Oregon's New Water Law Requires Permits To Use Kayaks, Paddleboards, Inner Tubes Or Face A Fine

Oregon State Marine Board spokeswoman Ashley Massey said: “We will also work with our marine law enforcement partners to help educate the public before citations are issued (in 2026).”

Beginning on January 1st, 2026, Oregon will now require you to have a registered permit to use things like kayaks, paddleboards, even inner tubes, or really anything that floats, lest you face a fine for noncompliance.

According to the Statesman Journal,

All small boats, including kayaks, packrafts, stand-up paddleboards and even two inner tubes tied together, will need a Waterway Access Permit beginning Jan. 1, 2026. Previously, boats 10 feet and shorter were exempt. For motorized boats, the Aquatic Invasive Species surcharge increases to $8 (up from $5 previously) plus $5.95 per foot of boat.

A seven-day permit costs $6, a one-year permit is $20 and a two-year permit $35. Registered companies who rent out watercraft will receive volume discounts. Charitable organizations are exempt, Columbia Basin News says.

The full list of “boats” requiring a permit include:

• Hard or inflatable stand up paddleboard

• Hard or inflatable kayak (with some exemptions for whitewater kayaks on some rivers, see below)

• Canoe

• Raft (or packraft)

• Devices with more than one air chamber including two inner tubes tied together. Massey said of the permit requirement for two tubes tied together: “The definition of a boat is any multi-air chamber device. These types of boats would also need a sound producing device and life jacket(s).”

Other notes on the permits

• Kids 13 and under do not need a WAP

• WAPs can be transferred between boats. In other words, a WAP for a raft could also be used for a hard-shell kayak. But, if a family of four were each paddling separate kayaks (with everybody 14 and older) each family member would need a WAP.

Boats that don’t need a WAP:

• Pool toys

• Float mattresses

• Single inner tubes

• Whitewater kayaks on specific sections of river that don’t use river access points, to be determined in upcoming rulemaking.

Oregon.gov provides more specifics on how and where to get these permits.

Oregon State Marine Board spokeswoman Ashley Massey said in a comment: “We will also work with our marine law enforcement partners to help educate the public before citations are issued (in 2026).”

“We will be working with organizations like American Whitewater to identify sections of waterways with Class III or greater difficulty ratings without boating facility access,” Massey said. “The exemption is based on the waterway and not the boat/activity, so if a whitewater kayaker is boating the Bend Whitewater Park, they will need a waterway access permit like all of the other boaters.”

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ken Helm, (D), introduced this bill because of “serious and growing threat” of aquatic invasive species such as quagga, zebra and golden mussels. “A broader resource base and support from the diversity of waterway users is needed if we hope to prevent the enormous impacts experienced by other regions, both to the environment and to public access,” Helm wrote in an email.

Statesman Journal added:

Trout Unlimited, the Oregon Ocean Paddling Society and The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership supported the bill, among others.

The only opposition came from American Whitewater, which represents whitewater kayakers in the Northwest. However, after the exception was included for whitewater paddlers, they supported the bill as well.

Still, it’s unclear whether a broad scope of paddlers are aware they’ll now need a permit for smaller boats, at least for normal waterways.

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AUTHOR COMMENTARY

Job 38:25 “Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, […]” - and what silly liberal hath levied another stupid tax on fun?

There is a movement called Greater Idaho where a number of eastern and mid-state counties have voted to secede. Can’t say I blame them; they need to, seeing as how the western counties run everything in that state.

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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

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