HB 3372 Signed into Law:
OWRD SLIDES
2025 Legislative Session Update:
PRESS RELEASE
Oregon Set to Legalize Small-Scale Commercial Gardens
Salem, Ore. — On Thursday, the Oregon State Legislature passed HB 3372 with strong bipartisan support, formally legalizing the use of domestic well water to operate a small-scale commercial garden. This legislation is a major victory for Oregon’s local community food system, as it creates a new pathway for small gardeners to sell excess produce or flowers at farmers markets, farm stands or through CSAs.
“By allowing people who are growing on a homestead scale and want to sell their excess food and farm products at farmers markets, we are diversifying our fragile food system,” said Michelle Townsend, who serves on the board of the Oregon Farmers Market Association, which was in strong support of HB 3372. “All across this magnificent state there are so many small towns that do not have accessibility to fresh affordable produce, especially in rural communities. Farmers markets and CSAs are often the only place that people can access fresh food within dozens of miles. We should encourage households to sell excess produce within their local communities, not make it illegal.”
This bill was designed to help increase access to local food, especially in Oregon’s food deserts, where farmers markets are often the only reliable source of fresh produce within dozens of miles.
Until now, irrigated agriculture was the only non-allowable use of domestic well water.
Starting on January 1, 2026, the new law will allow up to ½ acre in commercial gardening within the existing commercial activity exemption for domestic wells — with no more than 3,000 out of the already allowable 5,000 gallons per day to be used towards commercial gardening.
“My goal with this legislation is to provide a practical solution for small growers while maintaining responsible water use,” wrote Rep. Mark Owens (R-60), Co-Chair of the House Committee Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water, who was a lead champion for this bipartisan legislation along with his fellow Co-Chair Rep. Ken Helm (D-27).
In her testimony supporting the bill, Alice Morrison – who serves as the Co-Director of the Friends of Family Farmers – noted that even a ½ acre garden can make a huge contribution to the local food supply. Gardens of this size can often feed more than 20 families per week through CSAs, in addition to serving hundreds of additional families through weekly farmers markets.
“Prioritizing food production is a step in the right direction for our state’s water system,” Morrison said. “HB 3372 is a common-sense solution to the discrepancy in our current domestic well statutes, and will make a meaningful difference in increasing access to fresh, local food in both rural and urban communities alike.”
MEDIA
Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon
TIMELINE
1/1/26 – Bill takes effect
6/9/25 – Governor signed the bill into law
5/29/25 – the Oregon State Legislature PASSED HB 3372 with strong bipartisan support!!!
5/21/25 – Third and final reading and the vote on the Senate floor will happen this week!
- Next Steps
- Senate Floor Vote – third reading 5/22
- House concurrence vote
- To the governor
- Takes effect Jan 1 2026
So what’s in the bill?
- ½ acre garden can be used in part or whole for commercial growing, 3,000 gal/day limit regardless of use
- Irrigation for half acre plus currently allowed commercial cannot exceed 5,000 gal/day
- Cannabis is excluded*** -7 amendment introduced to clarify that licensed hemp growers can use this exemption
- LUBGWMA excluded until Jan 2028 (-11 amendment)
5/8/25 – BIG NEWS! HB 3372A passed out of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire unanimously! On to the Senate Floor for a vote! Then back to House Floor due to amendment.
4/29/25 (and extended hearing and work session scheduled for 5/8) –
HEARING HAPPENED THIS AFTERNOON – Thank you to everyone who testified!
- Amendments added:
- “SECTION 3. The exemption established by ORS 537.545 (1)(b) for the use of ground water for watering any commercial garden does not apply to the use of ground water for watering any commercial garden in the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area.
- “SECTION 4. Section 3 of this 2025 Act is repealed on January 2, 2028.”.
4/22/25 – HB 3372A PASSED OUT OF FIRST CHAMBER (HOUSE)! Now it is awaiting assignment to a Senate committee.
4/9/25 – BIG NEWS! HB 3372-5 passed out of the House Committee of Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources and Water this morning! On to the House Floor for a vote!
4/7/25 –
HEARING HAPPENED THIS MORNING – Thank you to everyone who testified!
- Possible outcomes: bill dies, moved to rules, sent to a floor vote them referred to either W&M or a Senate policy committee
So what’s in the bill?
