On July 31, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) signed into law Senate Bill 85, which requires anyone applying for a new confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) permit to submit a water use plan to the Oregon Department of Water Resources, Oregon Department of Agriculture and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
According to a Capital Press report, prior to the bill, Oregon didn’t curb the amount of groundwater that could be pumped for livestock without a permit, but livestock operators are now limited to 12,000 gallons a day.
This early into the bill’s signage, it is unclear just how much existing and new CAFOs will be affected.
