Umatilla County

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Location & Hours

Pendleton Office:
116 SE Dorion Avenue
Pendleton, OR 97801
(541) 278-5456
(541) 278-0287 Fax
Hours: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. & 1 p.m. to
5 p.m. M-F

Milton-Freewater Office:
418 N. Main
Milton-Freewater,
OR 97862
(541) 938-6886
(541) 938-4097
Fax Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. & 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. M-F

Other Links

Oregon Water Resources Department

OWRD Application Forms

OWRD Well Logs

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

Umatilla Basin Gaging Stations

USGS Upper Umatilla River Gaging Stations Gibbon

USGS Upper Meacham Creek Gaging Stations Gibbon

Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council

Umatilla Basin Watershed Council

Critical Groundwater Taskforce

Watermaster

Watermaster District 5 is within Oregon Water Resources Department’s (OWRD) North Central Region. The District includes the Umatilla Basin, the Walla Walla River Basin and the tributaries of the Columbia River from the Washington state line to Willow Creek. The district encompasses approximately 3,634 square miles, has over 300,000 acres of water rights from surface and ground water sources, and about 5,100 points of diversion to administer. The Watermaster and county-funded staff provide and collect information regarding water rights, water use, well construction and water law compliance. Staff assist others with water right and transfer applications, conduct dam safety inspections, perform streamflow measurements, mediate water use conflicts, review and comment on county planning proposals, and develop water rights lists by stream for use by staff for managing water. Staff can also assist with permit and transfer order compliance issues. This assistance helps water users meet permit and transfer order conditions enabling perfection of the right and issuance of the water right certificate. Transfer reviews protect other water users from injury. Surface water flow and use data are used by government agencies and the public for many water management and planning activities, including flood control and accounting of the Umatilla Basin Project Exchange and McKay Reservoir storage releases. The watermaster’s office responds to customer calls for water use regulation when stream flows are insufficient to serve all water users by implementing Court Decrees and administering other water rights of record for the purpose of protecting senior water rights priority call for water.