- We are supportive of the -5 amendment
- ½ acre garden can be used in part or whole for commercial growing, 3,000 gal/day limit regardless of use
- Irrigation for half acre plus currently allowed commercial cannot exceed 5,000 gal/day
- Cannabis is excluded
3/31/25 –
- #1 Priority: Submit written testimony
- The sponsor has not posted the amendment to OLIS yet
- We are anticipating a ½ acre commercial garden allowance with a gallon cap
- No registration or metering at this time
- the allowance would be within current exemptions, not on top of them.
3/24/25 –
- HEARING SCHEDULED – Monday April 7 8AM in the House Ag committee
- Very limited time for in person testimony so we have already lined up a panel of experts and farmers (Water League, State Grange, PLUG, OFMA, and 4 farmers from around the state!)
- Submit written testimony
3/17/25 –
- Stay tuned for a hearing and work session in House Ag (must occur next week or week after next).
- Thank you for your help at rally day, your voices have made a huge difference and we are excited about the direction.
3/10/25 –
- Met with 42 legislators on this bill for rally day 3.4.25
- Using the connection made to try to elevate the issue and get us a hearing
3/3/25 –
- Message from FoFF moving forward:
- We need to find ways to have more farmers, not less.
- Given the scarcity of water rights and rising land costs, natural resource management decisions should have a holistic approach when thinking about the future we want.
2/24/25 –
- THIS IS ONLY ABOUT DOMESTIC WELLS FOR COMMERCIAL IRRIGATION, NOT MAKING CHANGES TO EXISTING WATER RIGHTS
- Placeholder bill introduced in House Ag (HB 3372)
2/10/25 –
- House version HB 3372
2/3/25 –
- Placeholder bill introduced in House Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources and Water
BACKGROUND
Right now, Oregon’s domestic exempt well law allows for anyone to use unlimited groundwater on a half acre of land for the purpose of watering their lawns or gardens. For decades, small farmers have been utilizing this exemption to grow local, nutritional food to feed both their families and communities.
BARRIERS
Since Fall 2023, the Oregon Water Resources Department began enforcing 70-year-old technicality in the existing domestic exempt well statute, which specifies that watering lawns and gardens is only allowed if the lawn or garden is noncommercial. If food is being grown, it should never go to waste. It should go to feeding our neighbors and communities. If you can legally grow vegetables, fruits or flowers for your family using a domestic well, you should be allowed to sell those products to your community — but with ethical, reasonable limits that respect our water crisis.
Oregon needs to stand up for our communities and our working lands. Farmland Prices in Oregon are skyrocketing, we are losing more small farms each year, EFU zoned land cannot get water rights to remain in production and is vulnerable to rezoning and development. Right now the water use on a ½ acre and/or not exceeding 5000 gal/day is legal, it is just the commerce that is not.
OWRD estimates that all the domestic wells (88% of the number of wells in OR) in the state use only 4% of the groundwater pumped out of the ground for any reason, while irrigation water rights holders (7% of the wells) use 82% of the water pumped out of the ground for any reason. These are the smallest users in the system and account for a tiny portion of overall use. It is time to allow small farmers to feed their communities and support themselves within the reasonable exempt uses we already have.
SOLUTION
We have the opportunity to pass a law to change this and we need your support. HB 3372A would allow folks to use their ½ acre for commercial or personal use (lawn, flowers, food, etc.) with a daily gallon limit of 3,000 gal/day in irrigation. Folks can also still use the commercial exemption for other farm things (like washing your produce for market, making farm direct value added products, etc) as long as the commercial use and irrigation add up to 5,000 gal/day (the current limit for commercial or industrial use on domestic wells). This solution does not increase water usage because it is entirely contained within current exemptions and does not create unfair competitive advantages because it is limited to production on ½ acre.
This is our chance to increase agricultural and rural economic opportunity without increasing water use. Help us pass HB 3372A and allow people to sell food and farm products grown within the exemptions of domestic wells. We have found a true compromise solution here and have bipartisan and broad support for this concept. We have the opportunity to hand the power to feed us back to our communities. We need more farmers in Oregon, and this gives small folks a chance to start.
MORE INFORMATION/RESOURCES
VIEW OUR SLIDE SHOW (these were used for our Community Water Meetings around the state)
Watch our Statewide Community Water Meeting –