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COLUMBIA: About 8M people live in the basin
Page 8A
East Oregonian
Continued from 1A
can pose a health risk when eaten by
humans or other animals.
Other contaminants can come from
agricultural pesticides that drift in the
air or seep into water runoff, as well as
mercury from burning coal. Oregon’s
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is located in Boardman not far from
the Columbia River, though it is slated
to close or switch to an alternative fuel
source by 2020.
The Hanford Nuclear Reservation
is also located along the river, which
in the past has released radioactive
materials into the air and water.
Some contaminants are known to
cause cancer, while others are linked
to neurological problems, birth defects
and learning disabilities. As recently
as 2013, Oregon and Washington
issued warnings against eating resi-
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Bonneville and McNary dams due to
high levels of contamination.
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survey in the Columbia River Basin,
tribal members were eating 6 to 11
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QDWLRQDO DYHUDJH 1DWLYH ¿VK DUH
among the tribes’ cultural and tradi-
tional First Foods.
Sara Thompson, pubic information
RI¿FHU IRU WKH &ROXPELD 5LYHU ,QWHU
Tribal Fish Commission, said they
support the bill to encourage more
conversation about the health and
TXDOLW\RIZDWHULQORFDO¿VKHULHV
“We rely heavily on subsistence
¿VKHULHV WR IHHG RXU IDPLOLHV VXSSO\
our longhouses and supply our
churches,” Thompson said. “The
answer is not to tell people not to
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up our waterways. That should be our
number one priority.”
CRITFIC represents the four Amer-
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rights on the Columbia: the Umatilla,
Warm Springs, Yakama and Nez
Perce. Total enrollment in the tribes is
approximately 21,000 members.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
PROMISE: Seven students will
be awarded new honors diploma
Continued from 1A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
The Umatilla River flows slowly under the Highway 730 bridge on
Wednesday in Umatilla. Oregon congressional delegates and North-
west tribal leaders are seeking to create a $50 million grant program
to improve water quality in the Columbia Basin.
About 8 million people total live
in the basin, which stretches into
parts of seven different states. The
river provides more than just habitat
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dams generate a large amount of the
region’s electricity, and navigation
locks provide safe passage for ships
carrying cargo for industry.
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Association lobbies for that infrastruc-
ture to boost ports and trade. The orga-
nization has also thrown its support
behind the river restoration act, saying
clean waters are not only good for the
environment, but good for business.
Kristin Meira, executive director
of the PNWA, said ports and the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers do their
own dredging of the river in an effort
to increase transportation and jobs.
But if that sediment is contaminated,
it can’t be placed back in the water
and becomes much more expensive
to haul out to a waste repository for
treatment.
“Contaminated sediment really is
a problem for everyone,” Meira said.
FARMERS: Already ordered mandatory
25 percent cutbacks by cities and towns
action as early as this week against
senior water rights, some dating to
DTXDUWHURIWKHLU¿HOGVXQSODQWHGWKH claims made during the Gold Rush
farmers want guarantees that the state era, long before industrialization in the
won’t restrict the remaining 75 percent 20th century led to climate change. The
of the water rights they’ve had for more rights give nearly 4,000 landowners
than a century, even if the drought the strongest claims in California to
deepens and other users go dry.
this precious and increasingly limited
The offer was made as these and resource.
other “senior water rights holders” face
With California’s drought showing
an imminent threat of being included no signs of easing, the state already
in the mandatory cutbacks that apply to has ordered mandatory, 25 percent
most other California water users.
cutbacks in water use by cities and
Water Resources Control Board towns, and greatly curtailed water
Director Tom Howard told the AP available to other farmers and others
Wednesday that whatever he decides whose rights are less than a century
will apply to the entire basin of the old, and therefore less iron-clad.
