grants water rights throughout the state, and is responsible for assuring that
the free flowing character of Scenic Waterways is maintained.
• The agency has determined that recreational mining, which it has defined in
regulation as suction dredging with a hose no larger than 4 inches in diameter,
does not create a diversion of water and therefore has no effect on water quantities
and flow.

WRD is responsible for granting water rights to various users; they are the body
responsible for permitting and prohibiting various uses of the state.s water. Under the Scenic Waterways Act, WRD (and the Water Resources Commission, which directs the activities of WRD) has multiple responsibilities. Within Scenic Waterways, WRD has the authority to deny a number of uses of water, including dams, impoundments, certain mining operations, and many other activities. Curbing these activities in certain parts of the state was, in fact, one of the primary reasons for establishing the Scenic Waterways System in the first place.

These types of activities are not eligible to receive water rights
on Scenic Waterways. This is true not only on stretches of rivers designated as scenic, but it can also be applicable to areas upstream as well. WRD must make determinations about the likelihood of an upstream activity to significantly affect water quantity. If an activity will ultimately affect the free-flowing character of a Scenic Waterway downstream, then WRD is not supposed to grant a water right for that activity.

WRD will grant new water rights until there is an effect on water quantity, and
there is a standard that has been developed to weigh the effects of new water rights. This standard is known as the Diack flow, which is the amount of water needed in a river to preserve its free-flowing character. The establishment of Diack flows resulted from a lawsuit brought against the state. The case established that WRD is required to limit water usage if such usage will diminish the free flowing character of scenic rivers. WRD has been routinely criticized for not meeting the goals of the Diack flows, and allowing too much water to be allocated.

WRD is also charged under the Scenic Waterways Act to work collaboratively
with other state agencies on actions that involve Scenic Waterways. WRD is to review and concur on management plans for adjacent lands, on land condemnation actions, and on new additions to the Scenic Waterway System, and the agency is given an opportunity to make comments whenever any of these actions take place.


WRD Considers Recreational Mining to Have Minimal Impact; It Does Not Divert or
Take Water

With respect to recreational placer mining, WRD has little to no involvement in
the day-to-day management of these activities. WRD wrote the regulation that defined the parameters of what is meant by the term recreational, and from this definition, DSL and DEQ have established their permitting guidelines and procedures. The definition of recreational as utilizing mechanized or hydraulic equipment, except a motorized surface dredge with a suction hose intake four inches or less in diameter has effectively meant that no recreational equipment is capable of moving enough water to divert or disrupt the free flowing character of any of the states designated Scenic Waterways. These waterways are not small streams and tributaries, but rivers whose flow cannot be significantly altered by a suction dredge with a four-inch hose.

Moreover, water pulled into a suction dredge for mining purposes stays in the river.

There is no taking of the resource out of the river. Thus WRD has determined that there is no diversion or taking of water by recreational placer miners, no water quantity issue at stake, and thus no affect on the free flowing character of the waterway. As far as the responsibility of WRD is concerned, recreational placer mining has de minimus effect. Therefore the agency has no permitting authority or responsibility for this activity, and has expressed no opposition to recreational placer mining in scenic waterways with respect to its responsibilities.

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Organizations Contacted


Oregon State Senate

Oregon State House

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

Division of State Lands

Department of Environmental Quality

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board

Water Resources Department

Oregon Department of Forestry

Oregon Department of Agriculture

Oregon Marine Board

Oregon State Police

Department of Land Conservation and
Development

Oregon Department of Geology and
Mineral Industries

Commission on Indian Affairs

Bureau of Land Management

US Forest Service

National Marine Fisheries Service

US Fish and Wildlife Service

US Army Corps of Engineers

Oregon Independent Miners

Waldo Mining District

Eastern Oregon Mining Association

Willamette Valley Miners

Armadillo Mining Shop

Defenders of Wildlife

Native Fish Society

Siskiyou Regional Education Project.

Willamette River Keepers

Oregon Environmental Council

Pacific Rivers Council

Nature Conservancy

Sierra Club

World Wildlife Fund

Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project

1000 Friends of Oregon

Oregon Natural Resources Council

Audubon Society

Water Watch of Oregon

Conservation Biology Institute

Rogue Flyfishers

Southern Oregon Flyfishers

Oregon Trout

Northwest Steelheaders

Central Oregon Flyfishers

For the Sake of the Salmon

American Rivers

Northwest Rafters Association

Willamette Kayak and Canoe Club

Oregon Whitewater Association

Cascade Canoe Club

Rogue Wilderness Adventures

Orange Torpedoes, Inc.

Oregon Guides and Packers

OSU Fisheries and Wildlife Department

OSU Forest Science Department

Deschutes County

Josephine County

Wallowa County

City of Maupin

City of Redmond

City of Grants Pass

City of Gold Beach

City of Bend

City of Wallowa

Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs

Confederated Tribes of Umatilla

Burns Paiute Tribe

Confederated Tribes of Siletz

Coquille Indian Tribe

Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower

Umpqua, and Suislaw

Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians

Klamath Tribe

Lower Rogue Watershed Council

McKenzie Watershed Council

Umpqua Watershed Council

Upper Rogue Watershed Council

Elk/Sixes River Watershed Council

Mid Deschutes Watershed Council

Mid Rogue Watershed Council

North Fork John Day Watershed Council

Upper South Fork John Day Basin

Upper Deschutes Watershed Council

Oregon Farm Bureau

Water for Life

Oregon Cattlemen’s Association

Oregon Water Resources Bureau

Oregon Forest Industries Council

Oregon Small Woodlands Association

Associated Oregon Loggers

Individual Landowners