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A welcome change of pace By Myles Murphy Ashland Daily Tidings While helicopters take huge buckets of water out of Reeder Reservoir to fight the Horn Gap fire, city officials breathe a sigh of relief that water levels are healthy in Reeder and throughout the region. "This year we are in what appears to be a good summer," Ashland Public Works Director Paula Brown said. Brown recalled the city being in a similar state at this point in the summer of 2002, but then another three months without rain stretched the city's resources to the limits. "Use water wisely," Brown said. "Anything we save now provides a cushion." Reeder Reservoir is more than 90-percent full, and the city is going through about 6.2 million gallons of water daily. "That's OK, especially when we have temperatures in the 90s," Brown said of the city's use. "But wasting water is still not a good thing." In 2001, drought forced the city to go into early water curtailment and step up conservation efforts. The move forced businesses and residents to pay inflated rates for water used over a certain allotment. Basic water-saving measures can reduce water use by 15 to 20 percent, according to Brown. Other reservoirs are also relatively healthy, according to the United Stated Bureau of Reclamation. As of Friday, USBR numbers put Emigrant lake at 76 percent capacity, Agate reservoir at 65 percent, Fish Lake at 44 percent, Howard Prairie at 65 percent, Hyatt Lake at 74 percent and Lost Creek near 80 percent. "But don't get overconfident because there's plenty of water for drinking and irrigation," Ashland amateur weather buff Doyle Hirsch said. Hirsch warned Friday that the land is dry, and prone to fire despite the high water levels. On the positive side, higher reservoir levels should make for better fish conditions in area rivers and streams. "The more water we have in the reservoir, the more we have to release into the creek," Brown said. David Haight, a fisheries biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Game, confirmed things were looking up this year. "I think it should be a decent year for fish," Haight said. In 2002, low water levels were a contributing factor in a massive fish die-off in Hyatt Lake. A look at fish populations following that summer showed a 90-percent drop from normal numbers, Haight said. "We are not as ideal as we might be in a better year," Haight said. "But we're not anticipating any trouble." For information on water conservation call 552-2062. 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 -