Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - THREE
Heppner Garden Club sponsors
HES students in poetry contests
The Heppner Garden Club recently sponsored
elementary school students for state and national poetry
contests. The theme is nature’s song. A few o f the poems
that were entered will be run each week in the Heppner
Gazette-Times.
Buck
Alligator
Brown, tall,
Lazy, hunter
Some have spots
Hungry, rude, mean
Grazing
ju m p in g , sleep
Biting, slashing, splashing,
ing, laying
smashing,
A hungry grazer
Sleepy hunter
By Leo Waite
Second Grade
By Hayden Qualls
Second Grade
Snake
Big, fast,
Fat, long reptile
Slithering, hunting, molt
ing, basking,
Bull snake
By Hunter Nichols
Second Grade
Panda Bear
Cute, furry
They like bamboo,
Swinging, caring, playing,
climbing,
White and black bear
By Morgan Burch
Second Grade
FFA alumni meeting to be held
A Heppner FFA alumni meeting will be held on
Monday, December 15, at 7 p.m. in the HHS Ag class
room. You do not have to be a current or former member
to attend.
State economy prompts school budget cut
-Continued from Page ONE
dance variance for a MCSD
student to attend Umatilla
High School.
-received the follow
ing enrollment report as of
December 1: A.C. Houghton
Elementary, Irrigon-347 stu
dents; Heppner Elementary
School-187; Heppner High
School-236; Irrigon Ele
mentary School-121; Irrigon
High School-324; R iver
side High School, Board-
man-392; Sam Boardman
E lem entary-3 10; W indy
River Elementary, Board-
man-228; Morrow Educa
tion Center (Morrow County
School District students)-77;
MEC (Umatilla School Dis
trict students)-29.
-received the follow
ing employment report: res-
ignations/retirements-Sam
Thurston, HHS special edu
cation teacher at the end o f
the school year; Jill Wright,
Irrigon High School head
volleyball coach; Heather
Miller, Irrigon Junior/Senior
High School; employment/
p rom otions-Jessica Leh
man, HES educational assis
tant, replacing Tammy Lien;
extra duty co n tracts-Jo y
Hearn, IJH assistant girls’
basketball coach; Sheila
Corpus, RHS drama advi
sor; Mindy Wilson, Heppner
Junior High head girls’ bas
ketball coach; Keith Price,
HHS assistant girls’ basket
ball coach; Melissa Coiner,
HHS head track coach.
-heard the following
announcem ents: D ecem
ber 18-last school day be
fore Christmas; December
22-January 2-winter break;
January 5-school resumes;
Jan u a ry 12-next school
board m eeting, H eppner
Elementary School, 7 p.m.
Port of Morrow announces
commission meeting date
The Port of Morrow will hold their next commis
sion meting on Wednesday, January 14, at 1:30 p.m.
IRZ Consulting Study discovers method to
conserve Oregon’s dwindling water resources
In an effort to maxi
mize the state’s water re
sources, IRZ C onsulting,
an irrigation resource man
agement engineering firm
known for its creative solu
tions, has developed a pro
cess to store thousands o f
acre-feet o f Columbia River
water in groundwater aqui
fers during winter months
in Oregon’s Umatilla Basin
and recover the water for
farmers when agricultural
needs are high. IRZ’s design
is the first ever large-acreage
Aquifer Storage and Recov
ery (ASR) system developed
specifically for agriculture,
and if implemented by the
state and landowners, has
the potential to significantly
boost Oregon’s agricultural
revenue.
T he O reg o n W a
ter Resource D epartm ent
(OWRD) selected IRZ in the
spring o f 2008 to conduct a
study to determine how to
replenish Um atilla Basin
aquifers in U m atilla and
M orrow C ounty through
ASR. IRZ perform ed the
study, formally known as the
Umatilla Recharge Project,
over the summer and pre
sented the initial results that
demonstrated the feasibility
of the project to OWRD and
other regional stakeholders
this November.
Municipalities have
successfully implemented
ASR for some time, but to
date no one has attempted an
agricultural ASR system o f
the Umatilla Recharge Proj
ect’s scope. “Although some
said an ASR project o f this
size - across two counties -
was impossible, our study
is indicating o th erw ise,”
said Fred Ziari, president of
IRZ Consulting. “Our hope
is that this system, beyond
helping us here in Oregon,
will serve as an example of
how the new water resource
management technologies
o f 21 st-century agriculture
can solve food and water
shortage issues on a global
basis.”
Due to co ntinued
decline o f groundwater, last
year OWRD allowed farm-
HHS Students of the Month
For the month of November the Heppner High School staff selected
students who were “Trustworthy” as Students of the Month. From
left to right are Emily Thompson, Blake Greenup, Seth Palmer,
Quinn Chick, and Eric Chick. Not pictured is Bryce Fowler.
-Contributed Photo
Greenhand Initiation ceremony to be held
The Heppner High School Chapter o f the FFA
will be holding a celebration at the HHS cafeteria for the
Greenhand Initiation ceremony on Thursday, December
11, at 7 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend.
ers to use only 33 percent
o f the potential amount of
groundwater available. This
came at a high cost to Uma
tilla and Morrow County,
which combined generate an
estimated $1.65 billion from
crops and food processing
activities each year. Beyond
Oregon, farmers around the
nation and globe are facing
the same groundwater short
ages as the scarcity o f water
from aquifer depletion and
irrigation from wells threat
ens the future o f their food
production.
“Innovation and sus
tainability are at the heart
o f the Umatilla Recharge
Project,” said Barry Nor
ris, technical services ad
ministrator o f OWRD and
p roject m anager for the
Umatilla Recharge Project.
