Wallowa County Chieftain
wallowa.com
Opinion/News
DAM: Ag, tourism need
waters of Wallowa Lake
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This release of water
during the mid-summer
months will add to in-stream
Àows which will Eene¿t
¿sh migration into Wallowa
County. The cold waters
from Wallowa Lake will es-
Secially Eene¿t the salmon as
they migrate to the spawning
streams in the county. Farm-
er/irrigators in the Umatilla
area and others, short of wa-
ter, will Eene¿t if they lease
the water. Long term Eene-
¿ts e[ist during the summer
months if this water is added
to the ColumEia 5iYer.
8. The Wallowa Lake
Dam, along with hundreds
of other dams in the Unit-
ed States, was designated a
“high hazard dam” in 1979
Ey the $rmy Corps of (ngi-
neers and 2regon Water 5e-
sources Department during
their inspections of all dams.
This designation was
placed on all dams (new or
old) that stored 10 feet or
more of water and/or 3000
gallons or more of water.
Senate Bill 788 in 2009 fur-
ther e[plained, if dams of
this magnitude were to Eurst,
it would most likely result in
property damage and loss of
life.
9. The Wallowa Lake Dam
is an economic engine for
Wallowa County.
$griculture as we know
it today in Wallowa County
would Ee drastically different
were it not for the Wallowa
Lake Dam and the stored
water Eehind it. Stored wa-
ter from the spring runoff
e[tends the growing season
into late summer and early
fall. (Yeryone connected to
agriculture would Ee impact-
ed. Think California drought.
Tourism, the second
largest reYenue producer in
Wallowa County, would Ee
negatiYely impacted in late
July, $ugust, and SeptemEer.
The state park at the head of
Wallowa Lake would most
likely e[perience fewer Yisits
in late summer. Lost reYenue
from these two major indus-
tries means lost reYenue for
all Eusiness owners in the
county.
Drinking water for the city
of Joseph would Ee impacted
in late summer.
Sports ¿shermen would
haYe a dif¿cult time putting
their Eoats in the lake in late
summer and fall.
10. Who is oEjecting"
The $ssociated Ditch Com-
pany ,nc. ($DC) has made
application to Oregon Wa-
ter 5esources Department
for a permit for the aEoYe
mentioned 4200 ac/ft of wa-
ter. The permit has Eeen oE-
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Now we are in a po-
sition to project the total
Yalue of water storage
Eehind the Wallowa Lake
Dam to the Wallowa
County economy. That
Yalue is 3,079,000 or
457 per acre-foot per
year, not counting any
possiEle additional de-
creases in Yalue-added
due to declines in prop-
erty Yalues and ta[ reYe-
nues. This Yalue is direct
jected to Ey a small special
interest group in Wallowa
County called “Wallowa’s
Future Foundation,” “Pres-
ident 5oEert 5eading and
founder John Lenahan.”
Others oEjecting are “0arc
Stauffer, Chad Nash, Garrett
Lowe, and 5oEert +ipple.”
The oEjections range from,
water aYailaEility, other’s
water rights, release moni-
toring, affects of downstream
Eionomics, to effects on the
downstream Àoodplain. None
of which are Yalid reasons for
trying to derail the permit.
Oregon Water 5esourc-
es Department’s response
to written comments: “The
Department carefully consid-
ered the comments, and no
puElic-interest issues under
the aegis of Oregon water
law were identi¿ed.”
Who supports the rehaEil-
itation of the Wallowa Lake
Dam: The $ssociated Ditch
Companies ,nc. ($DC) City
Hells Canyon Mule Days
Dutch
Oven
Cookoff
Have fun, demonstrate
Dutch oven cooking skills,
and introduce the public
to the joys and fun of
Dutch oven cooking.
Teams may enter one dish
in two entry categories.
There will be cash awards
for 1st and 2nd place,
and a gift basket for the
People’s Choice award.
FMI: 541-263-0104
hellscanyonmuledays.com
for entry form & more info.
effect, does not include
the indirect and induced
Yalue in the community.
$s long as the Wal-
lowa Lake Dam is main-
tained in good repair
oYer the ne[t century, it
will continue to generate
these annual agricultural
and recreation Eene¿ts.
ConYersely, if the dam
were to Ee remoYed or
Ereached, these local Yal-
ues would Ee foregone.
Under a remoYal or a
Ereaching scenario, using
a three-percent interest
rate the present Yalue of
the stored Wallowa Lake
waters is 1.2 Eillion at
four percent 919 mil-
lion, Eefore adjusting for
dam and irrigation system
maintenance costs.
This is assuming in in-
crease in the Yalue of wa-
ter oYer that timeframe.
GiYen our assump-
tions and our data Ease,
we therefore project the
current present Yalue of
the Wallowa Lake water
to Wallowa County and
its residents to Ee Eetween
11,47 and 14,873
per acre-foot. This is the
range of Yalues against
which the net present Een-
e¿ts, if any, to Wallowa
Lake Dam remoYal or
Ereaching must measure
up.
of Joseph 0inam Lake 5es-
erYoir $ssociation North-
west (lectric Power Con-
serYation Planning Council
DaYid Nelson, past Senate
0ajority Leader Northeast
Oregon (conomic DeYel-
opment District Nez Perce
TriEal Fisheries most res-
idents of Wallowa County
Wallowa County Commis-
sioners, 0ike +ayward
Susan 5oEerts.
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July 15, 2015
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O BITUARIES
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She is surYiYed Ey her children, Peggy $dams, Pasco, Wash., Gail Tally, (nterprise, Ore.,
Dennis Tally, 0agee, 0iss., Deanna and husEand $rt 9eyna, IssaTuah, Wash., her Erothers
Gerald Gray, Clark Gray, sister 0arilyn 0cIntyre, grandchildren Jennifer (+iggins)
0endenhall, Lezlie (+iggins) .ehr, and 0c.enzie Tally, and three great-grandchildren,
Cora, Graden and Nash .ehr. She was preceded in death Ey her husEand, $rlen, grandson,
TreYor (T.J.) Tally siElings, Lenis Bales, Leona Scott, Lela Fordice, Lillian Newton and
John Gray.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contriEutions may Ee made to the $lzheimer’s $ssociation
in care of LoYeland Funeral Chapel, 1508 4th Street, La Grande, O5 97850.
Online condolences to the family may Ee made at www.loYelandfuneralchapel.com.
COUNTY: Columnist
celebrates 44 years here
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Grace Bartlett had Eeen a
ski cluE memEer Eefore the
rope tow, when they found a
Sunday hill and skied it. When
we opened the Eookstore in
197, Grace Erought us Eooks
of stories she’d rounded up
aEout local people and plac-
es. $nd $lYin Josephy, who’d
made his own journey from
the (ast to Nez Perce country,
came in each spring to scour
the shelYes for local Eooks. +is
gift was weaYing local stories
into history he’d started with
the Nez Perce, and Eecome a
national historian of and adYo-
cate for Indians.
In 1988, $lYin and Grace
and writers I’d met helped start
Fishtrap, and for oYer 20 years
we’Ye heard stories of the
West, and shared the stories
we’Ye found and made here
with the world.
$nd this weekend I’ll go to
the powwow in Wallowa and
Ee part of the Nez Perce home-
coming. We’ll eat salmon, and
dream a new old story with In-
dian friends, that sockeye will
run again in Wallowa Lake.
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