FOUR-The GaieUe-Ttmes. Heppner. Oregon, Thursday, February 25. 1982
Smith Ditch work was group effort
Smith Ditch is a water
transmission facility con
structed in the 19.10's to divert .
and transport water from the
Ditch Creek Watershed into
the Willow Creek Watershed.
The diversion originates on
national forest land, passes
through private land in the
Herren Meadow area and then
terminates on national forest
land where the water enters
Willow Creek at the base of
Coalmine Hill.
Considerable erosion and
channel cutting has occurred
over the years. The absence of
any control structure and a
lack of maintenance over the
years has contributed to the
problem and bank cutting and
instability are continuing.
The water users engaged
the S.C.S. to develop plans to
stabilize the situation. The
water users preferred to
concentrate their efforts on
channel cleaning and riprap to
stabilize the channel and
prevent further erosion. The
planS developed by the S.C.S.
were presented to the Forest
Service in July 1981. At that
time the water users request
ed two years to accomplish the
work as outlined. After re-
Five county Cropland
Erosion project
During 1978. natural re
source problems were inven
toried by each of Oregon's 47
soil and water conservation
districts to fulfill require
ments of the federal Resource
Conservation Act (RCA) of
1977.
Public meetings were held
throughout the state in order
to accurately appraise the
real problems and concerns of
Oregonians as well as gather
ideas and projected solutions
to those problems.
These district inventories
were used by the Oregon
Department of Agriculture,
division of Soil and Water
Conservation. Oregon Associ
ation of Conservation Districts
and the Soil Conservation
Service as a basis for develop
ing a statewide natural Re
source Conservation Pro
gram. Priorities were established
according to the seriousness
and extent of the problems
identified As a result of this
process the five county area,
consisting of Wasco. Sherman.
Gilliam. Morrow and Umatilla
counties was designated a
high priority area due to
excessive soil erosion on
cropland.
The United States Depart
ment of Agriculture has also
identified the five counties as
a high priority area and has
targeted the area for a special
emphasis project. The objec
tive of this Cropland Erosion
Project for the five county
area is to reduce the rate of
erosion to acceptable rates
and maintain the resource
base (soil) in a productive
capacity.
The five county area con
tains 10 percent of Oregon's
land area, three percent of the
stiiles population, but accord
ing to data developed by
Oregon State University, the
area accounted for 21 percent
of Oregon's gross farm sales
in 1976.
A work plan for the five
county cropland erosion pro
ject has been developed by the
Soil Conservation Service and
reviewed with the five soil and
water conservation districts.
The plan lists the problems
and what the current situation
is in the five counties. It also
states objectives and the
planned action. Specific tasks
have been assigned to indivi
duals as well as target dates
for starting and completing
planned accomplishments.
The plan has been implemented
gfjfeiLES SCHWABl
Heppner 676-9481
On the road! Off the road!
If We Can't GUARANTEE It
We Won't Sell It
Two Service Trucks
Available 24 Hours A Day
After hours call:
Kevin Rountree 676-9944 or
John Smith 676-5106
viewing the plans and meeting
with the water users. It was
agreed that the work would be
completed by the end of 1981.
In October the water users
organized a work crew of 15 to
20 peopliKliloiig with equip
ment to accomplish the work
as designed. With chain saws,
a few tractors and lots of hand
work, the project was comple
ted. The Forest Service issued
a one-year Special Use Permit
and will evaluate the effects of
the stabilization efforts this
spring.
High interest
in cost-share
program
The Morrow County ASCS
office paid out $147,546 in
cast -shares to Morrow County
farmers through ACP in 19H1.
As in the past, the most used
practice was terraces, but
many other practices rach as
permanent cover, sod water
ways, reduced tillage, spring
development, forest tree stand
improvement, and irrigation
water conservation were used.
The cost -share on these prac
tices runs from 50 to 75
percent, with the producer
paying the difference.
Included in the $147,546 is
cost -shares paid in the contin
uing special project in Jordan
Canyon. This project began
in !9H() and work is beng done
with special funds received
each year. So far 181.665 feet
of terraces have been installed
in the treatment of approxi
mately l.R(K) acres in the
project area. A total of $.r9.4W
in cost -shares have been paid
to the participants since the
Continued, page 5
'J j VrJU
Mr,. i-'
'-iVii
fe; 'Jt&fc. im
A cleaned up Smith Ditch
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