OAR 690-410-0050: Water Resources Protection on Public Riparian Lands

(1) Policy — The water-related functions of riparian areas on public lands shall be protected. On public lands, management activities in riparian areas shall be planned to maintain or improve riparian conditions that support water-related functions, consistent with the constitutional or statutory purposes of the public land. (2) Principles: (a) The policy in section (1) of this rule is established based on the following principles: (A) Land and water management are integrally related; (B) Proper land management can provide for many commodity uses for riparian areas while protecting water resources; (C) The Legislature has made it a goal of the people of the state to enhance Oregon’s waters through the management of riparian areas and associated uplands; (D) The state’s integrated, coordinated water policy needs to address water-related aspects of land management; and (E) Implementation will be through the programs of public land management agencies having responsibility over riparian lands. (b) To implement the policy in section (1) of this rule, public land management agencies shall be advised to consider and accommodate the following principles. (A) Protect water-related riparian functions through public land management plans and practices. Water-related riparian area functions include any or all of the following as applicable to the specific water body segment: providing streambank stability; contributing coarse woody debris to dissipate flood energy and create aquatic habitat; maintaining water tables in relatively close proximity to the ground surface; carrying and storing flood flows; filtering runoff waters of sediment and potential pollutants; insulating streams from summer and winter temperature extremes; and supporting the ecosystem of the adjacent water resource; (B) Build databases of riparian area condition, by watershed, sufficient to make the planning and management decisions to implement this policy. The condition of riparian areas shall be determined on the basis of the types of functions listed in paragraph (2)(a)(A) of this rule as known from the best scientific information available; (C) Monitor the effectiveness of riparian area management and rehabilitation activities within a watershed in accordance with land management plans or programs; (D) Evaluate the effects of proposed management or rehabilitation activities, taking into account known conditions or riparian areas and uplands within the whole watershed and, to the extent practical, the cumulative impacts of ongoing and proposed management activities; (E) Mitigate activities in riparian areas which are undertaken in accordance with land management plans. In mitigating activities, actions which avoid and minimize impacts as described in the mitigation definition found in OAR 690-400-0010(9)(a) and (b) are preferred; (F) Undertake mitigation when emergencies require action that damages riparian areas; (G) Schedule, implement and monitor efforts to improve impaired water-related functions of riparian areas, considering the natural recovery potential of affected resources and the benefits expected from the recovery. Give preference to improvement strategies which take advantage of natural processes; and (H) Enforce statutes, rules, and regulations that require federal land management agencies to exercise their management and trustee responsibilities to restore, maintain and enhance the riparian areas of the state. (ORS 541.355(2)(b)(C)). (3) Applicability: (a) The policy and principles in sections (1) and (2) of this rule shall not apply to: (A) Privately-owned lands, including those served by a public corporation, such as an irrigation district; or (B) Facilities constructed for the conveyance of water, including but not limited to irrigation ditches or canals. (b) Nothing in the policy and principles in sections (1) and (2) of this rule shall preclude operating or using reservoirs, ponds, wetlands created for treating water, or other water facilities in accordance with the purposes for which they were authorized, built or permitted.