Ethan Hoagland
About a month after some Sweet Home residents noticed tinted water coming out of their faucets, representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers joined Sweet Home city staff for a contentious community information session at city hall on Monday, Nov. 20. Nearly a hundred people packed into the city council chambers and hallway, while hundreds more watched online. Over accusations of deceit and bad faith, City Manager Kelcey Young and Mayor Susan Coleman explained the current, safe-to-consume state of Sweet Home’s water, and what the city can do to cover extra costs racked up by a strained water treatment team.
“This was just the first of many information sessions,” Young said. “We want our water to be better, we want our lakes to be plentiful, we want our fish. So we all have the same goal.”
One solution being pursued by the city of Sweet Home is legal action, which many members of the community have been calling for since the drawdowns of Green Peter and Lookout Point Reservoirs began over the summer. Linn County Commissioners on Tuesday, Nov. 21 unanimously gave the greenlight to seeking legal action to modify the court’s order, a day after Commissioner Roger Nyquist teased the motion during Sweet Home’s information session.
“I’m very thankful that the commissioner spoke up and mentioned that they were gonna take on some sort of litigation,” said Sweet Home City Councilor Angelita Sanchez said shortly after the information session finished. She said while she’s disappointed not everyone’s voice could be heard, the Corps “collectively heard us loud and clear.”
Currently, the court order mandates another deep drawdown next year, which the Corps maintains is the most cost effective way to move fish through the dams. During Monday’s information session, the Corps pointed out that Judge Marco Hernandez designed the court order, with a panel of experts and biologists which requires the Corps to draw down the Green Peter Reservoir to 780 feet. The Corps said it reached that historic low in November, and will hold it there until December 15. After that, the Corps expects the reservoir to refill as normal.
During the information session, the Corps showed that heavy rainfall at the beginning of November sent mud surging through the South Santiam River. But graphs presented by the Corps showed that turbidity decreased through November. As of Nov. 22, the graph showed turbidity at about half the level it measured a week prior. That data can be found in the U.S. Geological Survey’s website.
The Corps also sought to ease concerns about heavy metals leaching from the sediment into Sweet Home’s drinking water supply. They presented sediment data from 2013 gathered at Green Peter showing negligible levels of heavy metals in the volcanic soil. Sweet Home Utilities Manager Steven Haney told the gathered community members that a mercury test sample had been sent off, with results expected in mid-December.
After thousands of non-native Kokanee salmon died from the change in water pressure, Greg Taylor, Willamette Valley Project fisheries biologist for the Corps, explained how the drawdown is impacting fish in the reservoirs. With such muddy water, community members wondered if the increased turbidity was killing fish. Taylor told the audience the Corps has not seen large numbers of fish die from the increased turbidity.
For some members of the community, Monday’s information session left them with too little too late. Even though Sweet Home’s treated water continues to test within state parameters for consumption, residents have complained about high amounts of chlorine making them and their pets sick, while others still see a yellowish tint. For them, the Corps’ information wasn’t enough to relieve their concerns.
“The town of Sweet Home turned out to this meeting for one reason and one reason only. They wanted answers,” Dawn Miller said after Monday’s information session. “Not a presentation. A canned presentation at that.” At the meeting, community members could write down questions to submit to the Corps and city officials. But the information session did not include a Q&A portion.
“We knew that this one wouldn’t really resolve anything,” Young said. “It’s a complex issue and everyone’s working really hard.”
Many Sweet Home residents also hoped to voice their discontent to the plaintiff groups that filed the lawsuit against the Corps: the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, WildEarth Guardians and the Native Fish Society. Executive Director of the Native Fish Society Mark Sherwood appeared at Monday’s meeting to give a statement about the deep drawdown’s impact on Sweet Home’s water quality.
“The Army Corps and the environmental community should have done a better job in communicating regarding the impacts of the drawdown,” Sherwood said during the meeting, which prompted jeers and groans from the audience.
In a joint statement published on Nov. 21 on the Wild Earth Guardians website, the groups reiterated that deep drawdowns are the most effective and cost effective ways to get fish through the dams. The statement goes on to say they might make changes to future drawdowns to reduce turbidity and temperature impacts, like drawing down the water at a slower pace.
The groups sued the Army Corps of Engineers in 2018, accusing the Corps of violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to allow enough juvenile spring Chinook and steelhead to pass through four Willamette Valley dams, including Green Peter. Judge Hernandez issued the injunction in September of 2021, mandating a deep drawdown this year and next.
“In the long-run, recovering wild salmon will bring tremendous benefits to local communities,” Daniel Timmons, Wild Rivers Program Director for WildEarth Guardians is quoted as saying in the statement.
Water quality isn’t the only concern in Sweet Home. With no boats out on Foster Lake or Green Peter Reservoir, local businesses are reporting about a 10% loss in revenue, according to City Manager Young.
Mark Woody, owner of Cascade Classic Outboards, a boat repair shop on Main Street, said calls and walk-ins to his business have each dropped about 25% in the last month. On top of that, he said Kokanee fishers are devastated.
“They’ll catch about 25 a day, the limit, and freeze them, and then live on them all winter,” Woody said. “Well, there’s no Kokanee. They’re gone.”
“That’s a big stress for me.” Woody continued. “They’re coming here with empty freezers talking about, you know, where are they gonna get their meat supply for the year.”
He said he attended the information session, and that he appreciates what City Manager Young and Mayor Coleman are doing to inform the community.
The court order as it stands has not been modified, meaning the Corps will draw Green Peter down to 780 feet again next year. But with Linn County commissioners officially pursuing legal means to modify the order, and Sweet Home city officials in talks with other communities and agencies, it’s unclear if Green Peter Reservoir will become a mud-choked trickle in 2024.
We’ve included a link to the full statement from Wild Earth Guardians, Native Fish Society and Northwest Environmental Defense Center: https://wildearthguardians.org/press-releases/conservation-groups-express-support-for-the-community-of-sweet-home-clean-water-and-native-fish-in-willamette-river-basin/