ORS 537.332

Known as the Ground Water Act

The act spans §§ 537–537 (229 sections).

Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case 193 Or. App. 87 - Waterwatch of Oregon, Inc. v. Water Resources Commission (2004)

Most recently applied in East Valley Water v. Water Resources Commission (August 2025)

1987 c.859 §2; 1995 c.416 §32

How often courts cite this section

citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

As used in ORS 537.332 to 537.360:

(1) “In-stream” means within the natural stream channel or lake bed or place where water naturally flows or occurs.

(2) “In-stream flow” means the minimum quantity of water necessary to support the public use requested by an agency.

(3) “In-stream water right” means a water right held in trust by the Water Resources Department for the benefit of the people of the State of Oregon to maintain water in-stream for public use. An in-stream water right does not require a diversion or any other means of physical control over the water.

(4) “Public benefit” means a benefit that accrues to the public at large rather than to a person, a small group of persons or to a private enterprise.

(5) “Public use” includes but is not limited to:

(a) Recreation;

(b) Conservation, maintenance and enhancement of aquatic and fish life, wildlife, fish and wildlife habitat and any other ecological values;

(d) Navigation.

Official source: Oregon State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Oregon statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.