{"data":{"id":"us-or/ors-541.566","jurisdiction":"us-or","citation":"ORS 541.566","heading":"Studies eligible for grants or direct service cost payments.","body":"(1) A study receiving a grant or payment for direct services under ORS 541.561 may include activities necessary to assess the type, location, design, cost or other factors affecting the feasibility of a project described in ORS 541.561. Specific activities may include, but are not limited to:\n      (a) Analyses of hydrological refill capacity;\n      (b) Water needs analyses;\n      (c) Refined hydrological analyses;\n      (d) Engineering and financial feasibility studies;\n      (e) Geologic analyses;\n      (f) Water exchange studies;\n      (g) Analyses of by-pass, optimum peak, flushing and other ecological flows of the affected stream and the impact of a proposed project on those flows;\n      (h) Comparative analyses of alternative means of supplying water, including but not limited to the costs and benefits of conservation and efficiency alternatives and the extent to which long-term water supply needs may be met using those alternatives;\n      (i) Analyses of potential environmental, social, cultural or economic benefits, harm or impacts from a proposed project;\n      (j) Analyses of potential public benefits accruing from a proposed project;\n      (k) Fiscal analyses of a proposed project, including estimated project costs, financing for the project and projected financial returns from the project;\n      (L) Hydrological analyses of a proposed project, including the anticipated effects of climate change on hydrological refill capacity;\n      (m) Analyses of potential water quality impacts of the project;\n      (n) The development of water management and conservation plans and associated analyses that assess alternatives to achieve water conservation;\n      (o) Data collection and analyses related to the preparation of seasonally varying flow as prescribed in rules of the Water Resources Commission;\n      (p) Analyses associated with evaluating the safety of existing dams and evaluating actions to address safety deficiencies related to existing dams; and\n      (q) Analyses of impacts of a project on environmental justice or disproportionately impacted communities and ways to minimize impacts on environmental justice or disproportionately impacted communities.\n      (2) If a study concerns a proposed storage project that would impound surface water on a perennial stream, divert water from a stream that supports sensitive, threatened or endangered fish or divert more than 500 acre-feet of surface water annually, a grant or direct services payment may be provided only if the study contains:\n      (a) Analyses of by-pass, optimum peak, flushing and other ecological flows of the affected stream and the impact of the storage project on those flows;\n      (b) Comparative analyses of alternative means of supplying water, including but not limited to the costs and benefits of conservation and efficiency alternatives and the extent to which long-term water supply needs may be met using those alternatives;\n      (c) Analyses of environmental harm or impacts from the proposed storage project;\n      (d) Evaluation of the need for and feasibility of using stored water to augment in-stream flows to conserve, maintain and enhance aquatic life, fish life and any other ecological values; and\n      (e) For a proposed storage project that is for municipal use, analysis of local and regional water demand and the proposed storage project’s relationship to existing and planned water supply projects.","path":["15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food","45. Water Resources: Irrigation, Drainage, Flood Control, Reclamation","Chapter 541 — Water Distributors; Water Releases; Conservation and Storage;"],"source_url":"https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors541.html","current_through":"2025 Edition","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-03T23:50:15Z","sha256":"cc186900f38cc2ad8b8139ac7f487d8ac297147ecdd3e56c46dfa861f69b4ace","source_id":"us-or","stale":false,"prev":"us-or/ors-541.565","next":"us-or/ors-541.567"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}