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Published annually by the Morrow Soil & Water Conservation District.
Progress report on irrigation project
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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.