A2 The BulleTin • Sunday, January 30, 2022
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WILLAMETTE BASIN
Corps considers alternatives for operating dams
BY GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
PORTLAND — The U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers is
re-evaluating how it will main-
tain and operate 13 dams in
Oregon’s Willamette Valley to
protect three species of endan-
gered fish.
The dams, collectively
known as the Willamette Val-
ley Project, were built more
than 50 years ago to provide
flood control from heavy
spring rains. Other authorized
purposes include irrigation,
hydropower, recreation and
fish and wildlife habitat.
Officials at the Corps’ Port-
land District outlined seven
alternatives for project oper-
ations during a virtual pub-
lic meeting on Jan. 19. The
changes described in each al-
ternative are intended to im-
prove water quality, tempera-
ture and fish passage at the
dams for spring chinook, win-
ter steelhead and bull trout.
A federal judge in 2020
ruled the dams had pushed
endangered Upper Willamette
salmon and steelhead runs to
the brink of extinction, while
the Corps lagged years behind
making scheduled upgrades
that were agreed to in an ear-
lier court settlement with envi-
ronmental groups.
The Corps is now updating
its environmental impact state-
ment for the Willamette Proj-
ect, walking the tightrope be-
tween the needs of fish and the
needs of other users.
“It is a delicate dance that
has increasingly become more
complex,” said Erik Petersen,
operations project manager for
the Corps. “Everyone is giving
something up, and everyone
is gaining something. No one
is getting anything exactly the
way they want it.”
Public scoping for the up-
dated environmental statement
began in 2019. The Corps re-
ceived 717 suggestions for mea-
sures that could be implemented
at one of the dams. From there,
the list was whittled down to 23
measures based on their feasibil-
ity and benefits.
The measures are divided
into four sub-categories — fish
passage, water quality, flow
and “common to all,” which in-
cludes hatchery improvements
More Information
For more information about
the Willamette Valley Project
eiS, including details about
each alternative, visit https://
gather.cdmsmith.com/v/nk-
jxe7erqlQ
A federal judge in 2020
ruled the dams had
pushed endangered Upper
Willamette salmon and
steelhead runs to the brink
of extinction, while the
Corps lagged years behind
making scheduled upgrades
that were agreed to in an
earlier court settlement with
environmental groups.
George Plaven/Capital Press file
Detroit dam is one of 13 dams operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Willamette River Basin.
and gravel augmentation.
The Corps mixes and
matches these measures into
each of the seven alternatives,
looking to strike the right bal-
ance of actions to maximize
the dams’ benefits.
For example, alternatives 3A
and 3B focus on boosting fish
passage by modifying opera-
tions, rather than substantially
changing any of the structures.
That would involve a deep
spring and fall season reser-
voir drawdowns, boosting river
flows at a time when adult and
juvenile salmon are migrating.
Alternative 4, on the other
hand, takes a more build-
ing-based approach, adding
new downstream passage and
water quality facilities to keep
fish healthy and moving.
Kelly Wingard, project man-
ger, said the Corps is still as-
sessing the impact of alterna-
tives. The agency will release
its draft environmental impact
statement sometime in the fall,
which will include a preferred
alternative. A final statement
and record of decision could be
finished by 2024.
The last time an environ-
mental impact statement was
done for the Willamette Proj-
ect was in 1980, Wingard said.
Since then, the project’s de-
mands have changed substan-
tially.
“Really, we’re re-looking
at how we balance the differ-
ent priorities for the system,”
Wingard said.
Last year, irrigators gained
access to 328,000 acre-feet of
water stored in the project’s
reservoirs, part of a realloca-
tion plan that divvied 1.6 mil-
lion acre-feet of water among
farmers, cities and fish and
wildlife.
But Kathy Warner, a tech-
nical expert and water supply
specialist for the Willamette
Project environmental im-
pact statement, said changes
in dam operations could mean
changes in timing and avail-
ability of water for irrigation.
Agriculture, she said, is part of
Corps’ analysis of the alterna-
tives.
“Each of these alternatives
could have a different level of
impact, or effect,” Warner said.
“They’re looking at the differ-
ent ways the system could op-
erate.”
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