The Heppner
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GAZETTE-TIMES
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SKCT1UN TWO -PAGE NINE
Thursday January 25, 1979
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Construction of the Willow
Creek' Dam would remove
mo than jp city blocks
incltSdkj inost of the central
business district from Hep
pner's flood plain area, ac
cording to updated flood plain
surveys for the city outlined
last week by representatives
of the Army Corps of
Engineers.
Ron. Barrett, head of the
Corps' flood plain section, and
Jerry Eyestone, the Corps of
Engineers' project Tepresent-
- ative for the dam met last
Wednesday with the Morrow
County Court, Heppner City
-Council, and other interested
citizens to outline what effects
the dam would have on
Heppner's flood plain situa
tion. Maps were displayed show-
ing just hOw'much area would
be reduced from Heppner's
flood plain with the advent of
the Willow Creek Dam (see
photos). With the dam, Hep
pner's 100-year flood depth
" would be reduced from as
much as six feet to no more
than four feet, with most of the
city's remaining flood plain
area lying under one or two
feet of water. J ! .
New home construction in
flood, plain areas is hot1
restricted, so long as the main
floor level, including -base-'
"ment, is elevated above the
100-year flood level. Extra fill
would likely be all that is
necessary to build new homes
,, in the .flood plain- areas with
one and two foot depths.
Although, $500,000 has been
allocated for the first phase of
constructing the $25 million
" dam, Barrett indicated that
. there may still be problems in
... " funding the project.
A cost-to-benefit ratio study
on the dam shows that benefits
accrued from construction of
the dam do not justify its cost.
The value of human life that
could be saved in the event of
a catastrophic flood is not
considered in the cost-to-benefit
ratio, Barrett noted.
Since "very few projects go
with a cost-to-benefit of less
than one," Barrett stated that
the Corps plans to explore
ways of reducing the pricetag
".. of the project. "If costs cannot
be reduced," Barrett said,
"the economic analysis report
Will be submitted with project
justification-, .based on pro
viding structural protection,
plus protection against the
potential loss of life."
Barrett also noted that if
''local support for the dam is
. relatively weak," support
from Oregon's representa
tives in Congress could be
expected to be equally weak in
seeing that continuing funding
is. allocated. .
Due to the relatively austere
mood of. the Carter adminis
tration, seeing the dam
through to completion "will
still bean uphill battle.. .it's no
sure thing," stated Sen. Mark
Hatfield's aide, Lon Fendal.
Although the dam would
Story By Rick
Central business district, some residential areas
substantially lower Heppner's
flood plain, Barrett stated that
"we need to keep in perspec
tive that the primary function
of the Heppner Dam project is
to eliminate or strongly re
duce flood flows coming out of
Willow Creek above Heppner.
The project will soften the
regulatory aspects of the
National Flood Insurance pro
gram, but this fact should be
recognized as an added bene
fit or bonus. It is not a project
function."
Barrett added that the
Corps is also considering
alternative plans to the large,
earth-fill Willow Creek Dam,
including a proposal to con
struct three smaller dams
along Willow, Shobe and
Hinton creeks. That alterna
tive, along with a proposal for
constructing a concrete chan
nelway through Heppner, are
being studied by a Corps of
Engineers Value Engineering
study team. It is not yet known
whether the alternatives
would be as cost effective as
the dam. The study is expect
ed to be completed at the end
of January.
All preliminary paperwork
for the proposed dam is
scheduled to be completed by
July, with right-of-way neg
otiations to follow. City water
tanks would then be relocated,
and the Willow Creek highway
would be relocated around
Cemetery Hill "to balm fork
past the dam's backwater
area. Barrett said that under
the current timetable, water
intake towers for the spillway
would be constructed starting
in March of 1980, with the
main contract for clearing the
reservoir lake site to be let in
March of 1981. Construction on
the dam itself is expected to be
complete in March of 1982.
The 1.7 mile long, 242-acre
lake could handle resident
trout and warm water species,
such as bass, Barrett said.
Glen Ward of the state Fish
and Wildlife Commission
argued that trout would not be
likely to thrive in the lake, due
to a raised water tempera
ture. Plans also call for building a
picnic area on a bluff over
looking the Balm Fork arm of
the lake, and a boat launch
site along the opposite shore.
The dam would be ungated,
discharging water on a "fill
and spill" basis.
The dam was designed to
handle the most severe flood
ing situation likely to occur
along Willow Creek within a
700 year period. However, the
dam does not control the flow
of Shobe or Hinton Creeks,
which is why a significant
portion of the city remains in
flood plain zones.
A Corps of Engineers
request for public comment on
the dam prior to a Jan. 29
deadline dealt only with com
ments on how water quality
would be affected during the
construction process. Public
hearings on the dam itself
have yet to be scheduled.
Steelhammer
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' -f " ' - MVi' n 'iV'., ; ' v , ' WILLOW CREEK d
'Jf CREEK f vr , -V - 7jrfyW!r3
PAf a DEPTHyy.JiiiJ linH hSc- r' -1 - ' - - cVAr
KS3'iM'Jtv'6 4-foot DEPTHJ;P:!ifyy- ir;;r-7H r-'icrVv i
completely removed from flood plain
lift ' ,
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials outlined the flood phi in for Heppner in a public meeting
last week at the Courthouse, both with and without construction of the proposed Willow Creek
Dam. As shown in the photographs above, the Wilhm- Ci eek Www if tv!true!eU. would lower the
city's flood plain substantially, not only in It-nus. i i.u; . ;i -,n ih u'h throughout the
flood plain area.
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