Sacramento River, which supplies most
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of the surface water in the food-pro- farmers elsewhere in California will
ducing Central Valley and provides participate, said attorney Jennifer
drinking water to homeowners across Spaletta, who represents several Delta
California.
growers, but if the water board agrees
If the drought persists, even those to the deal, they could plan growing
farmers with the strongest water rights seasons with more certainty.
would have to stop pumping at some
“From a business standpoint, it
point, Howard noted Wednesday. makes a lot of sense to do our part and
His decision hinges on whether a to help in the emergency,” Spaletta
voluntary 25 percent cut would be said.
enough to replenish waterways that
Gov. Jerry Brown has been criti-
are vanishing, following a winter of cized for sparing many farmers from
below-average rainfall and record-low the tightening regulations forcing
snows in the Sierra Nevada.
cutbacks in communities throughout
“Should we make an offer like that the state. This is the second straight
early, to give people clarity and regu- year that thousands of “junior water-
latory certainty, or is there not enough rights holders,” whose claims were
water to really make a difference?” staked after 1914, have been ordered to
Howard asked. “We’re just trying to stop pumping river water for irrigation.
make sure if the offer makes sense.”
The reduction farmers propose is
Delta water managers say it could reasonable because it matches what the
become a model for farmers throughout governor has asked of all other Cali-
California who are facing curtailments. fornians, Jonas Minton, former deputy
It also could have an eventual impact director of the California Department
on food prices, since agriculture uses of Water Resources, and now a water
80 percent of the water drawn from the policy adviser for the Sacramen-
land in the state.
to-based Planning and Conservation
6WDWHRI¿FLDOVKDGWKUHDWHQHGWRWDNH League environmental group.
Continued from 1A
“It really is part of doing business the
right way in the Northwest.”
Meira said the bill takes the right
approach by creating a voluntary
program for funding projects, and not
adding any more layers of government
tape onto an already highly regulated
system.
“The ports and operators are
already very good citizens,” she said.
“We have a pretty great system here
on the river moving any type of cargo
in an environmentally responsible
fashion.”
A previous version of the bill was
proposed in 2010 but failed to gain
traction in Congress. Groups are opti-
mistic about their chances of success
this time around.
“Anytime the tribes see federal
agencies willing to put water quality
¿UVW ZH DUH RSWLPLVWLF´ 7KRPSVRQ
said. “This is a conversation we need
to have.”
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or
541-564-4547.
WATER: In Oregon,
$1M will go to help
install canal pipes
Continued from 1A
It will help pay for studies and
projects to stretch water supplies by
creating pipelines, eliminating leaky
open canals and upgrading existing
reclamation and water treatment
plants.
The idea is to conserve water in
order to replenish shrinking ground-
water supplies and ease the use of
expensive imported water.
In Oregon, $1 million in funding
will help the Three Sisters Irrigation
District project install pipes in 14,000
feet of the open Watson-McKenzie
Main Canal, saving 1,900 acre-feet
of water that would otherwise seep
away. Some of the conserved water
will be used for Whychus Creek
WR EHQH¿W VDOPRQ WURXW IURJV DQG
other wildlife.
California and Texas, with huge
agricultural, industrial and residen-
tial demands on water supply, have
the lion’s share of the projects.
About $5 million in federal
funding will go to help build more
than 20 miles of recycled water
pipeline, add a pair of 2.75-million
gallon storage reservoirs and make
other improvements to a program
that provides recycled water
throughout Santa Clara County in
California’s Silicon Valley.
Other projects include building a
wastewater collection and treatment
plant in Yucca Valley to replenish
the groundwater in the California
KLJKGHVHUWDUHDEXLOGLQJSLSHOLQHV
and pumping stations to provide
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and restoring salt marsh and other
habitat in Marin, Sonoma and Napa
counties.
to get a preview of university
life by staying in the dorms
at Eastern Oregon University
for a few weeks while taking
summer institute classes.
.LUVWHQ :ULJKW 6WDQ¿HOG
Secondary’s school counselor,
said the culture of the school
has changed in the past three
years to where starting work on
a college degree in high school
is the norm.
“Even eighth graders will
say, ‘I want to get my AAOT,’”
she said, referring to the Asso-
ciate of Arts Oregon Transfer
Degree.
Wright said during Eastern
3URPLVH¶V ¿UVW \HDU LW ZDV
KDUGWR¿OOWKHFROOHJHFRXUVHV
RIIHUHG RQ WKH 6WDQ¿HOG
campus, but now “those classes
are about full to capacity.”
While earning college
credit in high school used to be
reserved for the stereotypical
YDOHGLFWRULDQW\SHVDW6WDQ¿HOG
not everyone taking college
classes was always a straight A
student.
Eddie Hernandez, a senior,
said he didn’t care much about
his education when he started
high school and he failed a few
FODVVHVKLV¿UVW\HDU
“I was your typical
freshman,” he said.
