OAR 690-014-0110: Claim of Beneficial Use: General Standards

The Claim of Beneficial Use shall be prepared by a CWRE and submitted by the holder of the permit or transfer final order or by an authorized agent. (1) In addition to the rules of professional conduct found in OAR 820, CWREs should be aware of the public interest regarding Examiners’ investigations of water use. Uses not authorized or not completed within the terms of the permit or transfer final order, or water not beneficially used, shall not be included in the Claim of Beneficial Use. Claims of Beneficial Use shall not violate any of the provisions of the Water Rights Act or these rules. (2) All Claims of Beneficial Use shall be made to match with existing water rights of record, unless an error in the original location is identified. If an error in an existing water right record is found, then evidence of the correct location as it pertains to the current claim shall be submitted to the Department as part of the Claim of Beneficial Use. (3) The Director may refuse to accept Claims of Beneficial Use which do not conform to these rules and regulations. (4) The form or format provided by the Department for Claim of Beneficial Use shall question whether beneficial use was made. If the permittee or transferee claims that beneficial use was made, the claim must be supported with a sufficient description of the use prepared by the CWRE to enable the Department to decide if beneficial use was made under the terms and conditions of a permit or transfer final order. (5) Follow up inspections may be made by the Department.