BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2022 A3
LOCAL
Water
Continued from Page A1
Owen’s concern is that
there’s not enough of the lat-
ter to produce as much wa-
ter as she would like to have
available to slake city resi-
dents’ thirsts and keep their
green lawns and gardens
from turning brown this
summer.
“It’s concerning to me,”
Owen said on Tuesday,
March 15. “I would encour-
age people to be in a mode
of conservation, and to be
prepared for water cur-
tailment come July. At this
point I don’t see anything
that would prevent that.
We’re anticipating a drought
year again.”
Although a flurry of spring
snowstorms could alter the
equation somewhat, Owen
Baker City Public Works/Contributed Photo
expects the situation this
One of the intakes in the Baker City watershed where water is diverted into the city’s supply pipeline.
summer will be similar to
what happened in 2021.
On July 8, 2021, Owen
said in an interview with
the Herald, referring to the
city’s water demand rising to
above 5 million gallons per
day even while the supply
from the springs and streams
in its 10,000-acre watershed
was dropping as the drought
worsened: “We can’t do this
the whole summer.”
And residents didn’t.
After record heat late in
June 2021 contributed to a
45% increase in the city’s wa-
ter use compared with June
2020, the city enacted stage 2
of the water curtailment ordi-
nance on July 12.
(The city went on alert sta-
tus, the first stage, on June 28.)
Stage 2, also known as
“warning status,” restricts res-
idents to using city water (it
doesn’t affect private wells) to
irrigate lawns or gardens only
between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.,
when evaporation declines.
Although the ordinance al-
lows the city to cite and fine
Baker City Public Works/Contributed Photo, File
residents who fail to com-
Goodrich Reservoir in the Elkhorn Mountains west of Baker City is key source of water for Baker City.
ply, city officials emphasized
last summer that they didn’t
Under that stage, all out-
Where the water comes from
at the southern end to Go-
intend to do so, and no cita-
door watering using city wa-
The city has three main
odrich Creek in the north.
tions were issued.
ter is banned.
sources of water.
The city taps several streams,
Owen hoped that volun-
As it turned out, that re-
The primary source, and
including Salmon, Marble
tary compliance with the wa- striction wasn’t needed.
the one the city uses year
and Mill creeks, as well as
ter use restriction would al-
The city’s water use dropped round, is the aforemen-
multiple springs.
low the city to avoid enacting by 23% in August 2021 com-
tioned watershed, on the
For most of the year —
stage 3 of the ordinance for
pared with July, avoiding a
east slopes of the Elkhorns
generally from early summer
the first time ever.
more severe water supply crisis. and ranging from Elk Creek or late fall through spring
Commission
olution. He said any such reso-
lution needs to be reviewed by
county counsel and a public re-
view before possible approval.
“We will let folks see it before
we take the vote,” Harvey said.
ered redundant but, once again
during our conversations, a
Continued from Page A1
resolution doesn’t have teeth
but it does make a statement,”
That’s the system we have and
Matthews said. “You can say the
that’s the system we’ve always,
words. But if the words mean
sometimes enjoyed, sometimes
nothing, then don’t pass the res-
not, there’s rocky roads there
Public comments
olution. If the words do mean
and difficult times,” Nichols
As was the case when com- something to you, then my rec-
said. “But we’ve all survived it.” missioners discussed the res-
ommendation is to pass it.”
Nichols said he opposes vac- olution on Dec. 15, 2021, and
Curtis Martin of North Pow-
cine and mask mandates.
on Jan. 12, 2022, several people der said he believes the vast
He said he is vaccinated
urged commissioners to ap-
majority of Baker County res-
against COVID-19, and that
prove the resolution.
idents want a truly representa-
he wore a mask in the County
The version of the resolution tive local government.
Courthouse.
that Harvey and Bennett de-
“I think each one of those
“I usually did it just because, cided to send to Mosier for re- resolutions goes back to say-
I didn’t agree with it, but all
view is missing one part of the ing, we want our county to be
county employees were re-
document that Baker County
our main thrust of our govern-
quired to do that,” Nichols said. United submitted.
ment,” Martin said. “Right now,
“And so, I didn’t like wearing it
Jake Brown of Halfway,
I feel like the way our society is,
but I did it.”
representing Baker County
we’re upside down. Everybody
Nichols said he believes the United, said the group de-
looks toward the federal gov-
resolution would in effect make leted the clause that states:
ernment as being the supreme
the commission an enforce-
“Baker County Commission-
authority than the state and the
ment agency rather than a leg- ers proudly join the Constitu- county. That’s exactly opposite
islative body.
tional Sheriffs and Police Of-
of what our founding fathers
ficers Association and that the designed it for.”
“In other words, we cannot
enforce those kinds of things,” undersigned commissioners
Kody Justus addressed the
do hereby denounce any acts
Nichols said.
concern about enforcement
or agencies that promote the
Harvey disagreed.
and the commissioners being a
aforementioned practices.”
“This proposed resolution
legislative body.
Carrie Matthews of Baker
has no legal mandates on any-
“I don’t think that passing
City, another BCU represen-
thing,” Harvey said. “It is stat-
a resolution or what’s being
tative, said the group, in urg-
ing a position that the county
asked is outside of your scope,”
ing commissioners to pass the Justus said. “So as a legislative
would possibly take as to not
resolution, is asking them to
enforcing things that inhibit
body it is your position to pro-
“put your money where your
the rights of the citizens of
vide guidance for law enforce-
mouth is.”
the United States and Baker
ment and give them laws in the
“How important is this oath county to enforce.”
County.”
