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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1976)
r JVJUL Published annually by the Morrow Soil & Water Conservation District. Progress report on irrigation project nnnn n o J By Daa Hum. Project CMrttlaaUr The irrigation project for North Morrow County and Western Umatilla County now known officially at the Stanfield-Westland Project, is ma king rapid progress towards providing enough information for the landowners so that they can decide if they want to participate in an irrigation project from the Columbia River. At the most recent meeting of the Stanfield-Westland Pro ject Coordinating Committee, reports were heard from lending institutions as to the importance of a financial con sultant to advise the com mittee and assist them in finding sources of financial support for this project. Also at the meeting were representatives from Vitro Boyle Engineering Firm who explained seven conceptional ideas on how to bring water from the Columbia River to the nearly 95,000 acres now signed up in the project. They discussed pros and cons of each alternative and asked the coordinating committee for feedback. The coordinating commit tee, at the suggestion of the engineering firm, voted to MORROW SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING Lexington School District Office Tuesday, February 10, 1976 7:30p.m. PROGRAM 1. Introductions 2. Business Meeting 3. "In Touch With the Land" A Slide Presentation 4. Featured Speaker: Dan Wilson OSU Extension Economist, Project Coordinator of Stanfield-Westland Project Efficient Irrigating Makes sense 5. Soil Loss in Morrow County versus quality standards A discussion by Elwin Ross, SCS Area engineer reopen the sign up for the project so that landowners within the existing sign-up area, or landowners adjacent, either on the east side, east of Buttercreek, or on the west side south of the bombing range, and Boeing land, could participate in the irrigation project. Additional lands will carry a 10 per cent late charge so they will need to make a contribu tion of $2.20 per acre. The nerr deadline for additional acres if Feb. S, 1976. Interested land owners should contact the Stanfield Irrigation office in Stanfield. The coordinating committee stated that additional lands will help the overall feasibility of the project, because the larger the project area, the smaller the per acre develop ment cost. Approximately 9,000 additional acres has already requested permission to join the project. From your The Morrow Soil and Water Conservation District Direc tors wish to express our appreciation to the many cooperators of the district who have carried out sound con servation practices on their The coordinating committee is a twelve man board listed below: Larry Campbell, farmer, chairman; Gay lord Madison, farmer, vice-chairman ; Dan Wilson, O S U. Extension eco nomist secretary and official spokesman for the commit tee; Robert O'Rourke, attor ney and irrigation districts representative; Bill Penney, manager, Port of Umatilla; Ken Turner, fanner; Chester Prior, farmer; Sta fford Hansell, farmer ; Darren Maxwell, Umatilla County extension agent; Hadley Ak ins, Ag. Representative, U.S. National Bank, past project coordinator; Bill Gilbert, ma nager, Stanfield k Westland Irrigation Districts and Tom Harper, city manager, City of Hermiston. The coordinating committee on Nov. 21, 1975 authorized the Stanfield-Westland Irrigation directors land. Together, we have made a commitment to renew and maintain, the quality of our environment. We encourage you to continue your interest and concern. The District Directors ex press our thanks to all the public agencies who have given their assistance to our program. We also extend our appreciation and thanks to the many business firms whose advertising has made this publication possible. Cost Sharing The Morrow County ASC Committee reports that the Agricultural Conservation Program (ACP) cost-shared with 51 farmers-ranchers the amount of $92,092 in 1975 for performing needed conserva tion measures. The cost of the following practices were sha red at approximately 50 per cent on 1,233,385 linear feet of diversion ditches; 15 sediment retention dams; 185 acres of grass seedings for soil stabi lization; 46 acres of timber thinning; 46 acres of weed control; developing 2 springs; and 6 ponds. The 1976 ACP will be deve loped in the near future, and will provide cost sharing assistance for performing lasting conservation and pol lution abatement measures on farm and cropland. Public notice will be given when the 1976 program is available. District to enter into a contract with Vitro-Boyle En gineering Firm to complete an engineering feasibility study of the area to be completed by Aug. 1, 1976. This completion date coincides with the com pletion date of an economic feasibility study being done by Oregon State University Ex tension Service. The three major questions that the two studies will answer are: 1. What kind of legal organi DAN Coal plant and ByBasCUagh. Pvbtk Affairs Representative Portland General Electric During the past several years, PGE has been studying alternatives for construction of a series of power plants in the Boardman-Arlington area of Central Oregon. Originally PGE was planning two nu clear power plants at the Carty reservoir site. In 1973, however, the Nu clear Thermal Energy Council decided it would not permit construction and operation of nuclear plants at the Board man site so long as the U.S. Navy continued to use its nearby weapons testing facili ty. As a result, the company decided to build the first two nuclear plants at Pebble Springs near Arlington. The change in plans caused a two to three-year delay in the time the first plant can be on line. This left a possible three-year period from 1980-83 when vitally needed power would not be available. The Board man Coal Plant will help to supply this power. The Board man Coal Plant is the begin sation is necessary to admini ster the project, the pricing policy and a recommendation on how the financing should be arranged. 2. The cost of delivering water to the different areas of the project. 1 The ability of the lands within the project to pay back the cost of development and the cost of operation, based upon several cropping pat terns, crop yields and price variations. I ) i i j WILSON reservoir site ning of a large power generat ing complex at the site. Up to four nuclear plants are plan ned, provided the Navy moves the weapons facility. The potential of the -Carty reservoir site for an irrigation reservoir had been considered from as early as 1916. The cost of using the reservoir solely for the purpose of Irrigation was prohibitive. However, by using the reservoir for the dual-purpose of irrigation'and power plant cooling, the project will become a reality. Initially a 1400 acre reser voir will be constructed. This reservoir will be expanded to 5200 acres when more power plants are constructed. Filling of the reservoir will be through a Boeing pipeline from the Columbia River; at a 25 cubic feet per sec rate. This input will be adequate to compensate for evaporation losses and other uses. In addition, water can be pump ed from the reservoir for irrigation if desired. Irriga tion standard water purity will be maintained in the reservoir.
