Doherty v. Oregon Water Resources Director

This is a judicial review of the state Water Resources Director’s amended order, entered in 1986, declaring 274 square miles in Umatilla and Morrow counties a critical ground water area. Several agricultural irrigators challenge the order which can lead to controls on volume of water pumped from area wells. The Court of Appeals upheld the declaration of the Butter Creek Critical Ground Water Area with subareas, as well as the order that no new applications be accepted to appropriate ground water or to expand or change existing uses. Doherty v. Oregon Water Resources Director, 92 Or App 22,…