Harvey said he appreciates
to you? We have many reso-
He said as a legislative body,
the work that went into the res- lutions that would be consid-
the commissioners are not to-
tally separated from enforce-
ment.
Dan Freeman encouraged
the commissioners to support
the resolution.
Speaking in opposition to
the resolution, Gary Dielman
of Baker City said the right
to vote determines who will
be the representatives for the
county.
“This little, small, tiny
group does not represent the
people I know in this county,”
Dielman said, referring to
Baker County United.
Dielman said commission-
ers should have followed Baker
City’s lead and not consid-
ered approving the resolution,
which Baker County United
also sent to City Hall.
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The wording
The resolution states that
“the following abuses will not
be allowed or tolerated within
Baker County:
“• Orders restricting citizens
from the free exercise of their
religion or the right to freely
assemble as guaranteed in the
1st Amendment.
“• Orders depriving its citi-
zens of life, liberty or property,
without the “due process of
law” as guaranteed in the 5th
Amendment.
“• Registration of personal
firearms under any circum-
stances as guaranteed under
the 2nd Amendment nor
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“I would encourage people to be in a mode of
conservation, and to be prepared for water
curtailment come July. At this point I don’t
see anything that would prevent that.”
— Michelle Owen, Baker City public works director
— those freeflowing sources
supply enough water to meet
the needs of the city’s resi-
dents and businesses, which
usually amounts to 2 million
gallons or less during the
colder months.
But often by mid summer
the city reaches a threshold
where water use, which nat-
urally rises as residents seek
to keep their lawns lush and
gardens growing, exceeds the
amount the city can divert
into its watershed pipeline.
At that point, Owen said,
the city starts to supplement
the shortfall with either, and
sometimes with both, of its
two other sources.
Those are a well, on the
hill near the city’s reservoir
at the southwest corner of
town, and Goodrich Reser-
voir, a natural lake at the base
of Elkhorn Peak that the city
dammed decades ago to in-
crease its capacity.
Goodrich holds about 200
million gallons when full,
and Owen said she expects
that it will fill this spring de-
spite a below-average snow-
pack.
To augment the aquifer
that the well drills into, and
to increase the well’s volume,
the city, during the winter
and early spring, diverts tens
of millions of gallons of wa-
ter from the watershed into
the well.
In 2009 Baker City was the
first Oregon city to receive
a state permit for this tactic,
known as Aquifer Storage
and Recovery.
The goal, Owen said, is to
delay as long as possible each
summer the day on which
the city has to start siphoning
water from Goodrich Reser-
voir and the well.
The later in the summer
the city starts to draw down
those finite sources, which
can’t be readily replenished
until winter, the more likely
that the city will have a com-
fortable surplus of water until
autumn’s chill causes water
use to drop substantially.
Longer wait expected for a
second well
Owen had hoped to add a
third supplementary water
source this summer — a new
well that was drilled in 2020
and finished in April 2021.
The city’s plan was to build
a well house and install the
piping to connect the well to
the distribution system, with
the 654-foot-deep well to start
producing water in the spring
of 2022.
But the sluggish supply
chain, which has affected all
sorts of industries over the
past year or so, interrupted.
Owen said the lack of avail-
able parts needed to finish the
well project, including elec-
tronic controls, likely will pre-
vent the city from using the
well until 2023.
Owen said that although
she expects the city will cut
back on water use for the sec-
ond straight summer at Quail
Ridge Golf Course, Mount
Hope Cemetery and city
parks, as well as encourage
the Baker School District to
reduce irrigation on its prop-
erties, including the Baker
Sports Complex, those cur-
tailments likely won’t start
until the watershed supply be-
gins to diminish.
So long as the watershed
can meet all the city’s needs,
she said there’s no benefit, at
least to the city, to reducing
water use. Once the well aqui-
fer has been replenished and
Goodrich Reservoir is full,
there is no way for the city to
store any more water.
Owen said the city does
try to keep as much water
as possible in the watershed
streams, which helps farmers
and ranchers in Baker Valley
who also use those sources.
Although the city’s state
permit allows it to divert wa-
ter from the watershed into
the storage well as late as June
15, Owen said the city usually
stops doing so in early April
to maximize the volume in
the streams as they flow into
the valley.
the confiscation of firearms
without probable cause, due
process, and constitutionally
compliant warrants issued by a
local or state jurisdiction.
“• Inspections of person or
property without probable
cause nor audits or searches
of a citizen’s personal affairs
or finances without probable
cause, due process and consti-
tutionally compliant warrants
issued by a local or state ju-
risdiction pursuant to the 4th
Amendment.
“• No private property in-
cluding but not limited to
mining, timber, and water
rights shall be taken for pub-
lic use without just compen-
sation pursuant to the 5th
Amendment.
“• The detainment or search
of citizens without probable
cause and proper due process
compliance, or the informed
consent of the citizen pursuant
to the 4th Amendment.
“• Arrests with continued
incarcerations without charges
and complete due process, in-
cluding, but not limited to pub-
lic and speedy jury trials, in a
court of state or local jurisdic-
tion pursuant to the 5th and
6th Amendment.
“• Domestic utilization of
our nation’s military or fed-
eral agencies operating un-
der power granted under the
laws of war against American
citizens pursuant to the 3rd
Amendment.
“• Arrest of citizens or sei-
zure of persons or property or
any other action in violation
of any constitutional provi-
sion under the United States
constitution by federal law en-
forcement pursuant to the 5th
Amendment.
“• Force, threaten, coerce or
deceive, a citizen to receive any
medical treatment against their
will which is guaranteed in the
13th Amendment.”
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