Sunday. July 23. 1951
HehabilitationOf
Srrigotiosi
Sy
Under Way
stems
$1,712,000 Program to
Continue Five Years
A8PCT WALL Tbp 175-for.t lonZ 3':
foot hizh parappt wall along he rrcsl of
Fourmile lake cam. one of t'.'.o rehabilitation
IlIP-RAF WORK New rip rap
long the face of Fish lake dam
rear to reinforce the face of the
r . - , iii
CONCRETE SIPHON A 60-unh precast con
crete siphon 645 feet long will replace tne
flume pictured above at the junction of North
LAKE CREEK SIPHON A 60
concrete siphon S45 feet long
dhis 4irt.foot metal flume a-
. z C' ocean penmsuia. Th suit char:- BID REJECTED
Property Owner Hies ensmee ,v..n(i.d Fnr,;,ndu-co!. jackson
Suit Against Engineers
the Tillamook bay jetty in 1333. Graham. Portland district en
Portland li.t- The Army ciaPin- the natural course of eineer. said Saturday the S107,
Corps of Engineers is defendant ocean C;irrPnts and causing sand ; 600 bid of F. S. Somers of Med
in a $9000 damage suit filed "i . erosion w hich resulted m the ford for repair of th north
Federal Court here Friday by the j cottages falling into the sea. i iottv ?, the mo o t) c
attornev for a Bayocean property -
Octopi have the abilitv to quille river had been reiected
owner. , , , ,
Mtornev John Reynolds said ! change color through the expan- . because it was more than 25 per
he filed the suit in behalf of Ly- sion and contraction of pigment cent over lb- government esti-
man Latourette of 1'oi'tiann who ,
owned 42 cottages on the Bay,
... . k .-. .
structure. i.
constructed to
from washing
was placed
earlier this
dam. Rock
. iv JT.,' - ? "
was taken from the site of the new spillway,
which will be constructed to the risht of,
construction metal in foreground.
and Souln Porks of Little Butte creek. The
siphon will be in the cleared area just left
of the present structure.
ft
- incti precast
will replace
Lake Cr.eek.
sM.u. - .
skin.
?tiown abo'.e. The wall was
prevent water, in hiah winds,
oer the top of the dam.
:' -. - ...-... - t .
f . -;ir
s
ss5 'mi" a
5 i
Loose rock at right of structure is where the
new siphon will he constructed once water
has s'opped flowing later this ear.
i. mt un,; diq re-
ceived.
Rehabilitation of system :
which first carried irrigation wa
ter into Rogue valley in 1902,
was started last year in a joint
project undertaken by Medford !
and Rogue Valley Irrigation dis-;
tricts.
Tne SI, 712. 000 program, av
proved by voters in both districts j
at a special election July 15 last I
vear. will continue for about .
another five years, but major
portions in the program in the
two districts will be completed as
soon as possible.
Work at Fourmile lake, stor
age reservoir for the districts,
has been completed; work at Fish
lake, from which water is drawn
daily during the irrigation sea
son, will be completed this fall:
and rehabilitation work along
the main and individual district
canals has started.
Replac Flumei
Copenhagen and company,
Portland, will start work on re
placing two metal flumes with
precast concrete siphons when
the irrigation season ends. Bids
are expected to be called soon on
two spihons in the main canal,
which carries water from North
Fork Little Butte creek to Brad
shaw drop, where it is divided
between the districts.
The rehabilitation program
was deemed imperative to insure
a dependable water supply to
district lands for continued high
agricultural production. The pro
gram will put both irrigation
systems in first class operating
condition and will reduce pres
ent leakage and waste.
Among the rehabilitation work
completed or scheduled are the
following:
Spillway Reconstruction
Fourmile lake Work on re
construction of the spillway and
construction of a parapet wall
along the crest of the dam have
been completed. The wall was
constructed to keep waves from
going over the crest of the dam
and deteriorating the outside of
the dam.
Fish lake A concrete-lined
side channel spillway at the left
abutment will be constructed aft
er the irrigation season ends this
year. Design capacity of the spill
way will be 500 cubic feet per
second, and will be 190 feet long.
