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Wednesday, September 30, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
DAM REMOVAL:
IEE students will still
do part of project
Continued from page 1
Forest, forcing project man-
agers and Upper Deschutes
Watershed Council (UDWC)
to halt much of the work on
the project until the summer
of 2021.
The removal of the
Plainview Dam was one
component in a multifac-
eted restoration project
being completed by the
Upper Deschutes Watershed
Council, Deschutes National
Forest, Three Sisters
Irrigation District and private
water-right holders.
Other project components
have included upgrading
the existing irrigation diver-
sion with a state and feder-
ally approved fish screen to
prevent fish from entering
the irrigation canal. There
will be piping of over 3,000
ft. of unlined canal to pro-
mote water conservation.
Project funding is provided
by the Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board, the
Pelton Round-Butte Fund,
and the Natural Resources
Conservation Service.
When stakeholders first
heard of the postponement,
they were hopeful to restart
work in the fall, but that plan
had to be pushed back as
well.
<We have been shut down
because on September 11, the
U.S. Forest Service Industrial
Fire Protection Level (IFPL)
was raised to a Level IV
in the Deschutes National
Forest,= said Kris Knight,
UDWC Executive Director.
A Level IV prohibits all
heavy equipment work on
U.S. Forest Service lands
not related to firefighting.
Because the project site is on
Forest Service land there9s
uncertainty about when or if
work could restart this fall.
With the IFPL remaining
at Level IV, Knight and other
project participants made the
decision earlier this week to
postpone much of the work
until next summer.
<We9ve been unable to
work for three weeks, so the
timeline for the project would
be pushed out to at least the
entire month of October,=
said Knight. <Risks increase
as we go later into the fall.
Water level in Whychus
Creek could rise from a rain
or snow event, compromising
the goals of the project and
the investment by the proj-
ect funders. Therefore, we
determined the responsible
decision was to postpone the
project until next summer. If
and when the IFPL is low-
ered, we will do some work
this fall and winter that9s
away from the creek to help
speed up implementation of
the project next year.=
Knight noted, <This
removal of this last dam rep-
resents over a decade of work
and progress. Twelve years
ago, there were six dams or
fish passage barriers. This
Sisters
woman
killed in
Josephine
County
wreck
PHOTO PROVIDED
Whychus Creek has become an outdoor classroom for Sisters students.
is the last one. We hoped to
be celebrating that, but we9ll
have to wait a year.=
An on-going partner-
ship with Sisters school stu-
dents in the Interdisciplinary
Environmental Expedition
(IEE) program and the
UDWC will continue. The
setback may change how the
students assist the project but
the value of stewardship, and
appreciation for natural envi-
ronments around them can9t
be stopped.
Kolleen Miller, the
UDWC education direc-
tor works closely with IEE
instructors.
<We9re still planning on
the IEE students doing some
restoration along Whychus
Creek,= she said. <We9ll be
taking some of the IEE stu-
dents to the location for the
planned project. The good
news is since March we9ve
been doing online education
videos to prepare students for
what they9d do in the field.
The plan is to do what we9d
normally do in November
and also include work along
Whychus Creek. They will
be planting in riparian zones,
as well as invasive weed
removal in the Plainview
Dam area.=
An 18-year-old Sisters
woman suffered fatal inju-
ries in a single-vehicle wreck
in southern Oregon early on
Wednesday morning.
Oregon State Police
reported that troopers
and emergency personnel
responded on Wednesday,
September 23, at approxi-
mately 12:18 a.m. to a single
vehicle crash near milepost
16 on Hwy. 199 in Josephine
County.
According to OSP, prelim-
inary investigation revealed
that a Chevrolet Malibu, oper-
ated by Rianna McGonagle
of Sisters, was southbound
when it veered off the road
and struck a tree. McGonagle
was a recent graduate of
Sisters High School.
THE LAW OFFICE OF
JOHN H. MYERS
SERVING ALL OF
SISTERS COUNTRY FOR
ESTATE PLANNING NEEDS!
— Attorney —
220 S. Pine St., Suite 207, Sisters
541-588-2414
www.centraloregonattorney.com
Portraits OF SISTERS
After 20 years in Portland,
Kelly Rae Roberts
and her
family moved to Sisters for more
sunshine and opportunities.
Starting and operating a busi-
ness wasn’t her plan, but in May
of this year she found herself
launching Marigold and True
— an artistic boutique she says
will touch the creative spark in
everyone. Cultivating work from
over 30 individual artists in her
store, Kelly’s business brings a
vintage appeal to happiness.
PHOTO AND STORY BY
Cody Rheault
This week’s “Portraits of Sisters” presented by The Nugget Newspaper.
Future portraits are available for sponsorship, call 541-549-9941 or email ads@nuggetnews.com for information.