The Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, February i6, 1978 ELEVEN
ppmer has choice flood "plain
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am proposal
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aired
if. "When you start in 1937 and
vget two authorizations and
3i still there is no project, it goes
j beyond being a bad joke it's
-i-not even funny anymore."
;,;; With that statement behind
Jiim, Steve Hickok, field
representative for Sen. Mark
..Hatfield, opened the latest
i chapter in the long -running
i story of the Willow Creek
sidam a public meeting aimed
at gauging the most recent
-community response to the
j controversial and emotional
issue. And after some two
hours of information, discus
sion and speculation on the
'j project's impact, it was clear
that this time, the 'joke' had
taken on a new. punchline.
Flood plain is the ingredient
that has been added this time
around and it packs the wallop
of threatening the economic
livelihood of the entire down
town Heppner business dis
trict. , , "I haven't seen any com
munity in Oregon faced with
; as heavy an impact due to the
flood plain changes as Hepp
ner is," Hickok said. "Quite
simply, the Willow Creek dam
would take off the straight
jacket that would be put on
the conomic community."
Backing up Hickok's assess
ment of the seriousness of the
proposed flood plain were two
representatives of the Army
Corp of Engineers. Both Ron
Barrett and Jerry Roediger
made it clear that they
What does flood plain
mean for Heppner?
What effect would the con
struction of Willow Creek
Dam have on Heppner's flood
plain and could residents of
the area be assured that if the
dam were constructed, the
flood plain would be elimi
nated? Chuck Steele, who admini
"""""sters the flood insurance
program for Housing and
Urban Development (HUD),
had some answers for The
Gazette-Times this week.
"Generally, I'd never advo
'cate building a dam," said
.Steele, "but in Heppner's case
it is the best possible way to
' " alleviate the flood plain prob
lem." "The flood plain as it
"stands now will have a serious
effect on Heppner," said
'Steele, referring to future
construction of residential and
commercial buildings in the
(Mill Ellri 1 II .
The Flood Insurance Admi
nistration requires the city
adopt an ordinance showing a
flood plain that extends about
five feet above Main Street.
v TThe provisions in that ordi
nance would require that any
buildings constructed within
that flood plain be elevated
five feet off the ground like
on stilts or that it be flood
proofed to that level.
Flood proofing a building
would mean making the
building water-tight, such as
installing hatch-covers for
"doors and windows among
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oiucr tilings, inc cuai ui
flood-proofing can increase
the cost of construction by
30-60 per cent.
"We will require that the
city enforce these measures
and quite frankly, it will be
extremely difficult to build,"
said Steele. Can residents of
at public meeting
"weren't trying to sell the
project to anybody" but were
interested in clearing up any
questions or misconceptions
concerning the project.
"The flood plain delineation
is a quick, fast and dirty
process," Barrett said. "It's
done by an engineer in
Harrisburg, Pa., who over a
five to seven year period will
determine flood plains for
every community in the nation
they make a lot of errors."
Barrett said from the infor
mation now available for
Heppner, "you're talking
about five feet of water on
Main Street as being included
in the flood plain".
If that should be the case
when the final flood plain
information is completed, it
would virtually put a lid on
any future building or major
remodeling in the downtown
area as well as a good portion
of the residential community.
When asked if there were any
recourse for getting around
the flood plain restrictions if
the dam is not built, Hickok
said, "I really don't see any."
Still, for some residents, the
threat of economic stagnation
is tempered by another threat
on an emotional level of
living beneath an earth-filled
dam. The Corp representa
tives came to '.the meeting
armed with the technical .
information and assurances
that the project was sound.
Roediger described the pro
the area be assured that if the
dam were constructed, the
flood plain would be elimi
nated? ,
Steele said he thought a firm
committment in that regards
could be made.
Corp of Engineers studies
have shown that Willow Creek
is able to handle the waters of
Shobe Canyon in the event of a
flood since extensive work in
the drainage has been done.
The flood plain as it stands now will
ham a serious effect on Heppner
The flood problem for down
town Heppner comes after
waters from Willow Creek,
Balm Fork and Shobe Canyon
come together.
Steele said construction of
the dam would control the
waters of Balm Fork and
Willow Creek, thereby limit
ing the flood plain to within a
few feet of the channel
through town.
What if the City of Heppner
refused to pass the ordinance
required by the flood insur
ance program.
