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This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
Water storage bill seen as vital to Oregon ag
State would help foot bill for finding suitable
sites
By MITCH LIES
Capital Press Staff Writer
June 1, 2007
MOUNTANGEL, Ore. — Mark Dickman is looking above ground to dig out from a hole
he’s in. And the view keeps changing.
Dickman is part of an irrigation district that pulls groundwater from an aquifer the state
says is declining.
He has more acres — 275 — than he has water rights for — about 225. And the state has made it clear he won’t be getting water rights for those additional 50 acres any time soon.
For Dickman and the 70 grower-members of the East Valley Irrigation District, finding
a new above-ground source of water is vital.
Dickman’s predicament surfaced in 1992 when the state
designated the aquifer that
serves growers in the district as groundwater-limited. The designation initiates several restrictions, including one on new water rights.
serves growers in the district as groundwater-limited. The designation initiates several restrictions, including one on new water rights.
Instead of decimating the growers, the designation empowered them: It empowered
them to start looking for more water — but above ground.
By 1993, the growers had established a fund to pay for expensive preliminary geological
and environmental studies that are part of finding a new water storage site.
Fourteen years and an estimated $750,000 later, the growers still have not found an appropriate site.
But they continue to press forward. Pressing forward, after all, Dickman said, is his
only option.
“Farming is what I do,” Dickman said. “And this is where I farm. We’ve gotten used to it
here.”
Dickman’s attachment to his farm can be traced to 1929, when his grandfather settled
on the fertile soil that today provides the sustenance for Dickman’s diverse operation.
Over the years, the farm has added acreage and crops. Today, like many of the growers that make up the East Valley Irrigation District, Dickman produces a variety of crops, including grass seed, sugar beet seed and several vegetables for processing.
All require water.
Since 1993 when the district started looking for an
alternative water supply, it has
analyzed several options, including piping water into the area from Detroit Lake, using
treated sewage water from Salem, building a reservoir on Butte Creek and building a
reservoir on Rock Creek just north of Monitor.
analyzed several options, including piping water into the area from Detroit Lake, using
treated sewage water from Salem, building a reservoir on Butte Creek and building a
reservoir on Rock Creek just north of Monitor.
All have been summarily rejected — either because of environmental concerns, as in
the Rock Creek site where too many wetlands would be flooded, or because of expense, as in the Detroit project, or because of citizen opposition, as in the Butte Creek project.
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to:http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to:http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml