From: To: AUNAN Lagl GOV BYLER [hon-lag mien! ana EELDOQ Leah; Linda Subject: FW: Letter to Greg te Velde re: dairy and water needs Date: Friday, February 17, 2017 1:00:35 PM Attachments: 10150205 FYI in case you had not seen before Lauri Aunan, Natural Resources Policy Adviser Of?ce of Governor Kate Brown, State of Oregon 503?400-5426 (cell) or 503-373?1680 (office) LaurLaunanr?nLegrquaay From: Lisa Hanson Sent: Friday, February 17, 2017 11:25 AM To: Alexis Taylor AU NAN Lauri GOV Subject: Fwd: Letter to Greg te Velde re: dairy and water needs Begin forwarded message: From: Ray aindl Subject: Fwd: Letter to Greg te Velde re: dairy and water needs Date: February 16, 2017 at 8:56:42 AM PST To: Lisa Hanson r: 115?, Lauren Henderson . - r? . A FYI. See attached letter from WRD to LVR. Don?t mean to overwhelm you with Lost Valley information but I thought you would need to know this information as we work on this project. Ray Begin forwarded message: From: William Matthews Scanned above is a letterthat is going out in the mail today to Mr. te Veide. lam copying all of you via e-mail as opposed to sending it through snail mail. Please let me know if you have any questions or you want to discuss the letter and the issues identified. Thanks and have a great weekend. Mike Ladd Regional Manager, North Central Region Oregon Water Resources Department 116 SE Dorion Ave Pendleton, OR 97801 (541) 278-5456 tat ,?.30- - Water Resources Department North Cmdral Region [We Bum?! (?mum 1 i6 Dru-ion Avenue l?endlelrm, OR 97801 February 5, 2016 Phone 3?21) 27864513 Fax (541} 2378wl?l?28?i? ww. rd .state. or. 3 Greg te Velde 5850 Avenue 160 Tipton, CA 93272 Re: Groundwater development for dairy operation and stockwater Dear Mr. te Velde: i?d like to provide some background information about the local groundwater resource in the area around your new proposed dairy located in Section 16 of Morrow County, Oregon. The subject site is located within the Ordnance Basalt Critical Groundwater Area (Ordnance Basalt CGWA), and less than one mile from the Ordnance Gravel Critical Groundwater Area. These groundwater management areas were established by Special Order Vol. 27, pp 40-86 in 1976, because significant groundwater level declines indicated annual consumptive use exceeded natural recharge of the groundwater systems. The order specifies control provisions that prohibited new permitted uses in the Ordnance Basalt CGWA and curtailed existing permitted uses in the Ordnance Gravel CGWA to protect senior groundwater users. Your current water right transfer T-12248, currently in process with the Department, proposes to change places of use, types of use and points of appropriation (well locations) authorized by Certificates 49726, 55317, 49727, 55316. These rights currently authorize irrigation use from two basalt wells, MORR 595/590 and MORR 591, both located in the Ordnance Basalt CGWA. Please note that drilling new wells before the transfer is reviewed and approved carries a big risk. it is likely Well construction conditions will be specified by a Department hydrogeologist to ensure the proposed wells will access the same aquifer as the existing wells, MORR 595/590 and MORR 591. Also, the Department will have to do an analysis of the transfer to determine ifthe proposed change can be done without injury or enlargement. Additionally, transfer applications are subject to protest by the public. 50, there is a lot of uncertainty on whether a transfer can be approved until the transfer goes through the entire review process required by law and rule. Department groundwater use data indicates that average combined use at these two wells is on the order of 1000 acre?feet per year. The four certificates noted above allow up to 1029.3 acre-feet per year of groundwater use. Total annual groundwater use within the Ordnance Basalt CGWA was approximately 3000 acre-feet in 2014. At this level of use, groundwater levels in the basalt are currently declining at a rate of about 2 feet per year. This indicates that the groundwater resource is beyond its capacity, is sensitive to overdraft, and that a sustainable new use is not available without injury to senior groundwater users. The most viable water supply option for the dairy project is a combination of surface water and basalt groundwater resulting from the proposed transfer of existing water rights. Any new appropriation from the basalts, such as stock water for 30,000 head ofdairy cattle, will represent a significant new use within the CGWA that will likely injure senior users. A rough estimate of dairy cattle drinking water use, assuming 20?50 gallons per head per day, is 672 to 1680 acre-feet per year. This represents approximately 22% to 56% increase in pumpage from the Ordnance Basalt CGWA, a resource that is already declining at the current level of use. This amount of additional use is not sustainable which could cause us to look at re-opening the Ordnance basalt CGWA order and consider regulation of the most junior uses, including exempt uses. i am happy to participate in a meeting with you and your consulting team to discuss this matter further, and look for possible solutions. But I felt it prudent to share this information with you given the scale of your proposed project. Please call me at 541.278.5456 or email me at if you have any questions or would like to arrange a meeting. Since rely, {1?31ch l} j? Mike Ladd, Region Manager Cc: Greg Silbernagel Watermaster District 5, via e-mail Scott Fairley Governor?s office, via e?mail William Mathews, ODA, via e-mail Eric Nigg, DEQ, via e-mail Carla McLane, Morrow County, via e-mail Ivan Gall Field Services Division, via e-mail Wayne Downey, IRZ Consulting, via e-mail