Th e Bu l l eTin • Fr iday, FeBr ua r y 5, 2021 A5
EDITORIALS & OPINIONS
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Heidi Wright
Gerry O’Brien
Richard Coe
Publisher
Editor
Editorial Page Editor
Passage of House Bill 3103 is critical to Deschutes River
W
alk along the river trails in Bend, and the Deschutes
River is majestic and restless. Move upstream toward
Wickiup Reservoir, and you don’t have to be an expert
to know the river is in trouble.
Fish kills. High silt content. The
habitat is so bad the Oregon spot-
ted frog is threatened to wink out of
existence.
The struggles to tame the river
changed it into something less
healthy. Before irrigation canals and
reservoirs, the Deschutes had more
regular flows. It averaged 600 cubic
feet per second to 800 cfs upstream
of Bend. Until recently, it’s been
fluctuating much more wildly from
20 cfs to 1,800 cfs. Low flow levels
warm up the river making it more
unhealthy.
That problem is being addressed.
Central Oregon’s irrigation districts
have agreed to leave more water in the
river. Piping irrigation canals is terri-
bly expensive but moves water more
efficiently so not as much has to be
taken from the river. Flows in the De-
schutes may ratchet up to a minimum
of 300 cfs in the next several years.
That’s progress.
The Oregon Legislature is consider-
ing a bill, House Bill 3103, that could
make a critical change to improve the
flexibility of how water can be used
in the Deschutes Basin and across the
state.
Consider Wickiup Reservoir. It’s
one of the largest reservoirs in Ore-
gon. It’s about 50 miles from Bend by
car. It can hold up to 200,000 acre feet
of water, at least when snowpack and
climate change cooperate. (One acre
foot of water is the amount of water to
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin file
Water flows along the Deschutes River below Wickiup Reservoir in November.
cover an acre in one foot of water or
about 325,851 gallons.)
Every drop of water in the reser-
voir is officially designated for the use
of irrigation by North Unit Irrigation
District, which serves the area around
Madras. On the state level, rights to
store water are tied to specifics — the
location of the reservoir, the location
of the dam, where the water is di-
verted and the purpose or use of the
stored water.
Say you want to change one — to
release more water from Wickiup to
help water habitat for the spotted frog
and other creatures. The Oregon De-
partment of Justice issued a memo in
2018 saying that although there are
exceptions, Oregon’s Water Resources
Department doesn’t have the author-
ity to change storage rights. HB 3103
would allow the change for the use of
water.
It wouldn’t only benefit the situa-
tion at Wickiup. Other reservoirs in
Oregon have similar restrictions that
limit flexibility.
In the past, some irrigation districts
and farmers have wanted more than
just flexibility in use of stored water.
They have wanted flexibility in where
the water was stored, as well. That is
something that Oregon should do,
too. But changing the use is much,
much less controversial. This bill
could pass this session. Legislators,
pass it.
Editorials reflect the views of The Bulletin’s editorial board, Publisher Heidi Wright, Editor Gerry O’Brien and Editorial Page Editor Richard Coe. They are written by Richard Coe.
My Nickel’s Worth
Let’s memorize Gorman’s poem
us following the immunizations as
we waited the 15 minutes required.
Members of the National Guard were
on duty at the fairgrounds, as were
several volunteers who transported
many people from their cars to the
facility.
We are grateful to everyone who
was there to help us and others.
— Patty Taylor Dutcher, Prineville
Thank you to Cheryl McGinnis
for the idea of memorizing Amanda
Gorman’s exquisite poem. I’m in it,
with you, Cheryl, to incorporate this
hope-filled message into the cells of
my being.
While blending the inspiration of
this poem into my mind and soul, an
idea came. What if many of us mem-
orized this powerful work of art and
promise? What if someone recited
this daily from a street corner in our
city of Bend?
What if residents and visitors of this
lovely town every day could count on
hearing Amanda Gorman’s words for
unity, for commitment “to all cultures,
color, characters and conditions of
man?”
What if we’re brave enough to be
the light we are looking for “in this
never-ending shade.”
Are there others of you who are al-
ready on this project? Let’s do it!
— Andrea Furber, Bend
Wrong decision
Madras councilor had a point
While using the word “terrorist”
might have been overly inflammatory,
the basic message of Madras Coun-
cilor Austin Throop’s comments seem
well-taken: Why is any public official
violating the state protocols put in
place to deal with this incredibly de-
structive virus? Community leaders
should be on the cutting edge of com-
munity safety, even if their egos get
bruised.
Mayor Richard Ladeby apparently
cut Mr. Throop off, telling him “We’re
not here to have a lecture.” Last time
I looked, the constitutional guaran-
tee of freedom of speech did not have
such guidelines.
— L. Thomas Clark, Bend
Can the school board please
answer questions?
An exact quote from an article on
the front page of Feb. 2’s paper regard-
ing teachers getting vaccinated:
“It has relieved a lot of stress to have
access to these,” said Sarah Barclay,
president of the Bend Education As-
sociation teachers’ union. “They’re
heading back into classrooms with
lots of (COVID-19) exposure, … so
just knowing there was prioritiza-
tion to help ensure community safety,
we’re very thankful for that.”
