A recent land use decision regarding Central Oregon’s Thornburgh Resort’s Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Plan resulted in what opponents are calling a significant setback for the resort.
Central Oregon LandWatch, an environmental and land use watchdog, said it prevailed in an Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals decision regarding Thornburgh Resort, a highly controversial resort and 2,400-acre luxury community outside of Redmond near Cline Buttes.
On Jan. 12, Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals sent an approval of Thornburgh’s Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Plan back to Deschutes County Commissioners for further action, where the resort will need to prove, once again, that its FWMP is sufficient in demonstrating no net loss of fish and wildlife.
“We also conclude that the county’s findings that the no net loss standard may be satisfied by submittal to Oregon Water Resources Department of an application for assignment, transfer or cancellation of a water right is not supported by adequate findings or substantial evidence,” read the final conclusion from the Jan. 12 opinion.
The resort was required to submit a FWMP, per Deschutes County code 18.113, proving that negative impacts to fish and wildlife will be mitigated.
In April 2023, the Board of County Commissioners voted 2-1 to approve Thornburgh’s new FWMP. The new FWMP claimed the resort would use 33% less water than previously stated by reducing the number of the golf courses and focusing on lowering water usage across the project, according to the Developer of Thornburgh, Kameron DeLashmutt. Commissioner Phil Chang voted against the approval.
On May 8, LandWatch filed a notice of intent to appeal the Deschutes County’s approval of Thornburgh’s FWMP. According to Carol Macbeth, the staff attorney for LandWatch, the resort will have to submit its FWMP to the County again for further action.
“It is ironic that people would fight the reduction in water use, particularly given that Thornburgh already has an approved Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Plan that was found to meet the no net loss standard with nearly 50% more water usage,” said DeLashmutt.
The resort, according to LandWatch, proposes to withdraw up to 6 million gallons of water per day. LandWatch said in a press release that the resort “has continually failed to demonstrate it has a current, approved and permanent water source to mitigate the negative effects of groundwater withdrawals on fish and wildlife habitat in the Upper Deschutes Basin.” DeLashmutt argues the opposite.
“Thornburgh presently owns nearly all the water that it will need for the project,” said DeLashmutt. “As we are not presently pumping that water, we are instead leaving it in the ground and in the streams where it is benefiting the aquifer, the streams and ultimately the area fisheries habitat.” This is supported by the resort’s FWMP, said DeLashmutt.
The LUBA opinion covered other issues, including an argument from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and an economic analysis. Tribal leaders, according to the document, argued the County’s decision contained “implicit cultural bias” when commissioners failed to address issues the Tribes raised in its testimony.
Concerns included resort water consumption conflicting with fish habitats. LUBA responded in the opinion, “It is not our role to reweigh the evidence.”
After LUBA’s opinion, Thornburgh is also required to submit a new economic analysis that reflects changes the resort has proposed, said Macbeth. According to DeLashmutt, the remand was required to show that the economic impact of the job reduction resulting from not building one golf course was not substantial. “Thornburgh will provide massive economic benefits to the region,” said DeLashmutt in an email.
In January 2023, a Deschutes County hearing officer rejected the resort’s new FWMP, citing a lack of input from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and insufficient oversight. This was then reversed in April, when commissioners approved the updated FWMP. At the same time the Oregon Supreme Court declined three appeals filed by the resort’s longtime opponent, Nunzie Gould. According to previous reporting, over 50 appeals have been made since the resort was first proposed in 2005.
“LandWatch remains fully committed to fighting for fish, wildlife, and water resources in the Deschutes Basin, as well as for the treaty-protected rights of our co-petitioners, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs,” Macbeth said.
This article appears in Source Weekly January 25, 2024.
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It’s hard to fathom that this project was ever considered viable, much less well on its way to reality. 6 million gallons a day out of the aquifer in a dry barren high desert area is absurd. Even the developers sketches of the proposed development contrasted to current images of the area tell anyone the real story. Yet, here we sit nearly 2 decades after some asshat decided their legacy needed to be turning a beautiful but very dry wilderness into yet another part-time vacation home Mecca for golfers. Is there no common sense anywhere anymore? Shame on the developers for pushing such a ridiculous development in a very water challenged region.
And yes, I am one of the many long term full-time residents that will almost certainly have to deepen our wells in response to this travesty.
This project was absurd to begin with. We don’t need another resort let alone another golf course. Leave our wilderness alone, stop shrinking it and encroaching upon our wild life and tribes. We live here because we like it the way it is (was) opposed to more useless building, catering to tourism and deep pockets.
“we own all the water”…. Kind of says it all as far as the developer’s sense of what an arid ecosystem looks like for anyone using that same water table.
Keep paying attention folks! Vote for commissioners accordingly.