April 7, 2017
CapitalPress.com
3
Assessment increase helps fund repairs to Owyhee Project
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
New hurdle proposed for solar
projects on high-value farmland
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — Solar power fa-
cilities on high-value farmland
in Oregon would have to clear
a new hurdle under a bill being
considered by state lawmakers.
Commercial
developers
would first have to demon-
strate that alternative sites ar-
en’t available under House Bill
3050, a requirement that cur-
rently applies to solar facilities
larger than 12 acres.
Proponents of the bill, in-
cluding the Oregon Farm Bu-
reau and the 1,000 Friends of
Oregon conservation group,
say the new test would dis-
courage conversion of the
state’s most productive land.
An uptick in commercial
solar power proposals in Or-
egon’s Willamette Valley has
raised concerns that clusters
of developments will change
the agricultural character of
affected areas, supporters say.
Such close groupings of
solar facilities effectively un-
dermine the current 12-acre
exemption to the alternative
analysis, according to propo-
nents.
The growing popularity of
long-term leases of farmland
for commercial solar proj-
ects has prompted the Oregon
Board of Agriculture to ask for
a review of land use regula-
tions for such sites.
Supporters of HB 3050 say
that solar developments drive
up rent prices for farmland
even while long-term leases
for solar panels may perma-
nently take land out of agri-
culture.
The Oregon Farm Bureau
was alerted to the problem by
“mass mailings” from solar
companies to farmers, said
Mary Anne Nash, public pol-
icy counsel for the group.
Developers should first
look for other options before
seeking to lease high-value
farmland, she said.
Wind turbine projects are
already subject to the alter-
natives analysis requirement,
so it should also apply to
commercial solar facilities,
said Meriel Darzen of 1,000
Friends of Oregon.
Critics of the bill countered
that the new requirement is
overly broad and ignores exist-
ing rules that protect farmland.
Marty Dozler, a farmer
near Aumsville, Ore., said
some of his property is consid-
ered high-value farmland even
though the soils aren’t of the
highest quality.
It’s tough to break even fi-
nancially on this land, so solar
development provides a new
revenue source that makes the
farm viable for the next gener-
ation, he said.
“We believe every farm-
er should be allowed to place
solar facilities if they choose,
regardless of where they live
in the state,” Dozler said.
Dozler said he’s installed
solar panels in the corners
of fields and other areas that
don’t interfere with farming
practices.
“It’s a steady income with
very little impact to our land,”
he said.
Large power utilities are
required by Oregon law to buy
8 percent of their electricity
from small-scale, renewable
producers within 10 years,
which HB 3050 will impede,
said Damien Hall, attorney for
Cypress Creek Renewables, a
solar firm.
Clusters of solar projects
greater than 48 acres in a one
mile radius must already prove
they don’t disrupt land use
patterns, and current propos-
als would only build facilities
on a tiny fraction of Oregon’s
high-value farmland, he said.
“The impacts identified by
supporters of this bill are hypo-
thetical at this point,” Hall said.
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Bill would require
alternatives analysis
for solar projects
14-1/#7
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Sam Sweeney has solar panels on his farm near Dayton, Ore., but is
concerned about larger commercial solar projects being developed
on high-value farmland. Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill to
require an alternatives analysis for commercial solar projects.
ONTARIO, Ore. —
Owyhee Project patrons
will pay $4 an acre more
this year for their irrigation
water, with the additional
money being used to make
repairs on the aging system
that provides water to 1,800
farms.
The project, which is
managed by the Owyhee Ir-
rigation District, provides
water from the Owyhee Res-
ervoir to 118,000 irrigated
acres in Eastern Oregon and
southwestern Idaho.
The annual assessment
that irrigators pay to receive
that water was raised from
$58 to $62 an acre this year,
a 6.9 percent increase. In the
past 30 years, the assessment
has risen by an average of 4
percent a year.
The OID’s total budget
is $4 million and the addi-
tional $268,000 in funding
from this year’s assessment
increase will be used to con-
tinue to repair the Owyhee
Project’s aging infrastruc-
ture, said OID Manager Jay
Chamberlin.
The project, completed in
1932, includes hundreds of
miles of canals and drains.
The 71-mile-long system
has six pumping stations that
pump supplemental water
from the Snake River.
When the project was
built, it had a 100-year life
expectancy; it is now 85
years old.
That doesn’t mean the
system has 15 years left —
“It certainly is going to last a
lot longer than that,” Cham-
berlin said — but it is in
need of some major repairs.
“The system is getting
older faster than we can
keep up with the repairs on
it, honestly,” he said. “There
is much more that needs to
be done.”
This year’s assessment
includes a $2.50 an acre in-
crease in the regular opera-
tions and maintenance fee
Courtesy Owyhee Irrigation District
Workers repair a section of the Owyhee Project known as the Snively Siphon, which was in danger
of sliding down a hill side. The need for major repair work on the 71-mile long project is the reason
Owyhee Irrigation District patrons will pay $4 an acre more for their irrigation water this year.
and a special $1.50 fee to
help pay engineering costs
for a project designed to fix
the failing Malheur Siphon,
work that will cost upward
of $2 million.
Major repair work re-
cently completed on the
system includes a $450,000
project to repair the Ring
Gate, an 80,000-pound
spillway, and a $250,000
project to stabilize part of
the Snively Siphon that was
in danger of sliding down a
mountain.
Close to eight miles of
new pipeline was installed
in the system this past year.
A ditch break costs about
$30,000 to fix on average
and the system has those ev-
ery year, Chamberlin said.
The OID received some
phone calls about the in-
crease and OID board mem-
bers regularly answer ques-
tions about the assessment,
said Bruce Corn, a member
of the board and a local
farmer.
“If you don’t actually go
out and see it and under-
stand what’s going on, it’s
hard to comprehend,” he
said. “It’s an engineering
marvel but it requires main-
tenance to keep it going and
it’s very, very expensive.”
Corn said it is going to
require a lot more work to
keep the system in a reliable
condition and that’s going
to cost money.
“You have siphons, tun-
nels and all kinds of struc-
tures and they are aging,”
he said. “In the foreseeable
future, there is going to be
one project after another
and they are going to be
fairly major.”
12 month waiver
3 years at 1.9%
Courtesy Owyhee Irrigation District
Workers perform a structural
analysis of the Malheur Siphon,
a key part of the Owyhee
Project, which delivers irrigation
water to 118,000 irrigated acres
in Oregon and Idaho. The need
for major repairs to the siphon
and other parts of the 85-year-
old project is the key reason irri-
gators who get their water from
the system will pay $4 an acre
more for that water this year.
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