Why are we sending students
“back into classrooms with lots of
(COVID-19) exposure?” Do the stu-
dents and everyone in the students’
circles not matter?
I am just utterly confused.
— Donna J. Casey, Bend
A shot of praise
I want to thank St. Charles Medi-
cal Center and the Deschutes County
Health Department for providing the
COVID-19 immunizations. As a hos-
pice volunteer, I was eligible for the
immunizations at the hospital. My
husband was eligible for the immuni-
zations at the Deschutes County Fair-
grounds.
There were many volunteers and
medical professionals at both sites
who answered all our questions, as-
sisted people with mobility issues, and
carefully checked our temperatures,
ID and appointment times. Every-
one observed social distancing, wore
masks and were careful to observe
I am writing to express my anger
and frustration at Gov. Kate Brown’s
recent decision to redirect vaccine sup-
plies to Portland. Coming on the heels
of her other decision to inoculate edu-
cators above seniors, this news is dis-
heartening at best as it further delays
the possibility of my husband or me
obtaining this necessary vaccination.
My husband is over 65 with heart
disease and a faulty mitral valve that
will require surgery in the near fu-
ture. We have been strictly following
the guidelines of social distancing and
masking; consequently, we have been
unable to see our children and grand-
children in over a year. I have not seen
my 87-year-old mother, who resides
in an assisted living facility, in over a
year.
I am appalled at this decision. If
Gov. Brown’s motivation is to reduce
the number of COVID-related hospi-
talizations, I fail to see her logic.
While I understand that there is
a need to open public schools, older
people with underlying conditions
are at most risk of becoming severely
ill and dying. She will have hospitals
filled with seniors on ventilators and a
rising death toll.
Please help me understand how
these decisions are in the best interests
of public health.
— Karen Jost, Bend
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We fear Super Bowl Sunday may become a super spreader event
S
uper Bowl Sunday is nigh upon
us, and one can sense the antic-
ipation for a competitive game
and a large gathering of friends to
watch it with. Don’t do it.
I hate to throw cold water on what
has become a de facto national sports
holiday, but there’s this nagging pan-
demic thing out there that, while vac-
cines are starting to spread across the
country, has not really abated.
It does appear we may be on the
downhill side of this, but as you recall,
it’s been a roller coaster of spikes and
declines several times over this past
year. Take a look at the graphic we
publish each day on Page A2. Surges
of varying amounts have happened
following every sort of national holi-
day — July 4th, Labor Day Weekend,
Thanksgiving and Christmas. De-
schutes County Health Department
and St. Charles Medical Center pub-
lish daily infection counts, and one
can see the same trend there, too.
Last July 16, the county saw a
bump of 28 new cases; Sept. 19, there
were 16 new cases; Dec. 4, it ex-
ploded to 129 new cases; Jan. 1 saw
108 new cases. The Oregon Health
Authority noted that it did not see a
post-Thanksgiving surge across the
state as people appeared to be more
aware of the issue. However, case
numbers did pick up following the
Christmas holidays.
St. Charles, for the greater part of
January, had an average of 40-plus pa-
tients hospitalized for COVID-19, the
highest numbers since the pandemic
began. Those numbers are slowly
dropping off to a “normal” average of
GERRY
O’BRIEN
10 to 15. The statewide numbers have
mirrored this trend, as well.
More distressing is that the number
of deaths in Oregon from COVID-19
is about to top 2,000 by this weekend.
What does it tell us? Logic dictates
that families and friends did gather in
groups during those holidays, and the
result was a spike in cases. This Sun-
day could be no different unless we
choose to self-isolate one more time.
Hosting Zoom, Skype or other online
chat room meetings with your friends
instead of being together in one room
is the better alternative, although,
granted, not as much fun.
All this is aimed at trying to get
back to some normalcy, especially for
our restaurants and tap rooms.
Restaurants are still reeling in Cen-
tral Oregon. They are what make this
region so livable.
We’re glad to see Bend’s Sparrow
Bakery launch a “Twice More” cam-
paign encouraging all of us who can
afford it to order takeout or dine in
twice as many times per week than
usual. This is no time to be compla-
cent with the advent of the vaccine and
think that restaurants may pull out of
this economic dive. Restaurants, bars
and food trucks all still need our help.
(For listings of local restaurants, take-
out options, check out our GO! Maga-
zine in print and online).
Which brings us back to why we
need to sequester for just a little bit lon-
ger. It is no time to become complacent
and believe that with the advent of a
vaccine, things will return to normal
in short order. Oregon’s Occupational
Safety and Health Administration is
seeking to make mask-wearing and
other requirements permanent for the
life of this pandemic. We can help bring
this sequestration to an end earlier if we
abide by the rules: distancing, wearing
a mask, good cleaning practices and
avoiding crowds.
I’m a big fan of the Big Game as
much as anyone, and it goes without
saying I savor the chips and dips and
munchies along the way. But there’s
one spread that we should avoid this
Sunday and that is the Super Bowl Su-
per Spreader.
e e
Gerry O’Brien is editor of The Bulletin.