Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 1972)
MCPPNtA. lOIC). GAXCTTT flMLS. TrdY. Joa. 17. IJT1 4 SCuobe Flood Unites People Annual Financial Report Of January I, 1971 lo December 31, 1971 In Solving Seriows Bnk Balance t Jan. 1. 1971 S 195.62 - Gn Income from DioiK-ralors S 57.15- Donutloiw (rnn annual Ailv F. N. Bank IntereM (time savings) Rt-funil mi 'a llah. Insurants ttus tnuri 2I!..V 5009 357.64 12.50 S 370 11 $ 370.14 Total Balance and Income S 565.76 Disbursements for 1971 Sect. State audit $ 5.00 Oregon Assc. Consv. dues 65.00 National Assc. Consv. dues 82.50 Stewardship Materials 19.65 RCD dues 20.00 Treasurer Bond - 10 00 Liability Ins. Bus tour . ... 25.00 Postage 1600 : Supplies, -.... 1-85 Lexington Grange annual meeting rent 20.00 Annual Adv ' 176.50 Trophies and Awards 44.63 Total disbursements .. $ 186.13 $ 486.13 Bank Balance and on Hand Jan. 1, 1972 $ 79.63 On Times Saving A cot : 1,000.00 Value of Equipment 358.97 Total Cash and Equipment $1,438.60 . Accounts receivable ..$137,50 .Accounts credit - 100 Net accounts rec $136.50 Rentals Gopher Getter $ 46.95 Sale of flags 117.00 Total i... --$ 163.95 Equipment; Gopher Getter, Noble Blade and Packer. Respectfully, EDMOND GONTY, Treasurer Rhea Creek Progress Report By BRYCE KEENE During 1971 more core drill ing was completed on the Ruggs Ranch Damsite. The core drill ing work done in 1968 showed depth to solid rock to be too great. The 1971 drilling was done approximately 100 yards upstream from the previous site, and did show a much less fcpth to solid rock. -Cross section surveys were eompleted on the creek from the mouth to the damsite to determine the area inundated by various floods. A gauging station was in- t f stalled at Garry Tullis' ranch to determine normal runoff from Rhea Creek to Willow Creek. ' In addition to flood runoff and storage for irrigation, the dam has been designed to pro vide a recreation pool with a minimum of 50 surface acres. All of the required data has been gathered in order to write a preliminary : investigation re port by the" watershed Planning Division of the State Engineers. As soon as approval for a meth od of joint-use storage has been given, a complete report will be available. .V l -V i mr et r THIS PICTURE SHOWS Cltf swimming pool shortly eftn Hood waters had pa sued. Pool U full of sediment and debris, building has hole through both walls and pavement has been lilted off the street (SCS Photo). i ' THIS PICTURE SHOWS the water erosion on cropland. Soil loss per acre was up to 300 tons en this field which had been stub ble mulched but has no other protection. Notice the "supered curves" indicating the speed ol the water that came off thee 20 slopes. (GT Photo). Columbia-Snake-Palouse Program Could Halt Erosion and Pollution By AL OSMIN Soil Conservation Service The most widely publicized (nation-wide) and talked about area in Morrow County this past ear has been the Shobe Can yon Watershed and the flood of May 25, 1971. Since that disas ter many developments have taken place with most of them good. The publicity which Heppner received wasn't all desirable, but this event seems to have awakened the people to the ba- ic cause of the flood problem nd united them In reaching one goal. This was to prevent fu ture flooding to occur In Heppner. Landowners, townspeople and ity officials met with the su pervisors of the Heppner Soil & Water Conservation District shortly after the flood to re quest that something be done about the problem. At this meeting it was decided that a complete land treatment pro gram was needed and that fi nancing for such a project would have to be acquired. Special project funds, at 8070 cost-sharing with the landown ers, under the Rural Environ mental Assistance Program (REAP) was obtained through the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service. The design for a complete land treatment program of the entire Shobe Watershed was prepared by the Soil Conservation Service. Within 30 days after the flood the design, financing ar rangements and a contractor was on the Job working on the diversion ditches, sod waterway and small erosion dams. These construction measures along with some additional acreage will be seeded to grass. The to tal objectives of all theso prac tlces Is to reduce the total vol ume and peak flow that can occur In the cloudburst type storm. If all the flow volume that came down In the May flood wore caught In a big tub, 30 or more would have been some thing other than water. Water moving straight down the slope, and in great enough volumes. brings with it soil, rocks, wood etc. Diversion ditches break up the vertical runoff pattern and leud the water on a contour to the edge of the field to a grass ed waterway or natural drain age. This slows the water up and gives some of it a chance to be absorbed into the ground In the natural drainages email .irnuinn Inmu 11111 hn Ottfn. structed that will reduce the j i volume 01 now even more, ine j I average capacity of these dams J wiH.be around two acre feet. ' When these reservoirs fill with CcXLSt runoff, the overflow will be car iwtr i ""i r ' r .. . . i ried to the next dam or the main channel by a grassed wa terway. " By the time the runoff from the treated farmland area reach es the main channels, the run off water from areas of the wa tershed not requiring conserva tion practices will have moved on out. This total concept is what gives the spreading or lengthening out of the cloud burst instead of the "stacking up of water", To date approximately 70 of the Shobe Canyon project has been completed. As time and THIS PICTURE SHOWS Route 207 bridge in the lower right and pHrinhn'a imv hnm in (ho unoer center. The bam is about 10 feet higher than the bottom of the channeL The bridge has weather permits the remaining a 6 foot high opening and a 2.5 foot high railing. work will be completed this gcs Photo), spring. Irrigated Acreage to Increase in 