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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2003)
OCTOBER 1, 2003 Smoke Signals 2003 water feature 5 ere In Grand Ronde, Water Is The New Gold r dance with the local water authority. Ml I IHM Il.lllll Jill III ' 1 UTT" 1 I mm& (mm Mk warn, mm m k?$m Gftm$? 3 ize, the Tribe bought and trans ferred irrigation rights into munici pal rights. The viability of taking water from the South Yamhill River was a ma jor sticking point. According to the web page of Oregon Waterwatch, the South Yamhill is among "10 Or egon Rivers with Nothing Left to Give." And while the Tribes' pro posed a water treatment plant that was upstream of the sections of the South Yamhill that are listed by the Oregon Department of Environ mental Quality (DEQ) as troubled by excessive temperature and bac teria, Scott's plan called for the Tribes to replace water needed dur ing October with irrigation rights during the critical, low-flow periods of July-September. "In addition," said Scott, "the Tribe voluntarily cancelled overlapping and unused irrigation water rights which were returned to the stream for fish and water quality during the irrigation system." In 2001, GRCWA made improve ments to the collection system for the springs that supply the area with water, including adding a wa ter collection system to make a third spring a useful provider. In 2002, the Tribes began work on a water treatment plant, which will process 150 gallons per minute and will supply the casino with all of its water needs. An inter-tie was built to the com munity system to provide fire pro tection for the casino. "It is also a benefit to the commu nity," said Scott, "by providing a redundant source for the commu nity during emergencies." In the end, the Tribes had enough water to cover the casino year around, freeing up nearly 3,000,000 gallons a month for the non-Tribal community. None of this came cheap. "There are always solutions to water (availability) problems," said former Tribal Housing Authority Director Linda Layden, "but the solutions can be costly." The Tribe spent: H $4 million for the 500,000-gal-lon tank, the 12-inch water trans mission main, Grand Ronde Road improvements, improvements to the community's 100,000-gallon Rowell Creek water holding tank, and improvements to the community's springs. B $1.35 million to build the new treatment plant for the casino, slated to be on line by year's end. B $225,000 to design and engi neer the treatment plant. B $75,000 for the necessary wa ter rights. The community has been put ting money into upgrades for 30 years, according to Ekstrom, but in recent years in response to Tribal growth, the community wa ter system spent: B $415,000 for construction of both a 50,000 and a 500,000-gal- lon tank in 1995-96. B $82,761 in 2001 for spring re construction of 3 and 4 springs, plus more than a mile of pipeline construction. The situation is no longer dire to day in Grand Ronde. In fact, the Tribes are already building a con venience store that will run off of the water from the new treatment plant; and Tribal Council is in the process of interviewing architects for a po tential expansion of the Spirit Mountain Lodge that will add about 140 rooms and possibly a swimming pool. This expansion (being consid ered but not approved by Tribal Council at Smoke Signals' press time) also will run off of water from the new treatment plant, -according to Tribal Vice Chair Reyn Leno. While today's supply is anticipated to serve the casino, the Tribes and the community for the next ten years, regional supplies could very well play a part in filling the future needs of this area.
