https://www.opb.org/article/2024/03/13/oregon-enforces-water-rights-small-farmers-feel-consequences/
Christina del Campo surveys her field, pointing out the garlic she hopes will grow on its own, and the blueberries she’ll no longer be able to sell.
“This section of the field, I don’t know if I will even plant it,” she said. “I am potentially just going to put in a cover crop and build up the soil while I live in limbo and see what’s gonna happen with water rights.”
This is Oak Song Farm, a property located off Lorane Highway near Eugene, with just over half an acre dedicated to agriculture.
For seven years, del Campo has used well water to grow vegetables here, which she’s sold at farmers markets and to her neighbors. She said that’s been her primary source of income.
“It’s like a convenience store,” said del Campo. “People can stop in. I see a lot of people come on Sunday mornings to grab fixings for breakfast.”
However, everything changed last September. That’s when Oak Song Farm received a letter from the regional office of the Oregon Water Resources Department. It was a notification that the farm couldn’t irrigate its commercial crops without a water right.
Del Campo said this came as a complete surprise. Today, she said her business has been essentially destroyed.
“I don’t know why growing food is illegal,” she said. “That’s what doesn’t make sense to me.”
Water is a publicly-owned resource in Oregon, meaning property owners need government approval for many of its uses..... (see link above for the rest of the story)
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