As the second year of a deep drawdown at Green Peter Reservoir nears, the City of Sweet Home and United States Army Corps of Engineers are scrambling for possible changes to the drawdown injunction.
USACE to Submit Proposal
Jeffrey Henon, public affairs specialist for USACE, said the Corps is currently reviewing proposed modifications to this year’s drawdown plan. Though he didn’t specify what those modifications might be, other media indicated it might include starting the drawdown later and dropping the water level faster.
“Modifications are based on lessons learned from the drawdown last year, which includes additional temperature modeling,” Henon said.
A USACE report in February indicated that water temperatures remained in the mid-60s, temperatures that “are known to cause Chinook egg mortality, which very likely impacted redds in the South Santiam River below Foster Dam in October.”
At the time of the report, recommendations to potentially modify the 2024 drawdown had not yet been determined.
“We’re working through the process and considering the feedback from stakeholders before submitting the plan,” Henon said. “We will be filing our proposed plan revision with the court in this month.”
Regardless, the Corps will still be required to reach the same target elevation as last year by Nov. 15. Henon said last year’s drawdown reached the target elevation a month before the deadline.
City Earns Hearing with Judge
Following what many would easily call a “disastrous” effect of the drawdown – with complaints of tourism loss, highly turbid waters, costly treatments for drinking water and death of river species – the City of Sweet Home entered into two separate lawsuits for damages and an attempt to stop this year’s event.
Former City Manager Kelcey Young informed City Council on July 9 that Sweet Home – in conjunction with the City of Albany – will be granted a hearing with the court pertaining to this year’s drawdown. The date has not yet been set. The hearing gives the city an opportunity to plead its case and urge the judge to stop this year’s drawdown.
Together, the two cities filed a motion to intervene to stop this year’s drawdown, and part of the suit claims that the effects of the drawdown violated the Clean Water Act. If the drawdowns continue, Sweet Home will have to retrofit the water treatment plant at an estimated $10 million.
“That’s a huge deal for Sweet Home because all of a sudden we went from having pristine drinking water to now having to figure out what to do in a high turbidity situation like this,” Young told The New Era in May. “That’s a huge cost for us and it’s not anything that’s budgeted. We are working to try to find funding for that, but it’s obviously very, very impactful for us.”
Mayor Susan Coleman, however, noted that U.S. House Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer was able to secure $2.5 million in funding for the city’s water distribution plant.
To help support their argument with the judge, Sweet Home issued a petition and surveys to demonstrate how the deep drawdown impacted Sweet Home. A petition to stop future drawdowns received 1,335 signatures, and there were 15 survey responses about Kokanee food security and six responses for a business impact survey.
In another lawsuit, Sweet Home – in conjunction with the City of Lebanon – is pursuing charges against USACE and U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez for damages resulting from the drawdown. The suit is ongoing as the cities continue to gather information needed to pursue the case, Coleman said.