Irrigators to get more lake water permanently
Wednesday, November 7, 2007 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
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County and cities to meet Friday over ‘tippage’ fees
By David Sykes
The Morrow Coun
ty Court will meet Friday
morning with the mayors of
the five communities in the
county to discuss the usage
o f "tippage” fees generated
at the Finley Buttes landfill
near Boardman.
Heppner, lone, Lex
ington, Irrigon and Board-
man joined together in Janu
ary to demand that the coun
ty turn over the majority of
the tippage rponey generated
by the landfill. The funds,
which come from fees lev
ied on each ton of garbage
dum ped, average around
$80,000 per month, or just
under $1 million per year,
and currently go directly
into the county general fund.
The cities say this is not
what was originally prom
ised when the landfill was
constructed back in the 1992
and that they should get the
Trick or Treat!
_» .üS_I
Makavla Shiley, 5. waits patiently for her candy on Hallow
een.
majority of the money.
In February the Mor
row County Court said no to
a demand by the cities that
the m oney allocation be
changed. “This money goes
to the county fund and the
county is going to keep con
trol o f those funds,” Com
m issioner John Wenholtz
said at the time.
The cities had threat
ened to take the issue to the
voters if the county declined
their demands, and August
9 they followed through on
the threat and filed a mea
sured titled “An ordinance
requiring distribution o f
landfill feestocities/towns”
with the county court.
Under the proposed
o rd in a n c e b e g in n in g in
Fiscal year 2008-2009 the
county would give up 25
percent o f the tippage fees
to cities. In 2009-2010 that
would jump to 50 percent
and 2010-2011 it would top
out at 75 percent.
The ordinance stipu
lates that the cities portion
will be divided in half, with
one half the funds divided
equally among the cities,
and the other half divided
according to population.
The measure is ex
pected to be voted on in the
May election.
The meeting Friday
w ill be an attempt to iron out
differences and avoid a vote
on the issue. The meeting
will be held at 9 a.m. at the
-Continued on page seven
Month
April 15-30
May 1-31
June 1 -30
July 1-31
August 1-31
September 1-30
Totals
Percent to be
Released
4
15
18
25
*n
16
100
Acre-feet Released
(2.500 total)
100
375
450
625
550
400
2.500
E stim ated visitation at W C Lake, 2 0 0 2 -2 0 0 7
Period
Oct - Dec 2002
Jan - Mai 2003
Apr - Jun 2003
Julv Sep 2003
Oct - Dec 2003
Jan - Mar 2004
Apr Jim 2004
July Sep 2004
Oct - Dec 2004
Jan - Mar 2005
Api Tun 2005
July Sep 2005
Oct - Dec 2005
Jan - Mar 2006
Api - Jun 2006
Julv Sep 2006
Oct - Dec 2006
Jan - Mar 2007
J
10 Pages
Proposed monthly release of irrigation water from lake
^
NO. 45
Corps of Engineers plans to give long-term irrigation contracts
for Willow Creek Lake w ater.
c
VOL. 126
-• ---i
1
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Library
University o f Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
but was authorized to do
so only under emergency
drought conditions. The cur
rent action would make the
additional water available
permanently.
In a draft environ
mental assessment posted
on the internet, the Corps
describes how much and
when the water would be
released, and the economic
impact o f the release.
When the dam was
b u ilt in 1983 the C orps
described the main purpose
o f the dam as flood control.
“ Flood control is the pri
mary use o f storage space
in Willow Creek Lake. Rec
reation, fish and w ildlife,
sedim entation, and future
irrigation are secondary uses
o f storage space (water),"
it says in the operational
manual for the dam. The
Corps manual also stated
that 1,787 acre-feet would
be reserved for “future ir
rigation.” There is slightly
over a total o f 14,000 acre-
feet of water storage avail
able in the lake.
Under the proposed
increase in irrigation us
age the lake will be drawn
dow n earlier and farther that
under typical operations.
The Corps says Irrigation
w ithdrawals would start af
ter April 15 (see table), and
continue through September
30. The change will not alter
the winter flood control op
erations but w ill make more
flood control space available
the rest o f the year.
The irrigators who
purchase the water will di
vert water at two locations
that have been used the last
few years to divert water
under emergency water con
tracts. The first diversion
is three miles downstream
from the dam and the second
four miles. Irrigation pumps
have been screened to pro
tect fish and the irrigators are
in the process o f forming an
irrigation district. Accord
ing to the Corps the district
w ill sign a contract w ith the
US government for use of
the water and “repayment
o f certain costs.” What that
cost will be was not spelled
out in the environm ental
impact statement.
