Groundwater permit applicants for municipal or quasi-municipal water use within the Deschutes Groundwater Study Area (DGWSA) may propose to provide mitigation incrementally to coincide with the incremental development of the permit. The permit applicant must request to provide mitigation incrementally and propose an initial incremental development plan as part of the response to the notice of mitigation obligation made early in the permit application process. The proposed incremental development plan must include a time schedule for development of the permit and indicate proposed sources of mitigation that will be obtained and secured within each stage/increment of development.
The municipal or quasi-municipal permit holder only needs to provide sufficient mitigation to satisfy the first increment identified in the incremental development plan to obtain the proposed groundwater permit. Additional mitigation must be provided within each increment on the condition that the permit holder does not increase the rate or amount of water pumped under the permit before providing the corresponding required mitigation or offset.
Municipal and quasi-municipal permit holders with authorized incremental development plans may use mitigation projects, mitigation credits, and/or offsets to satisfy the mitigation requirements of each increment of development of the permit.
Municipal and quasi-municipal permit holders with incremental development plans must also report annually to the Department the progress of implementing the incremental development plan. As part of this progress report, the permit holder must also include the volume of water used in the preceding calendar year and the coinciding source and amount of mitigation. The Department requires, by permit condition, that these reports be submitted to the Department no later than April 1 of each year.
Initial incremental development plans for municipal permit holders may be no longer than 20 years. For quasi-municipal permit holders, the initial incremental development plan may be no longer than five years.
Municipal and quasi-municipal permit applicants (and subsequent permit holders), with incremental development plans, will also be required to provide a Water Management and Conservation Plan pursuant to
OAR 690-086.
Permit holders may modify the incremental development plan once the permit has been issued but must first obtain approval of any changes from the Department. Every permit issued by the Department has what we call the “C” date or completion date for development of the permit. For most permits, including quasi-municipal permits, this deadline is five years from the date the permit was issued. For municipal permits, this is 20 years from the date the permit was issued. If requesting a development schedule extending past the completion date identified by the Department in the permit, we recommend that permit holders also seek and obtain an extension of time for permit development.