Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
November 17, 2021
Page 7
Senator urges fishery
disaster declaration
Oregon’s U.S. legislative delegation is urging the
Department of Commerce to grant a catastrophic
regional fishery disaster declaration for the state of
Oregon, after three consecutive years of drought
and changing ocean conditions have severely harmed
salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest.
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley is leading members
of the Oregon delegation, including U.S. Senator Ron
Wyden and U.S. Representatives Peter DeFazio, Kurt
Schrader and Suzanne Bonamici.
“The value of salmon to Oregon cannot be over-
stated. In addition to the economic activity gener-
ated by this industry, salmon are an important part
of the cultural heritage of Pacific Northwest tribes,
generate recreational activity, and are a treasured
natural resource across the state,” the lawmakers
wrote in a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina
M. Raimondo.
“However, the challenging impacts of climate
change, increased drought, and changing ocean con-
ditions complicate the recovery of salmon popula-
tions in the Pacific Northwest.”
From 2013 to 2017, the commercial value of
Chinook salmon was around $6.3 million annually
for Oregon fisheries. But with the impacts of cli-
mate chaos impacting salmon populations, the eco-
nomic value has dropped precipitously—down to
$2.3 million in 2018, $2 million in 2019, and $1.4
million in 2020.
“Federal support for this industry is critical
while local, state, and federal partners continue
to work toward long-term solutions,” the delega-
tion wrote.
Controversial water
deal at The Dalles
North Unit looking at possibly using
Lake Billy Chinook for irrigation water
Courtesy photo
Lake Billy Chinook between Jefferson County and the Warm Springs Reservation.
Farmers in the county
have contended for years
with persistent drought.
As a possible solution,
the North Unit Irrigation
District is studying possibly
using water from Lake Billy
Chinook.
The proposal would
draw water from the lake
from April 1 through Octo-
ber.
This year North Unit ran
out of water in August. By
then the source of water,
Wickiup Reser voir in
Deschutes County, was vir-
tually dry.
Far mers in Jefferson
County at times had to leave
parts of their land vacant
due to the water shortage.
Lake Billy Chinook could
be a sustainable source for
farmers, according to the ir-
rigation district study. The
district is also assessing
whether use of the lake wa-
ter could provide environ-
mental benefits.
A pumping project from
the lake would, however, be
Rare wildfire insurance claim
Oregon will likely file a
claim on its one-of-a-kind
wildfire insurance policy
with Lloyd’s of London.
The claim could be an
estimated $19 million
claim, according to the Or-
egon Department of For-
estry.
The policy with the 335-
year-old British risk insur-
ance pool will help pay for
expensive: An initial estimate
puts the price around $400
million to $500 million, not
including ongoing operation
and maintenance.
Due to the cost and scale
of the project, the federal
government would have to be
a source of funding.
The Wickiup reservoir
covers an area on the
Deschutes River that was
known as the Wickiups. It was
a camping area for Native
Americans during the fall.
Billy Chinook was a chief
and member of the Wasco
tribe.
Among other details of
his interesting life, Billy Chi-
nook was a guide for John
C. Frémont and Kit Carson,
who explored Central Or-
egon from 1843 to 1844,
and from 1845 to 1847. Mr.
Chinook also ser ved as
First Sergeant, U.S. Army
Wasco Scouts during the
Snake War.
fighting fires that burned
225,007 of the 16 million
acres protected by ODF.
ODF has purchased the
insurance since 1973 as a
hedge against firefighting
costs that could overwhelm
the budget of a heavily for-
ested state with limited re-
sources to battle major
blazes. While the insurance
coverage runs from April
to April, Gersbach said all
but a fraction of fires and
costs occur between late
spring and mid-autumn.
Interesting
notes
history
The Dalles City Council
has approved an agreement
to deliver an undisclosed
amount of groundwater to
Google, which plans to build
new data centers in the city.
With the city’s unani-
mous vote, the tech giant
has secured another key
piece of its plan to expand
its operation in the Colum-
bia River Gorge. The city
and Wasco County in Oc-
tober approved a separate
agreement to significantly
reduce property taxes on
new Google developments.
The agreements have
been the subject of rigorous
debate in recent months. The
water deal in particular has
drawn intense scrutiny from
public officials and area resi-
dents seeking to protect an
increasingly precious re-
source.
City officials have refused
to reveal how much water
Google is requesting for the
proposed data centers, which
has been the primary frus-
tration for area residents.
The company considers
water use at its facilities a
proprietary trade secret and
forbids disclosure.
Why does Google need
so much water?
Google built its first data
center in The Dalles back in
2005. It was the company’s
first big corporate data cen-
ter anywhere and Oregon’s
first, too.
Since then, Facebook,
Apple and Amazon have all
built large data centers in ru-
ral parts of the state, and
Google has expanded.
Data centers are very re-
source intensive, typically
using as much electricity as
a small town to power their
computers and substantial
volumes of water to keep
the computers cool.
Google says it may build
two more data centers in
The Dalles, but it needs
more water. The company
won’t say just how much
more, but the city is near its
maximum capacity of 10
million gallons a day.
So Google has offered to
pay $28.5 million to upgrade
the city’s water system, in-
creasing capacity by about
50 percent.
Google and the city say
that would be enough to
meet the company’s needs
with additional water left
over for other users.
No organized opposition
has emerged to the city’s
agreement with Google, but
rural property owners,
farms and environmental-
ists have all expressed con-
cern about committing wa-
ter to an industrial customer
during a prolonged drought.