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Letters: Assuming growth will happen leads to no solutions We, the Jackson County members of Alternatives to Growth Oregon, are concerned that the basic assumption of the planning effort involved in NOWx2, the cooperative planning effort by the Rogue Valley Council of Governments to select those areas in which cities will grow as population in the valley doubles, is that growth is unstoppable, that Jackson County will inevitably double in population despite the negative impacts that will come with that growth. Instead of assuming that doubling the present population is inevitable, we would like local governments to focus their efforts on limiting population growth. Further growth will have negative impacts on the quality of life that we all value and will further impair the sustainability of the region. Our membership unanimously agrees that we cannot keep this valley livable and beautiful with twice as many people as we have right now. Some say that we should let the market determine the size of valley's population. Wouldn't that mean that we just agreeably let more and more people flood in until the valley has lost those qualities of livability that have attracted the rest of us? That we wait until the traffic becomes unbearable, the air unbreathable, the water shortages acute, the vistas blocked by high rises, the farmland filled with subdivisions, the recreation areas jammed with rude and noisy crowds? Do we really wait until visitors say, "Ye gods, why would anybody want to live here?" Or do we put our collective heads together to try to find solutions, to say, "This valley has just about reached its capacity. How can we keep it from growing further, beyond livability, beyond sustainability, beyond desirability?" We look forward to working with you. Yours for a livable valley. Connie Battaile, C oordinator Jackson County chapter, Alternatives to Growth Oregon Ashland Perhaps pollution cause is not such the big mystery I read with great interest the Aug. 13 article titled "Ashland Creek closed to swimmers" by Vickie Aldous. Many causes of pollution were cited, but the one that a parks employee said may (he was not sure) be one of the reasons for the closure of Ashland Creek is the Talent Irrigation District overflow culvert that is located just up from Cottonwood picnic area. I called the Jackson County Health Department (their phone number is on the sign to call for more information). Mr. Thomas told me he does not know if the culvert is the reason for the closure or not and that further tests would need to be taken to find out. We went on to say that the sample at the wading area is not OK, and the sample at the reservoir is OK. The culvert is located between these sample locations. Apparently more research is needed to see if this overflow TID culvert is the reason for the pollution, and maybe the answer is out there already. But if this culvert is the main cause to shut down the creek, I believe it could be fixed. One idea is to just put this water straight into the sewer system, or maybe it could first be diverted into the upper duck pond and then the sewer system. Perhaps the meals tax or tourist fund could foot the bill. Wouldn't it be great if we could enjoy a clean duck pond, the kids could splash in the creek all summer, and the fish not have to swim in warm TID water pumped into their creek? Diane Parry, Ashland LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -