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2C THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2016 EO Media Group/File Photo A large gravel bar washed over nearly half of the Dillon Diversion Dam on the Umatilla River outside Echo in March 2014. The dam could be removed as early as next year. Removal of Dillon Dam could happen next summer Dam blocked ish, was maintenance nightmare for years By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group E CHO — A headache for farm- ers and ish on the lower Uma- tilla River for decades, the Dil- lon Dam is inally near its end. The Umatilla Basin Watershed Council and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation plan to remove the troublesome diversion dam near Echo by next summer. Not only has the concrete structure long blocked passage for native salmon, steelhead and lam- prey, 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 Irri- gation Co. need to be rerouted from another source. The watershed coun- cil came up with a design in 2014 that taps into the neighboring West- land Irrigation Canal, running 11,000 feet of pipe down Andrews Road and ‘The pipeline is the key project. If that doesn’t happen, the dam won’t be removed.’ Jon Staldine executive director for the watershed council back into the Dillon Irrigation Ditch — completely bypassing the dam. Funding for the project appears to be in place after the Oregon Department of Fish and Wild- life’s Restoration and Enhancement Board approved a $175,500 grant in May. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission still needs to approve the grant at its August meeting in Salem, but Jon Staldine, executive director for the watershed coun- cil, said their proposal has been well-received. “They saw it was really a collab- orative project,” Staldine said. The watershed council had already received $350,000 from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and $20,000 from the tribes to build the pipeline. Staldine said the grant from the Department of Fish and Wildlife will allow them to start construction in November or December, wrapping up by Febru- ? 9-1-WHAT? ary 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 currently made up of three land- owners with approximately 1,400 total acres. Mike Taylor owns the Double M Ranch, the largest of the bunch, and also serves as president of the irrigation company. Taylor has been talking about getting rid of the Dillon 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 mainte- nance at the dam. Whenever high lows sweep down the river, it washes gravel and debris that plugs up the head- gate 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 water 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 complete, the watershed council and tribes can turn their attention to physi- cally removing the dam from the river. Staldine said they are work- ing together on a design and apply- ing for permits, which could take four to six months to be approved. If all goes smoothly, in-stream construction will take place some- time between July 15 and Sept. 30 of next year. Staldine said they hav- en’t yet worked out the cost, but said it will be paid for out of the tribes’ Fish Accords with the Bon- neville Power Administration. Dillon Dam was originally built in 1915 and replaced sometime in the mid-1970s. It does have ish and lamprey ladders, though Staldine said they’re not up to current stan- dards. Bill Duke, ish biologist with the Department of Fish and Wild- life in Pendleton, said the dam has been a complete barrier to lamprey in past years, and a partial barrier to salmon. “In some years, it’s a signiicant 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 temperatures in the summertime, he said. Yanking the dam will allow more ish, including fall and spring Chi- nook runs, to make it to their tradi- tional spawning grounds farther up the Umatilla River, boosting sur- vival and providing more ishing opportunities. “We won’t have ish caught below that are essentially getting fried every year,” Staldine said. Deer on a stick M essage to the three fearless folks chasing after a deer with a stick in Astoria: We’re rooting for the deer. In fact, everyone is rooting for the deer ... Follow reporter Kyle Spurr on his 9-1-What? Twitter watch, where a few of the sometimes head-scratching calls to area dispatch take center stage. The full feed is at www.twitter.com/9_1_WHAT. THE BEST OF THE WORST CALLS TO ASTORIA 911 DISPATCH 3 W AY S TO GE T Y O U R CO PY TOD AY ! OR DER ON LIN E w w w .DiscoverO urCoast.com /order S TOP BY ON E OF OU R 3 LOCATION S A storia • 949 Exchange St. Seaside • 1555 N . Roosevelt Dr. Long Beach • 205 Bolstad A ve. E. #2 o r CALL HOLLY LAR K IN S at 503-325-3211, x227 Em ail: hlarkins@ dailyastorian.com
