December 8, 2023: Urgent Concerns Regarding Dam Drawdowns in Willamette Basin
We are writing to express the growing concerns within our communities regarding the management of our darns, especially after witnessing the negative impacts of the deep drawdowns at Green Peter Dam and Lookout Point Dam. While we know the full impacts of these drawdowns are still unfolding and may well reveal additional concerns as sediment continues to be carried downstream, what we’ve witnessed is enough to urge your reconsideration of your management order and to implore you to allow local communities to have a voice in the management decisions of our natural resources.
Over the past few years, the dams in the Willamette Valley have experienced various drawdowns to study the impacts of eliminating hydropower and promoting fish passage, which has raised troubling questions of the long-term goals of these management strategies while causing disruptions that have far-reaching consequences for our communities in the way of water quality, recreation, and economic stability for our region.
Our state prides itself on our concern and regard for the environment, and we are no different. We also understand that your decision was made based on the available knowledge you had at the time. However, it has become increasingly apparent that the eventual outcomes of the drawdowns were more severe than what advocates had led you to believe. The deep drawdowns in particular have left a path of destruction that has outweighed any benefits that they sought to bring.
Though all drawdowns have raised valid concerns, the recent deep drawdowns at Green Peter Darn and Lookout Point Darn have had profound effects on localities such as Lowell, Lebanon, and Sweet Home—impacts so drastic they have garnered wide-spread news coverage as community members share experiences of rivers choked with dead fish, muddy waterways, dried-up wells, tainted water, and loss of economic opportunities. Even communities further downstream, such as Albany, are experiencing higher turbidity and increased challenges maintaining safe water quality. Citizens are lightly outraged as they navigate losses and detriments to their communities when they had no say in these management decisions.
Sweet Home has seen some of the worst consequences, with local businesses reporting a sharp decline in profit since the deep drawdowns occurred due to a loss of tourism. Additionally, the City’s three water plant employees worked many 24-hour days in November just to keep up with the drastic turbidity levels threatening Sweet Home’s water needs. Even with drastic measures and extra chemicals to treat the water, citizens are still experiencing tannin-tainted water, which many question the safety of drinking—a far cry from their typical, award-winning, community water supply.
Lebanon is also running its water plant as hard as they can to meet demand, and are having to use roughly four times the normal amount of chemicals to treat the water. There has been nearly three feet of silt built up in the membranes’ sediment ponds since October (compared to 4-6 inches average per annum), which speaks volumes to the drastic reduction in longevity the membranes will have before incurring a $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 replacement cost for the City. While Lebanon has still been able to provide water for its inhabitants—albeit barely, it’s worth noting that if this level of treatment was required prior to 2018 when the city’s new treatment plant came online, Lebanon would not have been able to supply clean water to the community.
Lowell similarly is registering unprecedented levels of sediment in their incoming water supply due to the deep drawdown at Lookout Point Dam—tracking 75-90% increases while having to restrict their plant to 50% of it’s standard capacity. The city is looking at needing to impose water conservation measures by spring if turbidity does not abate, and will also be forced to pursue costly retrofits to their treatment plant to mitigate sediment in the future, with costs up to $1 million. Further out of town, numerous residents depend on wells for water—many of which have run dry due to the drastically lower water levels in the reservoir, forcing residents to spend tens of thousands of dollars each to drill deeper wells. Similar to the drawdown at Green Peter Dam, residents in Lowell have observed a significant increase in the number of deceased fish in the nearby Dexter Reservoir.
Another prime example of negative impacts to tourism comes from Detroit, where reservoir management changes and lowered pool levels have added extra strain as the community’s struggles to recover from the devastating destruction of the Labor Day fires of 2020. The need to maintain—if not grow—tourism levels to promote sustained recovery is vital, and shortening the recreation season will only delay meaningful recovery and compromise the effectiveness of the millions of dollars invested for that effort. Marion County is actively pursuing excavation plans to lower marinas as a desperate attempt to mitigate some of the impacts caused by lower pool levels and a shortened recreation season, but even those efforts raise the ire of environmental advocates.
Citizens are being left at the mercy of decisions made by people far removed from our communities; decisions that unilaterally prioritize select needs while ignoring others completely. These decisions are compromising populations of some fish, in the name of trying to save others. To protect some spawning grounds, while disrupting other fish habitat. Reducing a clean and reliable form of energy and water management, while claiming to be for the benefit of the environment. Causing such drastic, and costly impacts for our communities, to perhaps result in a negligible positive impact on a. single species of fish. Approaching management decisions like this effectively leaves communities feeling helpless to manage the future of their own resources, and thus our communities themselves.
Exacerbating this frustration is the historic fact that many of our communities have already endured the economic challenge once before from the decline of the dominant industry we’ve relied on—the loss of timber due to the protection of the spotted owl. Our communities had to reinvent themselves while navigating decimated tax bases, and now face the loss of our new industry of recreational activities that have become vital for our economies. The tourism sector is threatened not only by these drawdowns, but by the uncertainty of what the future holds for these community resources, jeopardizing the economic outlook for our communities while also sustaining the costs associated with these drawdowns.
All things considered, it is understandable for our communities to feel a growing sense of frustration and disenfranchisement as we face a. lack of representation in decisions that directly affect our resources. It is crucial that our voices and the needs of our communities play a role in discussions about the future management of these dams and any associated drawdowns. We believe that community input is essential in crafting effective and sustainable management strategies that balance the needs of both the environment and the people who depend on it.
In light of these concerns, we respectfully request you modify your 2021 order that led to the deep drawdowns of our darns, and prevent these negative effects happening to even more communities around our state. Our communities deserve a seat at the table in the decision-making processes regarding dam management. We believe that collaborative efforts between communities and relevant agencies can lead to more informed and equitable decisions that consider both the wildlife and the people who inhabit the surrounding area.
We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to the opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue to find solutions that benefit our communities and the region as a whole. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Fred Girod State Senator, District 9
Jami Cate State Representative, District 11
Ed Diehl State Representative, District 17
Will Tucker Linn County Commissioner
Danielle Bethell Marion County Commissioner
CoIm Willis Marion County Commissioner
David Loveall Lane County Commissioner
Mayor Susan Coleman City of Sweet Home
Mayor Don Bennett City of Lowell
Mayor Debbie Nuber City of Scio
Cedric Hayden State Senator, District 6
Charlie Conrad State Representative, District 12
Roger Nyquist Linn County Commissioner
Sherrie Sprenger Linn County Commissioner
Kevin Cameron Marion County Commissioner
Ryan Ceniga Lane County Commissioner
Mayor Kenneth Jackola City of Lebanon
Mayor Michael Myers City of Jefferson
Mayor Adam Craven City of Brownsville
Mayor Tim Kirsch Mill City
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