When he saw his older
sister earning college credit,
however, it got him thinking
about his own future. Now he is
graduating on Sunday with 42
college credits on his transcript.
This year the school
developed an honors diploma,
which seven students will be
awarded on Sunday. One of
the requirements is to earn 30
college credits.
There are more than seven
students who earned 30 credits,
however. Kayla Smith said
she has 42 college credits but
her GPA fell just short of the
standard needed for an honors
diploma.
She said she has “always
had big goals,” but being able
to get such a big head start on
college for only $10 a credit
hour through Eastern Promise
has helped her feel more
FRQ¿GHQWLQKHUDELOLW\WRHDUQ
a psychology degree.
Principal Bryan Johnson
said the school’s ability to offer
college courses on campus,
thanks to a partnership with
Blue Mountain Community
College and Eastern Oregon
University, comes at a good
time. Next year the state has
mandated that schools must
show 82 percent of their
students are taking a full class
load.
For schools that have been
easing classroom overcrowding
and teacher shortages by
scheduling most of their upper-
classmen with a study period or
two, that’s a problem. But with
Eastern Promise, Johnson said
there are plenty of options to
NHHS6WDQ¿HOGVHQLRUVRFFXSLHG
for a full seven periods a day.
Eastern
Promise
has
changed senior year, he said,
from a blow-off year of easy
classes and free periods to one
of serious college preparation.
“Senior year we see a lot
more kids taking that extra
science class and extra math
class instead of an easy elec-
tive,” he said.
———
Contact Jade McDowell at
jmcdowell@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4536.
UTILITY: City plans to raise
rates by $10 this year, $5 in 2016
The city some time ago
reduced those rates for
and low-interest, long-term employees in lieu of a pay
loans from state agencies, such raise, Porter said, and the 2
as the Oregon Department percent increase for employees
of Environmental Quality’s this year is a cost of living
clean water loan fund or adjustment. Living costs have
Business Oregon’s Infrastruc- increased 8.5 percent in the
ture Finance Authority. City ODVW ¿YH \HDUV VKH VDLG EXW
recorder Teri Porter told the city employees in that time
council that to qualify for the received increases totaling 6
grants or loan, the rates needed percent.
to be in line with similar cities.
Porter on Wednesday in an
Pilot Rock, population email stated city employees
about 1,500, charges a base who live in the city limits and
rate of $21 a month for sewer the mayor and councilors do
and $18 a month for water, not pay the base rate but do pay
according to Porter, who at 32 cents per 100 cubic feet of
the meeting showed Irrigon, water once they have gone over
population
about
1,800, the base amount.
charges $54 a month for sewer
Councilman Doherty said
and $42 a month for water. And the city should have been
Enterprise, with a population raising rates long before now,
of 1,940, charges $56.50 for but failing infrastructure means
sewer and $24 for water.
the city cannot put this off any
Porter said the city plans to longer.
raise rates $10 this year, then at
Most councilors, though,
least $5 in 2016 and at least $5 said they liked Taylor’s sugges-
more in 2017 to move above tion of a lagoon reserve fund
$40 a month. The city could for the sewer project. Perkins
then qualify for loans from moved to create the fund
the state at a 1 percent interest using $39,562 from economic
rate, she said, and that low rate development money, which
would amount to big savings Porter said was doable. Hinkle
and Moss did not back the plan.
over the course of the loan.
The rate hikes, though, drew Moss indicated she wanted
opposition from Taylor and a more time before deciding. But
handful of citizens who said it passed 3-2.
Perkins also said it may be
WKH\ DQG RWKHUV OLYH RQ ¿[HG
income and could not afford four years before the city even
the increase. Some also argued breaks ground on the project, so
the council should not increase they have time to look at other
wages in the budget and should ways to help cover the costs.
———
make city employees, the
Contact Phil Wright at
mayor and council members
pay full price for sewer and pwright@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0833.
water.
Continued from 1A
and
Their Owners Expected to Attend!
in a Variety of Classes
from Western and English Pleasure,
Dressage, Trail, Cattle & Driving
in Historic Downtown Dayton
on Saturday
’
Bring the Whole Family!
www.mulemaniadayton.com
American
Chuck Wagon Association Cook-Off.
Dinner Tickets
Available for Fri
& Sat
with Vendors &
Authentic
Western Sales