Experts answer Willow Creek
Lake Dam questions
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 138
NO. 28 8 Pages
Wednesday, July 10 2019
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Heppner’s First Friday
deemed a success
The Heppner Outreach Council members (L-R): Jackie Alleman, Darcie Chick, Sheryll Bates,
Tayllor Brannon, Kathy Cutsforth, Sharon Miller and John Bowles.
The first occurrence of
the scheduled Heppner’s
First Friday celebrations
that was held on July 5
was considered a success
by the organizers, the Hep-
pner Outreach Council. A
spokesperson for the group
told the Gazette, “We are
speechless with the success
of Heppner’s First Friday
Celebration!”
The celebration con-
sisted of events for peo-
ple of all ages along with
music and vendors lining
the streets. Dallin Puzey,
Hermiston, had an incred-
ible sound and kept the
community wanting more.
When he finished his set,
people were asking him to
play longer. By collecting
donations from the audi-
ence, he was able to play
for one more hour.
Kids were entertained
by area first responders
who brought a fire truck,
a police car and an am-
bulance. Bucknum’s and
Murray’s provided beer
and wine tasting for the
adults. Vendors of all types
were set up displaying and
selling their wares and local
businesses stayed open late
offering special discounts
for the event. St. Patrick’s
Senior Center provided
extra seating in the shade
where everyone could sit
and enjoy the festivities.
The Heppner Outreach
Council members are look-
ing forward to the August
2 First Friday celebration,
saying they could not have
managed such a successful
event without the help of
area businesses and orga-
nizations, including Wheat-
land Insurance, the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints, Morrow Coun-
ty Fairgrounds, Heppner
City Hall, Columbia River
Heat Softball team and all
of the vendors who traveled
near and far.
Safety, water quality and stream erosion discussed
Workers drill into the Willow Creek Dam taking core samples for study. The drilling is part of
the periodic inspection of the dam and was done in February and March of this year.
By David Sykes
A large contingent of
experts attended a recent
public meeting in Heppner
to talk and answer questions
about dam safety and water
quality at the Corps of En-
gineers operated Willow
Creek Dam.
Quite a bit of time was
spent on water quality at
the lake and the occurrenc-
es of algae blooms during
the summer months. The
corps has been continuous-
ly motoring the reservoir
water since 1984 to identify
changes of water quality.
The corps has tried several
methods to alleviate the al-
gae which can be dangerous
to humans and animals if
consumed.
Testing of the water
is done by the Universi-
ty of Idaho with results
turned over to the Oregon
Health Authority, which in
conjunction with the local
Morrow County Health De-
partment issues the health
alerts.
Lake is high on list
with algae
Willow Creek Lake
has one of the most days of
harmful algae bloom ad-
visories in the state. Since
2005 only Lost Creek Lake
a reservoir located on the
Rogue River in Jackson
County, has come close to
the number of days. In 2018
Willow Creek Lake had 54
total days of harmful algae
bloom advisories during the
year. The highest year was
2008 when there were 153.
Local health department
nurse Shelley Wight said
her department assists in
informing the public locally
once the alerts are issued.
Officials say there are
many reasons for the algae
including phosphorus from
upstream animal waste and
fertilizers. Actually what
everyone calls blue-green
algae is really bacteria that
lives in the water, said Re-
becca Hillwig, Natural Re-
source Specialist with the
Oregon Health Authority.
She said when the bacteria
loses its food source lower
in the water it raises to the
surface in search of food.
That is when everyone sees
the blooms. She said it is
a “tough” bacterium and
difficult to get rid of.
The corps has tried sev-
eral things to try and get rid
of it including an aeration
system from 2004 to 2007,
long distance circulators
in 2008-09, and alum and
nitrate additions in 2009-
10. Nothing has worked
and the problem still per-
sists. Asked if the algae is
a problem downstream it
was reported that the stream
water in the creek below
the dam is not tested by the
Corps of Engineers. Ques-
tions were raised on the
quality of water people are
putting on plants with irri-
gation water from the creek
downstream. Kevin Payne
of the local Soil and Water
District says they have done
some creek sampling but
have not found any toxins
in the water.
There is a measuring
device attached to the dam
that moves up and down in
the lake water to take water
temperatures at different
depths. The cables on the
device have malfunctioned
so the device is stuck at its
lowest level in the lake.
Corps officials say they are
still getting temperature
readings, just not at all
levels of the lake. They are
not sure when a dive team
will be able to come in and
fix the device.
One Heppner resident
asked why the state can’t
enforce water quality stan-
dards to improve conditions
at the lake, including keep-
ing out animal waste. She
wanted to know why there
isn’t any money for farmers
to address these issues. “We
have to have our farmers,
but there should be money
for this,” she said. A repre-
sentative of the Department
of Environmental Quality
said the state can enforce
water quality and that farm-
ers can apply for grants for
water quality projects. He
also said toxin from the al-
gae is not absorbed through
the skin and needs to be
ingested to cause harm to
humans. He added that dogs
can lick the algae off their
skin even when dry, which
is not good for the animals.
Dam has lots of stor-
age capacity
Corps officials also ad-
dressed concerns about
the capacity of the lake for
holding water, especially
with the large amount of
rain and snow this year.
Both 2011 and 2019 had
“high water events” and
the dam still had “plenty
of room” to accommodate
all the water coming down,
Corps officials said. They
said this spring was a “long
event” with multiple peaks
that kept sending water in.
The dam did its job and kept
flooding from happening
downstream. The dam reg-
ulates three streams that
come into the lake, Willow,
Skinner and Balm Fork.
The other streams down
non bought the business in
1995. He took over from
Frank Skaggs who also
operated a repair business
at the location. Prior to
that for many years it was
Farley Motors, an auto
dealership that also did auto
and truck repairs including
body work. Brannon asked
-See WILLOW CREEK
DAM/PAGE FOUR
City considers changes to water billing
Due date would be 15 th of month
By David Sykes
The city of Heppner is
considering changing its
due date for payment of
water bills without a late fee
from the 10 th of the month
to the 15 th .
Under the same change
the city would mail a de-
linquent notice to accounts
that are 30 days past due,
and then if not paid five
days later post a notice of
disconnect on the property.
If the bill is still not paid,
then the water will be cut
off 10 days after mailing
the delinquent notice, or
five days after posting the
disconnect notice. A dis-
connect charge will also be
added to the account at that
time. These billing changes
were presented to the coun-
cil at Monday’s meeting
and a final decision is to be
made at the August council
meeting.
City says auto repair
business illegally zoned
In other business at
Monday’s meeting the
council heard from local
auto repair businessman
Marty Brannon who said
he received a notice from
City Administrator Kraig
Cutsforth that Brannon’s
business was in violation of
the city’s zoning ordinance
and could be subject to a
$435 per day fine. The letter
also instructed Brannon to
clean up his property at 126
E. May Ave within 15 days
or face a separate penalty.
Brannon said he was
not aware of the ordinance
making his business ille-
gally zoned. “I have no
problem cleaning up,” he
said, pointing out that he
already had a crew work-
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ing on it. But added that
he thought the property
was used for repairs prior
to enactment of the zoning
ordinance, and should be
grandfathered in. Bran-
-See WATER BILLING/PAGE
FOUR