Seepage from the spillway site
lias been sufficient to meet April ;
and May demands at times. ;
Earlier this year, rip-rap work j
was done on the surface of Fish
lake dam to prevent erosion, i
Rock used came from excavation j
for the new spillway. I
South Fork crossing, main ca-1
nal The existing 625-foot j
metal flume will be replaced j
with a 60-inch precast concrete
siphon 645 feet long. Copenhagen I
and company, Portland, probably
will start construction after the i
irrigation season.
Melal Flume
Culbertson flume ReDlacing
a metal flume about 360 feet
long is the new Culbertson flume.
352 feet long around a rock
curve a short distance dow n the
main canal from the "junction."
The new flume is concrete.
Lake Creek crossing A 460
foot metal flume will be re
placed with a precast concrete
siphon 545 feet long by Copen
hagen and company this fall. The
new structure will parallel the
present flume, which is trestled
some 45 feet above the road and
creek.
Bids will be received until 10
a.m. Aug. 22 on two projects
along the main canal. They are
the Wyant Wash and the Osborne
Wash crossings. The 300-foot
Wyant siphon will be 500 feet
belowt the present structure,
which curves its entire length.
Precast Concrete
The Osborne Wash siphon will
be a combination of 51-inch and
53-inch precast concrete pipe
1.073 feet long. The siphon will
eliminate a flume and about 11,
500 feet of canal, a section wiiich
presently has considerable seep
age. Other work along the main
canal includes replacing three
metal flilmes. Two will be bench
flumes and the third will be re
placed with a concrete wall 40
feet long which will dam the
l draw. The latter is just upstream
from Bradshaw drop.
Financing rehabilitation of the
main canal and Fourmile and
Fish lakes will be shared by both
the Medford and Rogue River
Valley irrigation districts.
Critical Structures
Critical structures along the
Medford canal, which extends
southward along the east side of
the valley to Bear Creek at Phoe
nix, are the Yankee creek siphon,
the Antelope creek flume and the
Bear creek siphon.
The present 43 - inch wood
stave siphon at Yankee creek
will be replaced with a 57-mch
precast concrete siphon 1.970
feet Ion? with a design capacity
of 115 cubic feet per second. The
present siphon has decayed in
several places, and only because
of water pressure inside does it
remain intact, district officials
said.
The Antelope creek crossing
will be a 215-foot concrete siphon
replacing the present 200-foot
metal flams which has insuif l-
cient clearance for passage of
flood water. The flume must be
removed each fall and replaced
in the spring to prevent damage
from anticipated floods.
Bids on both the Yankee creek
siphon and Antelope creek si
phon will be opened by the bu
reau of reclamation in Medford
Aug. 28.
Perhaps the largest project in
the rehabilitation is replacing
the Bear creek siphon just south
of Phoenix. A 1.860-foot concrete
siphon will replace the present
decayed 44-inch wood-stave si
phon. The new structure will
cross under Highway 99 in an
existing box culvert.
Major Projecli
Two major projects were in
cluded in rehabilitation of the
Rogue River Valley Irrigation
district system below Bradshaw
drop the Antelope creek cross
ing, which is completed, and the
Bear Creek siphon.
The new Antelope creek struc
ture is being used for the first
time this season. It is 95 feet long
and replaces a metal flume 100
feet long which had to be re
moved each fall and replaced
in tile spring because of danger
from floods.
The Bear creek crossing will
be 625 feet long, replacing a pre
sent wtood flume 464 feet long at
the north edge of the city of
Medford. The flume is generally
in poor condition with advanced
decay and bad leaks. The pre
sent structure also is in consider
able danger during flood periods.
Small Structures
Several small structures scat
tered throughout the main canal
and distribution systems of both
districts will be rehabilitated.
Structures include concrete pipe
lines, small flumes, farm bridges
and canal w-astcways. and short
sections of canals and laterals
having relatively heavy leakage
will be lined.
The latter work smaller
structures and rehabiliation of
laterals will be done during the
next five years.
The number of acres served by
the two districts totals 13.969.
of which 9.138 are in the Med
ford district, and 4.831 acres are
in the Rogue River Valley dis
trict. Supplemental Supply
A supplemental water supply
for the districts will be avail
able from return flow and stor
age will be provided for the dis
tricts from the Talent project.
which is expected to get under
way in the near future. An an
nual average of 9.000 acre feet
of water will be available in
average years. However, in years
of short supply the pro rata share
basis will be used.
