The City of Sweet Home announced on Saturday, Nov. 23, that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has halted this year’s deep drawdown at Green Peter after multiple municipalities raised concerns about impact to drinking water.
Sweet Home informed residents that it recently identified an increased strain on its water treatment plant due to heightened sediment and turbidity levels from the drawdown. As a result one of the three filters experienced a mechanical issue. The other filters remain fully operational, and the city said water quality has remained safe and reliable throughout this time.
The city submitted a formal letter to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and USACE urging for a halt of the drawdown, citing the drawdown as causing “a serious risk” to the city’s drinking water.
“All of this could likely be avoided if the USACE’s drawdown operations complied with the applicable water quality standards, which prohibit the level of turbidity caused by this drawdown,” the city wrote.
Although USACE is required by a court injunction to perform the deep drawdown, a Sept. 24, 2024 court order adopted USACE’s “Revised Green Peter Dam Fall Drawdown Fish Passage Implementation Plan,” which requires that “the injunction plan will be paused or terminated if downstream drinking water facilities are unable to meet water supply demands or if a public health emergency is declared.”
With one filter out of service, the city informed OHA, there’s a greater risk of being able to provide enough safe water to the community if another filter fails.
“This decision to pause the drawdown and begin refill operations reflects the importance of addressing the needs of downstream communities like ours while protecting critical infrastructure,” the city said in a public notice. “The City of Sweet Home is grateful to USACE for recognizing the importance of these concerns and to our regional partners in Lebanon and Albany for standing united in this effort. Thanks to our swift decision to alert the USACE to our concerns, the city has been successful in ending this year’s drawdown. While it is unknown what this may mean for future years, the City of Sweet Home considers this a victory.”
Any questions may be sent to [email protected] or directed to 541.367.8969.