ORS 537.525: Policy.

(1) The Legislative Assembly recognizes, declares and finds that the right to reasonable control of all water within this state from all sources of water supply belongs to the public, and that in order to ensure the preservation of the public welfare, safety and health it is necessary that: (a) Provision be made for the final determination of relative rights to appropriate ground water everywhere within this state and of other matters with regard thereto through a system of registration, permits and adjudication. (b) Rights to appropriate ground water and priority thereof be acknowledged and protected, except when, under certain conditions, the public welfare, safety and health require otherwise. (c) Beneficial use without waste, within the capacity of available sources, be the basis, measure and extent of the right to appropriate ground water. (d) All claims to rights to appropriate ground water be made a matter of public record. (e) Adequate and safe supplies of ground water for human consumption be assured, while conserving maximum supplies of ground water for agricultural, commercial, industrial, thermal, recreational and other beneficial uses. (f) The location, extent, capacity, quality and other characteristics of particular sources of ground water be determined. (g) Reasonably stable ground water levels be determined and maintained. (h) Depletion of ground water supplies below economic levels, impairment of natural quality of ground water by pollution and wasteful practices in connection with ground water be prevented or controlled within practicable limits. (i) Whenever wasteful use of ground water, impairment of or interference with existing rights to appropriate surface water, declining ground water levels, alteration of ground water temperatures that may adversely affect priorities or impair the long-term stability of the thermal properties of the ground water, interference among wells, thermal interference among wells, overdrawing of ground water supplies or pollution of ground water exists or impends, controlled use of the ground water concerned be authorized and imposed under voluntary joint action by the Water Resources Commission and the ground water users concerned whenever possible, but by the commission under the police power of the state except as specified in ORS 537.796, when such voluntary joint action is not taken or is ineffective. (j) Location, construction, depth, capacity, yield and other characteristics of and matters in connection with wells be controlled in accordance with the purposes set forth in this section. (k) All activities in the state that affect the quality or quantity of ground water shall be consistent with the goal set forth in ORS 468B.155. (2) The Legislative Assembly finds and declares that expanded group domestic use for a public water system located in a ground water quality management area declared under ORS 468B.180 using an amount of water equivalent to the amount of water provided by abandoned water wells as provided in ORS 537.617 ensures the preservation of the public welfare, safety and health. [1955 c.708 §2; 1985 c.673 §46; 1989 c.201 §2; 1989 c.833 §56; 2025 c.605 §33]