The im pact sta te
ment also addressed the
economic impact o f selling
more irrigation water on a
long-term basis. “ Water-
based recreation uses o f
Willow Creek Lake would
be affected by the proposed
action. The lake would be
draw n down earlier and
farther than under typical
operations. The early, lower
draw dow n would reduce
the lake area available for
recreational boating use.
However, the usability o f
the boat launching facility
at the project should not be
affected," the Corps wrote.
“ In addition to the decreased
surface area, the drawdown
for irrigation would expose
muddy slopes and banks
that are aesthetically unap
pealing and restrict access
to the shoreline o f the lake.
Also, some economic losses
in the local area would occur
because o f the reduction in
water-based recreation use.
Sport fishing opportunities
may be decreased as the
population o f largemouth
bass and fingerling rainbow
trout could be reduced or
1
lliliiliiililiillliiiiillilin ll
By David Sykes
T h e U .S . A rm y
Corps o f Engineers is plan
ning on making long term
agreem ents to release an
additional 2,500 acre-feet
o f water from Willow Creek
Lake each year for use in ir
rigation o f farm land down
stream from the dam.
The C orps, which
operates the lake, is cur
rently taking public com
ment on the proposal. In the
past the Corps has released
extra water for irrigation,
eliminated by the proposed
irrigation drawdown. How
ever,” the Corps concluded.
“ODFW (Oregon Dept. Fish
& Wildlife) restocks catch-
able tout in the lake on an
annual basis, which will
help alleviate some o f the
effects to the recreational
fishery.”
The Corps did not
attach a dollar amount to the
potential loss o f recreation
usage at the lake; it did cite
the following statistics from
1999.
"There was a total of
39,972 recreation visits to
Willow Creek Lake. O f this
amount, recreation use was
estimated to include 7,195
picnickers, 2,798 swimmers,
799 water skiers, 9593 boat
ers. 8794 sightseers, 7,994
anglers, and 8,794 others.
This amount o f visitation
was estimated to result in
$600,00() in \ isitor spending
w ithin 30 miles o f the lake.
Visitor trip spending w as es
timated to result in $650,000
in total sales, $340,000 in to
tal income, and supported 17
jobs in the local community
surrounding the lake.”
The Corps did not
estim ate losses to recre
ational income as a result o f
less water in the lake.
While the Corps did
say it is difficult to estimate
the economic impact of not
providing the extra irrigation
water, it did siteUSDA Farm
Services offices in Heppner
which said “The average
normal yield for alfalfa is
four to five tons per acre,
and current value is $90 to
Estim ated N um ber
of V isitors
13.165
12.129
36.814
45.277
13.717
6.649
38.633
55,631
22.058
7.280
39.362
41.535
15.792
32.355
47.657
30.944
8.459
10.818
42.686
$100 per ton. The USDA
estimated a 50 percent loss
in yield if this crop is not
adequately irrigated. Based
on providing supplemental
irrigation for 1.725 acres o f
alfalfa, the estimated maxi
mum total yield is 8,625 ton
w ith an estimated maximum
total value o f $862,500;
50 percent of that value is
$431,250. Also, there would
be an unquantified monetary
loss for small grains and
the potential for additional
impacts if the alfalfa plants
them selves are dam aged
because it is a perennial crop
with the potential for losses
in future years, as well as
likely increased costs for
more frequent tillage and
reseeding,” the Corps con
cluded.
According to a Corps
spokesman the exact amount
irrigators will pay for the
lake water has not been de
termined. but the Bureau of
Reclamation will handle the
actual sale.
The Corps will be
accepting public comment
on the irrigation release
p ro p o sa l u n til N o v e m
ber 30. A nyone w ishing
to com m ent should con
tact Carolyn Schneider at:
C a ro ly n . B .S c h n e id e r(2
usace.army.mil email. 503-
808-4770, or regular mail
at District Engineer. U.S.
Army Corps o f Engineer
D istrict, Portland. A ttn:
CCENWP-E Carolyn Sch
neider. PO Box 2946, Port
land. OR 97208-2946.
At the MCGG GREEN FEED STORE in H eppner:
WGRNGR FIBGRGLASS STGPIADDGR
6 foot
• 2 5 0 lb. capacity
Reg. $107.99 ON SALE $ 7 5 .0 0
ALL NEWS AND ADVERTISEMENT DEADLINE:
MONDAYS AT 5:00 P.M.
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242 W. Linden Way, Heppner • 676-9422 • 989-8221 (MCGG main office)
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