July 22, 2016
CapitalPress.com
11
Removal of Dillon Dam could happen next summer
By GEORGE PLAVEN
EO Media Group
ECHO, Ore. — A head-
ache for farmers and ish on
the lower Umatilla River for
decades, the Dillon Dam is
inally near its end.
The Umatilla Basin Water-
shed Council and Confederat-
ed Tribes of the Umatilla Indi-
an Reservation plan to remove
the troublesome diversion
dam near Echo by next sum-
mer. Not only has the concrete
structure long blocked pas-
sage for native salmon, steel-
head and lamprey, it has been
a maintenance nightmare as
gravel bars routinely wash
over the irrigation headgate.
But before the dam can
come out, water rights for the
local Dillon Irrigation Co.
need to be rerouted from an-
other source.
The watershed council
came up with a design in
2014 that taps into the neigh-
boring Westland Irrigation
Canal, running 11,000 feet of
pipe down Andrews Road and
back into the Dillon Irrigation
Ditch — completely bypass-
ing the dam.
EO Media Group ile
A large gravel bar washed over nearly half of the Dillon Diversion
Dam on the Umatilla River outside Echo, Ore., in March 2014. The
dam could be removed as early as next year.
Funding for the project ap-
pears to be in place after the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife’s Restoration
and Enhancement Board ap-
proved a $175,500 grant in
May. The Oregon Fish and
Wildlife Commission still
needs to approve the grant at
its Aug. 5 meeting in Salem,
but Jon Staldine, executive di-
rector for the watershed coun-
cil, said their proposal has
been well-received.
“They saw it was really a
collaborative project,” Stal-
dine said.
The watershed council had
already received $350,000
from the Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board and
$20,000 from the CTUIR to
build the pipeline. Staldine
said the grant from ODFW
will allow them to start con-
struction in November or De-
cember, wrapping up by Feb-
ruary so farmers can get back
to work.
“The pipeline is the key
project,” he said. “If that
doesn’t happen, the dam
won’t be removed.”
Dillon Dam is operated
by the Dillon Irrigation Co.,
which was established in
1897. The company is cur-
rently made up of three land-
owners with approximately
1,400 total acres. Mike Taylor
owns the Double M Ranch,
the largest of the three, and
serves as president of the irri-
gation company.
Taylor has been talking
about getting rid of the Dil-
lon Dam for 15 years before
the watershed council took
the reins. He said the Dillon
Irrigation Co. collects $10
per acre from landowners,
most of which goes toward
paying for maintenance at the
dam.
Whenever high lows
sweep down the river, gravel
and debris plug the headgate
and ish ladders at the dam. It’s
up to the producers to come in
and clean up the mess. Taylor
said they’re looking forward
to having a more reliable wa-
ter delivery system from the
Westland Canal.
“Getting the dam out of the
river is a good thing,” Taylor
said. “We’ve been working on
it for a while.”
Once the pipeline is com-
plete, the watershed council
and tribes can turn their at-
tention to removing the dam
from the river
Staldine said they are
working together on a design
and applying for permits,
which could take four to six
months to be approved.
If all goes smoothly, in-
stream construction will take
place sometime between July
15 and Sept. 30 of next year.
Staldine said they haven’t yet
worked out the cost, but said
it will be paid for out of the
tribes’ Fish Accords with the
Bonneville Power Adminis-
tration.
Dillon Dam was original-
ly built in 1915 and replaced
sometime in the mid-1970s.
It does have ish and lam-
prey ladders, though Staldine
said they’re not up to current
standards. Bill Duke, ish bi-
ologist with ODFW in Pend-
leton, said the dam has been a
complete barrier to lamprey in
past years, and a partial barri-
er to salmon.
“In some years, it’s a sig-
niicant portion of the fall
chinook run that gets delayed
down there,” Duke said.
Staldine said the problem
affects juveniles as well as
adult ish stuck below the dam.
The likelihood of survival for
juveniles reared below the
dam are virtually non-existent
due to high water tempera-
tures in the summertime, he
said.
Yanking the dam will al-
low more ish, including fall
and spring chinook runs, to
make it to their traditional
spawning grounds farther up
the Umatilla River, boosting
survival and providing more
ishing opportunities.
“We won’t have ish
caught below that are es-
sentially getting fried every
year,” Staldine said.
4-H member Cody Williams of Happy Valley, Calif.,
tends to his hog at the Shasta District Fair in
Anderson, Calif., in June. He and several of his
classmates decided to stay in 4-H while in high school.
Happy Valley, Calif., 4-H members, from left, Matthew Bybee, Bethany
Chambers, Maddie Coburn and Cody Williams stand behind the swine
barn at the Shasta District Fair in Anderson, Calif., in June. The
youngsters all decided to stay in 4-H during their high school years
rather than moving to FFA.
4-H member Maddie Coburn of Happy Valley, Calif.,
checks one of her pigs at the Shasta District Fair in
Anderson, Calif., in June. She and several of her
classmates chose to stay in 4-H while in high school.
ANDERSON, Calif. — Maddie Coburn, 18, has been raising animals and bringing them to her local fair
for years.
But while many students move to FFA when they become teen-agers, Coburn stayed in 4-H. The charter
school she was attending didn’t have its own FFA program, as many public high schools do.
“4-H provides for any age,” Coburn, a Happy Valley, Calif., resident, said while tending to her pigs at the
Shasta District Fair in June.
Coburn is one of several students in Happy Valley 4-H who remained into
their high school years. While FFA is incorporated into high school curricula
and offers access to scholarships and other incentives, some youngsters
prefer to stay in 4-H for various reasons.
Cody Williams, 17, is studying for a U.S. Coast Guard leadership program
and wants experience “helping out the kids” in his 4-H group, he said.
Bethany Chambers, 14, tried FFA but found she was more comfortable with
her friends in 4-H, with whom she’d become close.
“I’ve been in it for a long time,” Chambers said. “This is practically my
home.”
Matthew Bybee, 16, felt the same way.
“I’d rather just stay here and finish out my years until I go to college,” he
said.
Having students stay in 4-H while in high school is “not very common,” said
Nadine Bailey, a Happy Valley 4-H adviser. For one thing, FFA membership
provides students with access to scholarships that are more difficult — but
not impossible — to obtain in 4-H, she said.
However, Bailey and other adult leaders don’t consider 4-H to be in
competition with FFA, and they encourage students to do whichever they
choose.
For the older students, all of them said helping the younger ones with their
projects or with advice is one of the most enjoyable aspects of staying.
“It’s like generation to generation,” Bybee said.
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