Irrigation of land in the valley
got its start in 1898 when the
Fish Lake Ditch company was
organized to bring water into
the valley from outside sources.
Water rights were obtained on
Little Butte creek and a storage
dam at Fish lake and canals
from the North and South Forks
of Little Butte creek were built.
Deliv ery of water started in 1902.
The public Water company.
which bought the Fish Lake
Ditch company interests in 1908,
operated the system under vari
ous names until 1930. The firm
made enlargements to the system
in 1908. 1915 and in 1916, but
were inadequate to furnish and
deliver the necessary supply of
water.
Develops New Sources
The Medford Irrigation district
was formed in 1917 with the ob
jective of developing new sources
of water to provide a supply to
lands not previously irrigated. It
contracted with Rogue River
Valley Canal company, success
ors to the Public Water com
pany, to build Fourmile lake dam
and Cascade canal, reconstruct
Fish lake dam and completed the
distribution system within the
district.
Since 1920, the Medford dis
trict has operated the entire
canal and storage system above
Bradshaw drop as well as its
own system.
Rogue River Irrigation district
was organized in 1929 to pur
chase the Hopkins canal and all
other rights, properties and equi
ties held by Rogue River Canal
company. The district has oper
ated Hopkins canal anad its dis
tribution system since 1930.
Steel Pipe Arrives
For Natural Gas Line
Ontario U.R) Ernie Jorg
ensen. president of Eastern Ore
gon Natural Gas Distributors,
said Friday his company had re
ceived its first shipment of steel
pipe for installation of natural
gas lines here. Other shipments
are expected to follow.
Friday's shipment consisted of
one mile of two inch pipe and
some 500 feet of four-inch pipe.
The pipe is picked up at Walla
Walla and is being shipped to a
number of distributors through
the area to be served by the na
tural gas line.
Jorgensen said he hoped to get
the job of laying the pipe in On
tario started within the next ten
days.
by A-, IVTV TP J 5 '
!y;.,.Mj&4MM' 1,1 """Si. - "
NEW SPILLWAY The new spillway at Four
mile lake, shown above, is 60 feet wide with
a plank deck across piers to facilitate replace
SPILLWAY SITE A concrete-lined side
channel on the left abutment at Fish lake
will provide an adequate spillway. Construc
tion will start on the 90-foot long spillway as
CULBERTSON FLUME This new concrete
flume 352 feet long replaces a metal flume
in the main canal was completed by Copen-
9 . i
Mr
9 jt ftA42fi,
11 fs
INSPECT NEW SIPHON Officials and users Antelope creek in Rogue Rivrr's system. The
of Medford and Rogue River Valley Irriga- structure i part of the Hopkins canal and
tinn districts inspect new A5-foot siphon at replaces a metal flume.
Commercial Fishing
To Resume on Columbia
Portland (U.R) The Oregon
gon Fish commission said Sat
urday commercial fishing on the
Columbia river below Bonne
ville dam would be resumed at
6 p.m. today after a 14 -day-closure.
The season will remain open
until August 25. Week end clos
1
ures will be in effect between
8 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Sun
day during the season.
I a Dove tsonnevine dam, com
mercial fishing will close at
noon Monday and reopen August
14. The above Bonneville sea
son has been open since July 4.
Tobacco has been grown suc
cessfully as far north as Que
bec province.
I
i
tw-jw. -"--rTr-..-ST -.:55SS2rsMt.j-.. iat-i!-' j-.-.-i i:a.vv . y.
1 $J$ltorr
ment and removal of flashboards. A concrete
lined deck below the spillway prevents
erosion around the structure.
SL 1
' 4
soon as the irrigation season is finished. Head
of the structure wall be at left center in abov
picture.
ha gen and company, Portland, early this year.
Fill work between the flume and the rock
ledge remains to protect the structure.
1
! FIVE MILES OF NYLON
i Shirley, Mass. -U.R' The
I longest anchor cable ever made
has been turned out at a cordage
works here. A five-mile length of
nylon cordage, it will be used by
an oceanographic expedition
sponsored jointly by the National
Geographic Society and the
French National Scientific Re
search Center.
USE TRIBUNE WANT ADS