Document text
1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Guest Opinion: Water use at Southern Oregon University ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Sharing our stories ... Guest Opinion: Guns: a down-under solution? ... Guest Opinion: Water use at Southern Oregon University ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Sharing our stories ... Guest Opinion: Guns: a down-under solution? ... COUNCIL CORNER Council corner: Fee will help ensure water security for Ashland Homeowner's cost will be about $17 per year Comment By Pam Marsh for the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Pam Marsh for the Tidings Posted Jun. 16, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Pam Marsh for the Tidings Posted Jun. 16, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Ashland’s watershed is a breathtaking tapestry of forested mountains. It is also a fragile ecosystem, our recreational backyard, and the source of Ashland’s abundant, clean water. Safeguarding the watershed requires us to actively manage forest health. Protecting the integrity and safety of the watershed was one of five priorities chosen by the city council in our most recent goal-setting process. To achieve this goal, we then had to ask: What can we do to best ensure long-term forest resilience? And how will the work be funded? Since the initiation of the Ashland Forest Resiliency stewardship project (AFR) in 2010, we have completed wildfire hazard reduction work on more than 3,700 acres in the watershed. The long-term result of this effort will be to protect water quality, older forests, wildlife, people, property and quality of life from the effects of catastrophic fires. Our current goal is to identify funding and finish treating the initial 7,600 acre footprint by the end of 2017. To date, thanks to extremely effective work with the Forest Service by Mayor John Stromberg, Fire Division Chief Chris Chambers and our partners at The Nature Conservancy and Lomakatsi Restoration Project, we have raised nearly $9 million for AFR. Nearly all of that has come from federal sources and grants. We continue to work with the Forest Service to identify the rest of the funding — about $2 million — necessary to complete the initial fire protection work. That’s just the beginning. Long-term maintenance of the forest will require an annual expenditure estimated at $175,000, enough to treat about 10 percent of the area each year. As with your back yard garden, our watershed will need ongoing attention. Failure to perform routine but critical maintenance would allow the forest to return to an overgrown and fire-prone condition. Maintenance will protect our enormous AFR investment. But no federal money is available for maintenance. Instead, the hard reality is that funding will have to come from the city of Ashland. After five years of AFR, we understand that watershed maintenance is a crucial piece of the overhead cost of our water system. In a very real way, the economic, cultural and physical health of our community depends on the forest. In preparation for the 2015-2017 biennium budget, the council began several months ago to discuss new tax or fee options that could generate $175,000 per year. In the end, we decided to add an AFR surcharge to city water bills. Beginning July 1, Ashland residents will see a new fee of $1.39 on their monthly bills — a total of $16.68 a year. Imposing fees and taxes is probably the worst part of a councilor’s job. But along with my colleagues I am convinced that watershed maintenance is a critical city responsibility. I also believe that the water surcharge meets the criteria we should apply to any new tax or fee: There is a connection between fee and function. Watershed health is a critical factor if we want to continue to provide potable water in sufficient quantities for our community. It is reasonable to ask water users to assume the costs of forest maintenance. The surcharge is transparent. Water bills will include a separate billing for AFR. Users will know what they are paying and why. Funds will be dedicated to forest maintenance. Surcharge revenues will be placed directly into a special account and committed to a single use. Collection costs will be minimal. Since the city already processes water bills, the new fee will add little or nothing to overhead. The cost of the surcharge is proportional to benefit. Fees are graduated based on meter size, so larger commercial users will pay more. Drought, forest fires and climate change are teaching us that we can no longer take water for granted. Maintaining a fresh, clean water supply is rapidly becoming more expensive and definitely more complex. Though there are no absolutes in nature, our long-term commitment to watershed health may prove to be the most cost effective strategy we can take to protect the health of our community.  Pam Marsh is a member of the Ashland City Council. By Pam Marsh for the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Pam Marsh for the Tidings Posted Jun. 16, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... Business Name address Location, ST | website.com Find Southern Oregon Attractions Bars Restaurants Beauty Salons Entertainment Doctors Medical Specialists Contractors Education Lawn Services Lawyers Shopping Travel Tanning Used Cars Wedding Services ▼ Add your business here + Events Calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. DailyTidings.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501