1972 DARRELL LEARN, Head of Watershed Planning Division. State Engineers Office, will present the Progress Report for the Rhea Creek Watershed Development. Darrell Learn Scheduled to Speak At S&WCD Annual Meeting Feb. 3 Darrell Learn, Supervisor of the Watershed Planning Divis ion of the Oregon State Engin eer Office, was raised on a cat tle ranch in northeastern Wash ington. Graduated from Wash ington State University in 1963, with a degree in Civil Engineering. He is registered as a civil I engineer in the states of Calif ornia and Oregon. He is 31 years of age and presently lives in Salem with his wife Linda and daughters Tracy, 6, and Trina, 3. Darrell has spent the last seven years doing planning work for Public Law 566, small watershed projects. By RUPERT KENNEDY Port Manager, Port of Morrow Morrow County had 3500 acres of new intensively Irrigated crop producing lands in 1971. This acreage will be increased by another 11,000 acres in 1972. It is estimated there will be 30,000 privately irrigated acres by 1975, probably being Desert Magic Inc., Shell Chemical lands, Boeing lands and other lands near the Columbia River. The Port of Morrow Commis sion with its bonding capabili ties to distribute nuclear cool ant water will continue to at tract new nuclear power tenants to the Sand Hollow and Juniper Canyon areas to irrigate the lands in that area. The next nuclear tenant Is going to be more difficult to attract to Mor row County than the first one, but the climate for siting is improving continuously. The Bureau of Reclamation is continuing the studies and en gineering on the South Side Project M . . . 1 THIS PICTURE SHOWS Supervisors at monthly board meeting Bryc Keene. Cory Grieb, Albert Wright Ed Conty, Ken Turner. Dick McElligott Budy Bergstrom. (SCS Photo). Heppner S&WCD Supervisors KEff. TURNER, CHAIRMAN BRYCE KEENE, VICE CHAIRMAN . DICK McELLIGOTT. SECRETARY ED GONTY, TREASURER ALBERT WRIGHT RUDY BERGSTROM GARY GRIEB Advisory Supervisors D. O. NELSON O. W. CUTSFORTH PAUL PETTYJOHN C W. RUDDELL By KEN TURNER Soil loss by action of water and wind has been and con tinues to be a most serious prob lem In many sections, especial ly the summer fallow areas of Idaho, Washington and Oregon. The States' three Soil and Water Conservation Commissions have consolidated their efforts and have developed a contractual program which Is designed to alleviate this serious erosion, air and water pollution problem. A bill Is being introduced In to congress this year and If au thorized and funded it will of fer the regions' farmers a Great Plains type conservation pro gram which has been very suc cessful In the Mid-West. The main features: 1) Higher cost sharing of up to 80 assistance for more incentive. 2) Length of sign-up period (3 to 10 years) allows farmers or ranchers time to system atically apply conservation measures, 3) The program as outlined provides a vehicle for the application- of a thorough conservation Job. Since a farmer would have contracted assurance of funds, a more complete and effective Job could be done over a period of several years. The program would not com pete with or weaken the pres ent Rural Environmental Assist ance Program, but would add a big dimension to it The Soil Conservation Service would pro vide technical assistance while Agriculture Stablllzaton and Conservaton Service would like ly administer it Local Districts are working on and supporting the proposal and the Heppner SWCD has been sold on this concept for many years. Lalce Pen land Project Completed In 1971 By DALE W. BONER Soil Conservation Service This year the sounds of sum mer home construction will re place those of earth moving equipment on the Lake Penland Project. The completion of this earth fill dam, a first for Mor row County, was a big accomp lishment for the Heppner Soil & Water Conservation District. Planning started on this proj ect in 19C8 and construction in August of 1970. Baldwin Bros. Construction from The Dalles had 70 of the work completed by the first fall. Richard Mead or, Heppner, finished the earth moving for the dam last fall. The visitor-day use of Lake Penland has been estimated to be 20,600 per year. This figure is taken from a Forest Service report and Is based on location and actual counts made on comparable reservoirs. For com parlson, Bull Prairie which is a slightly smaller reservoir but has better access had an actual count of 48,000 visitor days for 1970. With this recreational de- I Heppner, many people from the immediate area will use ren land for . weekend outings to get away from the summer heat. ';,! ' ;'- ' The design fof Penland was prepared by the Soli Conserva tion Service and shows a res ervoir with 67 surface acres be ing created by the 28 foot high earth fill dam. The crest length of the dam Is 395 feet and the Impoundment will hold 590 acre-feet of water. The 1971 Shobe Canyon flood did not have as much water as Penland will hold. Lake Penland Corporation, a non-profit organization, financ ed the total cost of the land and construction with the in tent of the project to be used solely for recreation. The dam Is located on pub lic land and an agreement was made to give the public access to approximately 13 of the shoreline and the reservoir sur face. The access is by a stand ard gravel road built by Morrow County. Campgrounds, restroom facilities, boat ramp and park ing will be developed by the U. S. Forest Service and fish will be stocked by the Oregon State Game Commission. ..Wagers have probably been made on if and when the res ervoir will fill. Studies made by SCS engineers indicated that filling could take two years. However, with the good snow pack this early In the season the reservoir stands an excel lent chance of filling with the spring runoff. Evaporation and seepage will drop the surface two to three feet but tnis will be easily replaced each year. t.Mmm PENLAND EESERVOIB oa November 19, 1971. (SCS Y? t. : I Photo).
