OAR 690-033-0220: Lower Columbia Rules (Below Bonneville Dam): Evaluation Criteria

(1) If the Department determines that a proposed use of water is detrimental to the protection or recovery of a threatened or endangered species and cannot be conditioned or mitigated to avoid the detriment, the applications shall be presumed to impair or be detrimental to the public interest. The Department shall review recovery plans, the Fish and Wildlife Program, and regional restoration programs applicable to threatened or endangered species in evaluating whether a proposed use is detrimental to the protection or recovery of a threatened or endangered species. (2) The proposed use shall comply with the following standards which will form the basis for permit conditions: (a) The proposed use complies with screen design, installation, operation (including provisions for maintenance) specifications and passage requirements as listed in ORS 498.248 through 498.268 and 509.600 through 509.630; (b) The proposed use complies with existing state and federal water quality standards; and (c) The proposed use complies with water use measurement, recording and reporting required by the Director. (3) Any application for more than one cubic foot per second not subject to the requirements of OAR 690, division 86, shall contain a description of the measures to be taken to assure reasonably efficient water use. (4) Based on the determination under section (1) of this rule, the proposed use may be further conditioned so that, if the riparian area is disturbed in the process of developing a point of diversion, the riparian area is restored or enhanced. (5) If a proposed use is determined to be detrimental to the protection or recovery of a threatened or endangered species, the applicant may propose mitigation compatible with sections (2), (3) and (4) of this rule. The Director shall determine if the proposed use with mitigation offsets the detriment. For purposes of mitigation, the ODFW Fish and Wildlife Habitat Mitigation Goals and Standards, OAR 635, division 415, Section 030 adopted November 13, 1991, shall be followed.