"Simply, the City of Hepp
ner wouldn't be in compliance
with the flood insurance
program and flood insurance
would not be available to
residents or businessmen,"
said Steele.
Without flood insurance pro
tection, individuals would not
be able to borrow money from
commercial lending institu
tions for construction of busi-
ject as "essentially for flood
control" and added it would
provide protection for a dis
charge of the 500 to 700 year
frequency. The dam would be
capable of containing 11,500
acre-feet of water although
most of the time a 2,000
acre-foot pool would be main
tained. The project has been classi
fied as a multi-purpose facili
ty, rather than strictly a flood
control project, which makes
it eligible for increased fed
eral funding. Roediger said
without the multi-purpose tag,
approximately $500,000 to
$600,000 for real estate pur
chases and roadway reloca
tion would have to be acquired
from sources other than the
federal government.
Roediger estimated the total
cost of the project at $22.4
million up $7.1 million from
the 1974 estimate but added
that only $138,000 would be
non-federal costs. He said the
financial responsibilities of
local residents would be
limited to the recreational
aspects of the project which
could include a park area and
boat ramps. Several funding
options are open to preclude
the need of any of the dam
money coming directly from
city or county coffers.
With the dam holding poten
tial benefits from both recrea
tional and irrigation stand
points,' the thrust of the issue
still is wrapped up in the flood
nesses or homes within the
flood plain, because those
institutions are federally in
sured. HUD officials are currently
"blinking their eyes" as new
construction goes on in Hepp
ner but under the law they
could be enforcing some
provisions of the ordinance at
this time.
Because a study of the flood
Stories by
Jim Summers
& Terry Hager
plain. Barrett said the dam, as
proposed, would completely
controll the flow from both
Willow Creek and Balm Fork,
thereby "shrinking the flood
plain from those two to zero".
Heppner would still be faced
with possible restrictions from
Shobe Canyon and Hinton
Crek but Barratt said there
was "a strong possibility that
flood waters would be con
tained in the creek channel".
"What you saw coming out
of Shobe Creek in 1971 was
equivalent to a 100-year dis
charge and with the addition
of drainage ditches up the
canyon since then, I think it's
safe to say that the overflow
would be minimal," Barrett
said.
After the presentations were
made and questions were
answered, a show of hands
from the 60 persons in
attendance showed nearly a
two-to-one preference for pro
ceeding with the project.
"It's an effort we (Sen.
Hatfield's office) would under
take only if you wanted us to,"
Hickok said. "Mark Hatfield
is not in the business of
ramming projects down peo
ple's throats the best thing to
do would be not to touch it with
a ten-foot pole."
Hickok said there are no
assurances of success, "but
there is an assurance that the
effort will be put forth" if a
strong enough mandate dem- j
onstrated.
plain is being conducted at
this time by the Corp of
Engineers, the City of Hepp
ner and HUD are forestalling
passage of the ordinance.
Asked if the new flood plain
study would lower the existing
flood plain, Steele indicated
the effect would be minimal.
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The area within the white lines on the above photograph
show the approximate flood plain for Heppner those
portions of the city in which construction or extensive
remodeling will be restricted under an ordinance the City
Council will be required to adopt within the next year. The
line drawing below shows the exact flood plain as used by
commercial lending institutions and the Flood Insurance
Administration.
The flood plain and ordinance are required before the
federal government will provide flood insurance for
businesses and homes. If the City of Heppner does not pass
the ordinance, flood insurance will not be available in
Heppner and consequently, individuals would not be able to
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borrow money from commercial lending institutions without
meeting rigid construction requirements.
Federal officials have stated that about the only way for
Heppner to eliminate the flood plain would be with the
construction of the Willow Creek Dam, a controversial and
emotional issue that is once again before the residents of
Heppner.
Senator Mark Hatfield's office has said funding of the
Willow Creek Dam project could be included in this year's
Public Works Appropriation Bill and indications are that
funds would probably be made available for construction.
In order for funds to be appropriated, city and county
officials would have to indicate their support to the Senator
by mid-March, about 30 days from now.
A public meeting, sponsored by the Heppner-Morrow
County Chamber of Commerce, is tentatively planned for the
last week in February from which city and couty officials will
make their decision.
At a meeting last week there was talk of putting the issue
before voters on an "advisory ballot" but legal requirements
in publicizing the "advisory ballot" do not allow enough
time.
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