OAR 690-507-0750: Stage Gulch Critical Groundwater Area (CGWA): Purpose

(1) The Director issued an order on May 15, 1991, declaring the Stage Gulch Critical Groundwater Area. The order described the exterior boundaries and divided the area with eight subareas for the purposes of managing the groundwater resource. The response of ground-water levels to pumpage in each subarea is largely independent of pumpage within other subareas. (2) To promote optimum use of the limited groundwater supply in the Stage Gulch Critical Groundwater Area, the Commission encourages development of water management plans to maintain a high standard of water use efficiency. (3) The purpose of these rules is to stabilize water levels in the basalt groundwater reservoir in the Stage Gulch Critical Groundwater area of Umatilla County. These rules carry out the authority granted to the Commission in ORS 536.900 to 536.935 and 537.505 to 537.745.