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--> --> Creek restoration to be discussed What: Tyler Creek Wasteway stabilization workshop. When: 6:30 to 9 p.m., Thursday. Where: Ashland Middle School, 100 Walker Ave. By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Due to strong public interest, the federal Bureau of Reclamation will hold a public workshop to provide information and gather input on a plan to restore a creek tributary in the Greensprings area that suffered severe erosion damage when it was used to transport irrigation water in 1993. The bureau put out a call for public input earlier this year and decided to hold the workshop after receiving numerous, wide-ranging comments, bureau officials said. The eroded area southeast of Ashland is a major source of sediment and phosphorus within the Bear Creek Basin, according to a 1999 study by Friends of the Greensprings, a community group. Sediment and phosphorus - a nutrient that promotes algae growth leading to depleted oxygen levels in water - are harmful to fish. Unless restored, the area will contribute to sediment and water quality problems for years to come, according to a 1993 letter sent by the Rogue Valley Council of Governments to federal officials. The eroded creek tributary at issue is the South Fork of Schoolhouse Creek, located just south of the Greensprings Summit on Highway 66. Schoolhouse Creek flows into Tyler Creek, which feeds into Emigrant Creek, which in turn flows into Emigrant Lake. Emigrant Creek resumes at the downstream end of the lake, and feeds into Bear Creek. The erosion problem began in 1993 when the bureau shut down the Greensprings Power Plant for nearly an entire irrigation season to undertake extensive repairs and maintenance, according to bureau officials. Water held upstream at the Keene Creek Reservoir normally flows through the Green Springs Divide Tunnel and into the power plant. Because the plant was shut down, water could not flow through the plant and empty into Emigrant Creek for later use in irrigation. To ensure water reached irrigators, it was released from the reservoir through the so-called Tyler Creek Wasteway, actually a draw that reaches the South Fork of Schoolhouse Creek. The release caused severe erosion along the creek fork. Friends of the Greensprings members said the water release caused hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of sediment to wash from adjoining private property into Emigrant Lake, forming a mud flat. The sediment reached at least as far as Gold Hill - located between Medford and Grants Pass -where it muddied drinking water. The bureau has proposed planting native vegetation such as grasses and willows along the eroded banks to hold soil in place. It also has proposed building an unpaved, ungraveled road near the eroded area to allow access for restoration work and maintenance. Wetlands in the area would be partially filled to allow for installation of a culvert and crossing ford, and some trees would be cut to accommodate the road, officials said. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing