SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
Invasive weed of the week
By Jeffrey Pettingill
The Enemy
Diffuse knapweed (Centau-
rea diffusa)
The Strategy
This annual (and some-
times biennial) noxious weed
is a native of Eurasia and
spread into the U.S. around
the 1900s. It is one of the only
knapweeds that spreads by
tumbling by the wind like
Russian thistle.
The plant has a white
fl ower, grows to a height of
24 inches, and has a short
taproot. The leaves, like most
knapweeds, are pinnately di-
vided and lighter green than
Jeffrey Pettingill/Contributed Photo
its relatives. The bud is host
to bracts which project away Diffuse knapweed can grow to a height of 24 inches, and is topped with white fl owers.
from the bud and become
quite rough to the skin.
of choice include any of the
Pyridine family: Tordon 22K,
Attack
Milestone, Curtail, Redeem,
Diffuse knapweed spreads or Chaparrel. Dicamba
into lightly disturbed areas,
based products will work
and in some cases can invade early in the season and I
crops such as alfalfa and
strongly recommend not to
grains. The plant is effi cient
use Roundup or 2,4-D. As this
at robbing the soils of nutri-
is like the other knapweeds
ents and water and because it getting an early start is most
spreads quickly it can domi- effective, but remember they
nate a site to where there is
spread fast and produce a lot
no forage for livestock and
of seeds. Seek professional
wildlife. It particularly loves help as one cannot combat an
dry and gravely sites.
enemy if one does not com-
pletely know the enemy.
Defense
Diffuse knapweed is easily
Jeffrey Pettingill is the weed
controlled mechanically. Once
control supervisor for Baker
the plant shows up in abun-
County. He encourages people
dant numbers then control
with noxious weed questions
to call him at 541-523-0618
methods should change to
or 541-519-0204. He also
Rich Olds/Contributed Photo
herbicides. Currently there
encourages people to like the Diffuse knapweed, which is not palatable to livestock,
are no biological controls
Baker County Weed District’s can quickly dominate a site, robbing the soils of nutri-
available, even livestock will
Facebook page. ents and water.
not eat the stuff. Herbicides
Commissioners talk zoning rule changes
would apply only to new developments
with three or more lots.
Baker County Commissioners on
Harvey also expressed concerns about
Wednesday, April 21 approved the fi rst other proposed changes, including one
reading of an ordinance amending the
requiring people developing a property
county’s zoning ordinance.
to verify that all applicable laws are cur-
Commission Chairman Bill Har-
rent when they apply for permits.
vey abstained from voting, saying he
“This is outside the realm of under-
disagreed with a change proposed by the standing for most applicants,” Harvey
county road department.
said. “(They) wouldn’t even know where
Commissioners Mark Bennett and
to go look. How are they supposed to
Bruce Nichols voted for the fi rst reading. be able to verify laws in regards to the
The change the road department
application?”
proposed calls for people with residen-
Kerns said the purpose of the change
tial developments with three or more
is not to ensure that applicants know
lots that connect to a paved county road the status of laws, but that they un-
have the access road paved for at least
derstand what the criteria are for the
55 feet from the intersection. The pur-
proposed development.
pose is to prevent gravel from eroding
“The applicant owner has some ac-
the paved county road.
countability and responsibility, not that
Harvey said he’s concerned the
they have to go out and do a whole legal
change would affect all residents who
research, but they do have to under-
have a gravel road or driveway connect- stand that it changes and it isn’t the
ing to a paved county road.
county’s fault,” Bennett said.
“You cannot require everybody who
Harvey also asked about a require-
accesses that road to pave 55 feet into
ment for “impact studies” for develop-
the property,” Harvey said.
ments.
But Holly Kerns, the county’s plan-
“Why would they need an impact
ning director, said the proposed change study?” he said.
By Samantha O’Conner
soconner@bakercityherald.com
WELL
Continued from Page 1A
The company had esti-
mated the well, which has a
casing 12 inches in diameter,
would be about 700 feet deep.
Owen said a brief pump-
ing test showed good water
quality.
A liner for the well, which
will be custom made, has
been ordered and should
arrive within a couple weeks,
she said.
Schneider Water Services
workers will return in May to
install the liner, install a test
pump, fi nish pump tests and
video the well. They should be
fi nished by early June, Owen
said.
The City Council voted in
April 2020 to hire the com-
pany to drill the well, at a cost
of $677,000.
Drilling started in early
October 2020, and initial
progress was slower than
the company expected as
the drill encountered thicker
layers of clay soils than
anticipated based on the drill-
ing logs from an older well
elsewhere on the golf course.
The second, and more
expensive, phase of the well
project will go out for bid
soon, Owen said.
The work includes building
a well house and installing
the piping to connect the well
to the distribution system.
That phase will cost an
estimated $2 million. Owen
said work likely will start in
September 2021.
The well should be avail-
able to start delivering water
to homes and businesses in
the spring of 2022.
Owen said the goal is for
the well to produce about
1,500 gallons per minute,
approximately 2.16 million
gallons per day.
The city will use the well
both during the summer,
when water demand peaks
but the volume from the
Kerns said such studies would be
needed only for very large developments.
“If there is a potential for a signifi cant
impact, we have the ability to ask the
applicant to show us the data so we can
understand what that impact is and
then the planning commission can make
appropriate decisions about whether or
not the applicant needs to bear some
responsibility for mitigating that impact,
whatever that is,” Kerns said.
Harvey asked that that section of the
ordinance be changed to read “if neces-
sary.”
“As an applicant I’m assuming that
I’m going to have to do an impact study
because it says necessary,” Harvey said.
Harvey, who is a building contractor,
said he was reviewing the proposed
zoning changes from the perspective of a
potential applicant.
“I’m addressing these issues because
from an applicant’s position, there are
requirements in there that may be
expensive (and that) to me that are un-
necessary,” he said.
Commissioners will have another
public hearing, and may formally ap-
prove the zoning changes, on May 5.
streams and springs in the
city’s watershed drops. The
well will also be benefi cial
in some years during spring,
when rapidly melting snow
in the watershed, which is
in the Elkhorn Mountains
west of town, can temporar-
ily cloud streams with silt.
The new well is one of the
major projects that prompt-
ed the City Council to boost
water rates by 10% in 2016,
2017 and 2018.
Those increases will pay
for the well and for the
continuation of a long-term
effort to replace the century-
old, leaky concrete pipeline
that brings water to town
from the city’s watershed.
The new well will be the
city’s second.
The other well, which the
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EO Media Group File
Chinook salmon.
Chinook season
begins today in
Hells Canyon
ENTERPRISE — The spring chinook salmon fi shing
season starts today, April 24 on the Snake River from the
Dug Bar boat ramp upriver to the boundary below Hells
Canyon Dam.
Snake River spring chinook are migrating up the Co-
lumbia River and will be arriving in the Oregon section
of the Snake in the upcoming weeks, according to the
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW).
“While it will take a bit for the fi sh to get here, we like
to have the fi shery open when they arrive,” said Kyle
Bratcher, acting district fi sh biologist at ODFW’s En-
terprise offi ce. “Despite the lagging spring chinook runs
across the Columbia Basin, the dead-end nature of this
fi shery allows us to provide some opportunity despite
the depressed run.”
The daily bag limit is four hatchery chinook per day of
which only one may be an adult salmon over 24 inches.
Anglers must cease fi shing for all salmon once they have
retained one adult hatchery chinook or four hatchery jack
salmon, whichever comes fi rst.
Barbless hooks and a Columbia Basin Endorsement
are required when fi shing for salmon, steelhead and
sturgeon in the Snake River.
Managers with the Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife and Idaho Fish and Game expect a modest run of
about 1,000 hatchery spring chinook to return to the base
of Hells Canyon Dam. Fishing probably won’t be allowed
this year in the Imnaha and Grande Ronde rivers.
“Hatchery fi sh returning to Hells Canyon Dam have
two purposes: provide broodstock for the next genera-
tion, and recreational and tribal harvest,” Bratcher said.
“So, a portion of the fi sh not collected for broodstock can
be made available to anglers.”
New At The Library
Patrons can reserve materials in advance online or by
calling 541-523-6419. Drive-in hours at 2400 Resort St. are
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday
and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
FICTION
• “The Hemingway stories,” Ernest Hemingway
• “What Doesn’t Kill Her,” Christina Dodd
• “Country Proud,” Linda Lael Miller
• “Finding Ashley,” Danielle Steel
• “Sooley,” John Grisham
NONFICTION
• “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,” Bill Gates
• “Dusk Night Dawn,” Ann Lamott
• “The Code Breaker,” Walter Isaacson
• “The God Equation,” Michio Kaku
• “Broken,” Jenny Lawson
DVDS
• “IP Man 4” (Action)
• “Jesus” (Documentary)
• “Monster Hunter” (Sci-Fi)
• “Spontaneous” (Horror)
• “The Kid Detective” (Comedy)
city drilled in 1977 near its
water treatment plant and
reservoir on the hill near
Reservoir Road, is about 800
feet deep.
Owen said the new well,
like the existing one, will
be part of the city’s Aquifer
Storage and Recovery (ASR)
system.
Baker City was the fi rst
Oregon city to receive a
state permit allowing it to
divert water from surface
sources — the watershed
streams and springs — into
a well during the winter
when the watershed pro-
duces far more water than
the city needs.
That water is stored in
the well aquifer and can be
pumped later into the city’s
distribution system.
Rachel Pregnancy Center
2192 Court Avenue, Baker City • 541-523-5357
Services Provided:
Free Pregnancy Tests
A resource
center for
Referrals for Free Ultrasounds
families
Pregnancy Options Counseling
Adoption Referrals
Prenatal, Infant Care & Parenting Classes
Maternity & Baby Clothing
Post Abortion Recovery
Helping women & men in an
Open Tues -Thurs
unplanned pregnancy.
All services free & confidential.
10 am - 5 pm
(closed for lunch)