Pete's Mountain Homeowners Ass'n v. Oregon Water Resources Department

In this water rights case, the Oregon Water Resources Department (the department) approved an application of Pete’s Mountain Water Co., Inc. (the water company), to amend a water right permit. Petitioners, a neighborhood association and a number of local area residents, filed a petition for judicial review of an order in other than a contested case. The water company intervened and moved to dismiss for want of statutory standing, arguing that, under ORS 536.075(1), only a “party affected” by an order of the department may seek review of the order; in this case, the water company argued,…