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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 1, 2004 Soil studies will determine baseline condition By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Like a doctor thoroughly examining a patient, Tim Dalrymple is taking a variety of measurements to test the health of Ashland Creek and other streams flowing from the Mt. Ashland Ski Area. The data collection by the U.S. Geological Survey hydrologic technician, which began this fall and will continue next year, will determine baseline conditions prior to the planned expansion of the ski area. Later measurements will help reveal whether new runs and chairlifts, a parking lot expansion, construction of a second lodge and accompanying watershed restoration projects impacted water quality. In addition to testing three branches of Ashland Creek, the USGS is examining Neil Creek to the east and Cottonwood Creek, which flows down Mount Ashland's south face into the Klamath Basin, according to Ashland Ranger District Recreation Specialist Steve Johnson. One of the Ashland Creek branches is not in the ski expansion area and will be used as a control, he said. The Mt. Ashland Association, which operates the ski area, is paying $8,000 for the data collection, said Jeff Hanson, ski area general manager. The money is being passed to the USGS through the City of Ashland since the Mt. Ashland Association cannot contract directly for the testing, he said. "We want to know what are the conditions in the present state so that when construction is going on, we can quantify changes, if any, that are happening," Hanson said. "We will be able to test how our environmental protections and mitigations are working." The USGS is measuring sediment in the water, temperature, flow volume, dissolved minerals and pH levels, and is designing tests for any oil run-off from the parking area, according to Tom Herrett, supervisory hydrologist in charge of USGS gauging stations in Oregon. The USGS has extensive experience in watershed testing, he said. Among its other tasks, the agency monitors the Bull Run Watershed, which provides Portland's water, as well as the North Santiam Watershed, source of Salem's water, Herrett said. If negative impacts are detected locally, the Mt. Ashland Association could be required to make changes, according to Johnson. "For example, if the water temperature goes up, we could encourage more streamside planting. If we're picking up a large amount of petrochemicals, maybe they would need to upgrade the filtering system or their stormwater management practices," he said. Although the U.S. Forest Service has collected a range of data in the Ashland Watershed, this is the first systematic testing of a broad spectrum of water health indicators in the streams that flow from the ski area, Johnson said. "The public requested it and the City (of Ashland) wanted a good monitoring program relative to the expansion," he said. The information also could prove useful for determining whether other projects, such as forest thinning to reduce wildfire risk, affect water quality, according to Johnson. "I'm glad we're doing it. We'll have good baseline data. The monitoring can serve purposes that go far beyond the ski expansion," he said. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams