Energy and Water Appropriations Clear Committee Hurdle, Move to Full Senate for Consideration

Bill Includes Millions for Oregon Rivers and Energy Programs

Appropriations for the entire state of Oregon include:

Inspection of Completed Environmental Projects - $30,000

Inspection of Completed Works - $559,000

Project Condition Surveys - $200,000

Scheduling Reservoir Operations - $92,000

Surveillance of Northern Boundary Waters - $4,100,000

Appropriations for the Central and Eastern Oregon region include:

Walla Walla Watershed - $500,000
The project is designed to deliver Columbia River water to three irrigation districts in the Walla Walla Basin in exchange for those irrigators bypassing the same amount of their normal Walla Walla River diversions. Funds will be used to restore instream flow levels in the Walla Walla River to near natural flow levels, enabling recovery of a sustainable salmon fishery while maintaining the current water uses in the basin.

Deschutes Ecosystem Restoration Project – $500,000
These funds will support collaborative water management planning and water banking directly with local partners and through the existing Deschutes Water Alliance, a joint venture between municipalities, irrigation districts, and the Deschutes River Conservancy.

Deschutes Project - $1,326,000
These funds will accelerate an array of innovative water conservation and fisheries restoration projects in planning, design and construction. All of the projects will benefit federally protected fisheries, including bull trout and steelhead, in the Deschutes River and its tributaries.

Wallowa Lake Dam Rehab - $1,000,000
Funds would be used to rehabilitate the 91-year-old dam at Wallowa Lake, providing flood control for Wallowa County, maintain instream flows in support of salmon migration and other endangered fish, sustain critical habitat along the Wallowa River, and to sustain agriculture production in Wallowa & Union Counties. The Wallowa Lake Dam is the economic engine for the region.

Oregon Investigations Program - $300,000
Funds will be used by the Bureau of Reclamation to complete their water supply study, an engineering and hydrologic study, to determine projects necessary to provide the water supply needed to satisfy the Federal reserved water rights of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) in the Umatilla basin pursuant to their Treaty of 1855.   

Lower Snake River Fish and Wildlife Compensation - $1,500,000

Columbia River Between Vancouver, WA & The Dalles - $645,000

John Day Lock and Dam - $5,217,000

McNary Lock & Dam - $6,277,000

Willow Creek Lake - $657,000

Crooked River Project - $944,000

Eastern Oregon Projects - $852,000

Umatilla Project - $4,137,000

Appropriations for the Southern Oregon region include:

Rogue River Basin Project, Talent Division - $1,576,000
The project is currently in the middle of the required Feasibility Study and Environmental Impact Statement (FS/EIS).  The recently completed Pre-feasibility Study details quantitatively how modernizing the existing regional irrigation infrastructure by piping the entire system, increasing reservoir storage and implementing reclaimed effluent for irrigation can significantly increase irrigation efficiency, reliability and availability while improving local streams.  The entire irrigation system would be under gravity pressure, even producing micro-hydropower within the irrigation system.  The funding requested through this form is needed to complete the required FS/EIS before project construction can begin.

OIT Geothermal Power Generation Plant - $400,000
These funds will be used to complete construction of an approximately 1 megawatt geothermal power plant on the Oregon Institute of Technology campus. It will serve as a demonstration and educational training facility for OIT students and faculty.

Chetco River - $586,000
Funds will be spent on Army Corps annual dredging of Chetco needed to provide a safe entrance bar for U.S. Coast Guard, commercial fishermen, and recreational users.

Applegate Lake - $1,298,000

Elk Creek Lake - $87,000

Lost Creek Lake - $3,897,000

Umpqua River - $800,000

Klamath Dam Removal Study - $5,000,000

Klamath Project - $22,500,000

Appropriations for the Willamette Valley region include:

Drift Creek Reservoir Project - $20,000   
The intent of the project is to provide a stable water supply for high value crops grown on 15,000 acres of prime farmland in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Funds will be used to conduct preliminary studies to affirm permit conditions and engineering analyses.

Willamette River Floodplain Restoration - $153,000
Funding will be used for the Willamette Floodplain Restoration Study to provide information for the long-term restoration of floodplain habitat in the Willamette River Basin.  The Study will advance the goals of the broader Sustainable Rivers Project, which is identifying environmental flow requirements for the Willamette and its tributaries, and tying those flow requirements to stream channel and floodplain restoration projects.