“This represents a huge op
portunity to solve the water
needs o f our farmers while
positively im pacting our
economy in the long term.”
The proposed ASR system
would transport m assive
amounts o f water each w in
ter from the Columbia River,
estimated at betw een 50,000
to 100,000 acre-feet, making
it the largest agricultural
ASR system in the nation.
The water w ould be injected
and stored in designated
underground aq u ifer re
charge areas across Umatilla
and Morrow County. Water
would then be released in
the summer for agricultural
use, resulting in a process
that minimizes the impact
on the environment.
OW RD contracted
with IRZ following the pas
sage of the Agriculture and
Community Water Act o f
2008 (SB 1069) and IRZ
will complete the study by
June 30, 2009. If approved
by the state, the Umatilla
Recharge Project will un
dergo an initial pilot study
followed by a full-scale im
plementation. Teaming with
IRZ, GSI Water Solutions
and HDR Engineering also
contributed their expertise
to the project.
Chamber Lunch Meeting speakers
announced
This week’s speakers for the Chamber Lunch Meet
ing on December 11 will be Craig Miles, Beth Dickenson
and some o f Heppner High School's FFA students to give
an update on FFA, and talk about the value o f being an
FFA alumni. The meeting will be held at noon at John’s
Place.
Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP by end
o f business day on Wednesday, December 10, so meals and
seating can be planned.
There will not be a Chamber Lunch meeting next
week so preparations can be made for the Celebrate Hep
pner Christmas event on Thursday, December 18.
Also, don’t forget about other events happening
this week on December 11: ICABO M eeting at 7:30
a.m. at Colliers in lone. ODOT will be present to discuss
Horseshoe Bend.; Welcome Home Open House for City
Manager Dave DeMayo will be held on from 3-5 p.m. at
City Hall.
.............. ..
Public comment requested on West-End
OHV Draft Environmental Assessment
District to Host Public Meetings in Heppner, Fossil and Monument
A fter nearly 30
years in the insur
ance INDUSTRY IN lONE, JlM SWANSON
HAS DECIDED TO RETIRE FROM WHEATLAND
insurance C enter , I nc . on D ecember
31 st , 2008.
P l e a s e j o in u s in c o n g r a t u l a t in g J im
FOR ALL HIS HARD WORK AND DEDICATION
t o W h e a t l a n d . A n o p e n h o u s e w il l
BE HOLDING J IM ’S HONOR ON THURSDAY
D ecember 18 th from 10 am to 3 pm a t
WHEATLAND INSURANCE IN lONE.
E v e r y o n e is w e l c o m e !
The Heppner Ranger
District will host three pub
lic meetings over the next
two weeks to discuss the five
alternatives developed for
the West End OHV Project
Draft Environm ental A s
sessment (EA,) announced
Tom Mafera, Heppner Dis
trict Ranger. The scheduled
December 15th release o f
the Draft EA will begin the
official 30-day public com
ment period, intended to
provide those interested in
Daily lunch sp ecials &
H o m e m a d e soups
fr o m S a n d i's c a te rin g
Christm as boxed
cards ZS% off
Yankee Candles
Christmas scents
25% off
Open Sundays for
Christmas
i Z - S p.m.
% M
umuj ' j
D/UUJ
I.IN C .
217 North Main • Heppner • Phon* 676-9158 • Floral 676-9426
Serving Heppner, Lexington A Ione
or affected by this proposal
an opportunity to make their
concerns known prior to a
decision being made.
The m eetings will
be held at the follow ing
locations: Heppner Ranger
District Office in Heppner
on Wednesday, December
17, from 6-8 p.m.; Wheeler
County Family Service Cen
ter in Fossil on Thursday,
D ecem ber 18, from 5-7
p.m.; and the Senior Center
in Monument on Monday,
D ecem ber 22, from 5-7
p.m.
The Heppner D is
trict initiated the West End
OHV project in response
to the 2005 Travel M an
agement Rule; Designated
Routes and Areas for Mo
tor Vehicle Use. The rule
calls for the designation
o f roads, trails and areas
open to motorized travel to
provide better opportunities
for sustainable motorized
recreation and high-quality
access for all users while
protecting natural and cul
tural resources, increasing
public safety and reduc
ing effects on big game.
Designated routes for mo
torized travel are already
in place on m ost o f the
Umatilla National Forest.
The Forest’s one exception
is the 91,000-acre West-End
OHV Project Area which is
generally open to Class 1 and
Class III OHVs for off-road
travel. The West-End OHV
Project Area is located on
the west side of the Heppner
Ranger District and includes
all Forest Service lands west
o f Forest Road 22 (Morrow
C ounty Road 670/G rant
County Road 3). No deci
sions will be made concern
ing private or county lands.
A copy o f the West End
OHV Project Area Draft
Environmental Assessment
will be available at the Hep
pner District Office or can
be viewed on-line at: http://
www. fs. fed. us/r6/uma/proj -
ects/readroom/.
For more informa
tion please contact Janet
Plocharsky, Heppner District
Planner at 541-676-9187,
117 South Main Street, P.O.
Box 7, H eppner, Oregon
97836.
Senior Center Menu
Heppner Christian Church members will be serving
lunch on Wednesday, December 17. The menu will include
baked chicken with orange sauce, new potatoes and peas,
fruit cocktail, hot rolls, and apple crunch.
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^ Mtu/uuj'i D aiuj
217 North Main • H«ppn#r • Phon* 67ft-« 1M • Floral 676 *42«
Serving Heppner, Lexington A lone