Who gets water in a dry year
Under prior appropriation, the first person to obtain a right on a stream is the last to be shut off when flows drop. The holder of the oldest priority date takes the full amount in their right. Whatever is left goes to the next oldest, and so on down the line until the water runs out.
The priority date is usually the date the application was filed. Owning land along a stream, or over an aquifer, does not by itself give you a right to use that water.
Applications, permits and certificates
Most rights go through three steps: an application to OWRD, a permit to build and begin use, and finally a certificate once the use is proven. Applications can take a year or longer. A permit or an unfinished transfer is not yet a certificated right, and the difference matters when land changes hands.
Older uses and the Klamath adjudication
Surface water uses that began before the Water Code on February 24, 1909, and groundwater uses that began before August 3, 1955, were filed as claims, also called registrations. Adjudication is the legal process that settles whether those rights are valid and how much water they carry.
The Klamath River Basin Adjudication is the best-known example. OWRD issued its Findings of Fact and Final Order of Determination on March 7, 2013. The case is now in Klamath County Circuit Court, and OWRD can issue certificates only after the court's decree.
Groundwater uses that need no permit
ORS 537.545 lists groundwater uses that don't require a permit. These include single or group domestic use up to 15,000 gallons a day, and a lawn or garden of up to half an acre using up to 3,000 gallons a day. Stockwatering is also exempt, except at a new confined animal feeding operation using over 12,000 gallons a day.
A single industrial or commercial use up to 5,000 gallons a day is also exempt. An exempt use that is beneficially used counts as a real groundwater right, equal to one backed by a certificate.
Selling land with a water right
A right attaches to the land described in it, so it normally passes to the buyer unless the deed excludes it. Under ORS 537.330, once a seller accepts an offer they must tell the buyer in writing whether a permit, transfer order or certificate exists, and hand it over at closing if available.
OWRD's records don't update themselves. For a certificated right, file an Ownership Update; for a permit or other non-certificated right, file a Request for Assignment.
Nonuse and record searches
Under ORS 540.610, five successive years without beneficial use creates a rebuttable presumption that the right, or the unused part, is forfeited. Some uses, like municipal rights, have specific defenses.
OWRD's Water Rights Information System (WRIS) shows each right with its scanned documents and a place-of-use map. The local watermaster knows how rights on a given stream are regulated.