Blue River Lake - $573,000

Cottage Grove Lake - $1,319,000

Cougar Lake - $1,733,000

Detroit Lake - $1,127,000

Dorena Lake - $1,055,000

Fall Creek Lake - $1,149,000

Fern Ridge Lake - $1,800,000

Green Peter – Foster Lakes - $2,139,000

Hills Creek Lake - $863,000

Lookout Point Lake - $2,080,000

Willamette River Bank Protection - $85,000

Appropriations for the Portland Metropolitan and surrounding region include:

Columbia & Lower Willamette Rivers Below Vancouver, WA & Portland - $24,868,000

Willamette River at Willamette Falls - $258,000
Funding will provide regular program operation of the locks, keeping them open to recreational, commercial, and industrial traffic and preserving the connectivity for navigation between the northern and southern portions of the Willamette River. The locks have great historical significance and have long been used by commercial and recreational vessels.

Veronia Sustainable Schools - $300,000
These funds will be used for the Vernonia School District’s “green” rebuilding efforts and include energy efficient and sustainable technology features throughout the Vernonia Sustainable Schools complex.  Some of these features will also be incorporated in the educational curriculum.

Oregon Sustainability Center - $300,000
These funds will be used to begin construction of the Oregon Sustainability Center, which will be the first high-density, urban building to achieve triple net zero performance, serving as a living laboratory for the research, development and launch of sustainable solutions, and as a convener of people, ideas, and education focused on sustainability.

Willamette River Environmental Dredging - $220,000
These funds will enable the City of Portland and the Port of Portland to make substantial improvements in the ecological functioning of the Lower Willamette.  

Lower Columbia River Ecosystem Restoration - $300,000

Columbia River Fish Mitigation (covering three states) - $116,000,000

Columbia River Treaty Fishing Access Sites - $500,000

Lower Columbia River Ecosystem Restoration - $4,700,000

Bonneville Lock & Dam - $7,487,000

Tualatin Project - $553,000

Appropriations for the Oregon Coastal region include:

Columbia River at the Mouth - $18,350,000
The funds will be spent for rehabilitation of the North and South Jetties at the Mouth of the Columbia River, including detailed design report for the capping of the North and South Jetties, completion of the ESA consultation, other environmental clearances, as well as letter reports, plans, specifications and construction at South and North Jetty areas.   

Coos Bay - $5,791,000
Funds will be used to conduct maintenance dredging, and develop a jetty evaluation report and initiation of plans and specifications.

Depoe Bay - $166,000
These funds will be used for removal of silt collected behind an Army Corps of Engineers constructed check dam.

Port Orford - $400,000
Funds will be used for maintenance dredging needed for safe transit of commercial and recreational vessels.

Suislaw River - $1,083,000
Funds will be used for maintenance dredging, major Maintenance Report N&S Jetties, and ocean disposal site evaluation.

Tillamook Bay and Bar - $600,000
Funds will allow the Corps to conduct a survey of the south jetty, and to produce the plans and specifications for the coming repairs.

Yaquina Bay and Harbor - $1,986,000
Funds will be used by the Army Corps to perform routine dredging and operations and maintenance.

Yaquina River (Depot Slough) - $12,000
Funding will be spent on a project condition survey, as listed in the Army Corps’s Portland District capability.

Coastal Data Information Program - $2,000,000
This project measures, models, and forecasts ocean waves, and disseminates the information in real-time to the National Weather Service and more than 80,000 users per day via the internet. Wave data from CDIP’s Umpqua buoy – located just outside of Coos Bay – provide timely information on ocean conditions for the marine community at large. It also provides the unit with adequate classroom and administrative space for training and operations for homeland security, anti-terrorism, and force protection.

Reedsport Wave Power Project (Phase I) - $400,000
Funding will be used to initiate Phase I of the Reedsport Wave Power Project, which will deploy and install one 150 kW wave energy PowerBuoy 2.5 miles off the coast of Reedsport.

Coquille River - $433,000
Funding will be spent on Army Corps operations and maintenance to conduct annual dredging activities, develop report for Letter L shaped pile dike, which was supposed to be funded through ARRA, but funding was shifted away from the Port.  Additionally, funds will support an engineering evaluation for north and south jetties, which was also supposed to be funded through ARRA, but funding was shifted away from the Port.

Rogue River at Gold Beach - $579,000
Funding will be spent on Army Corps operations and maintenance for annual dredging.  Dredging is needed for safe transit of commercial and recreational vessels, and dredging for the small boat basin.