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Editorial: Dam removal long overdue The Mail Tribune June 25 A bill introduced by Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith represents the latest step in the 15-year saga of Savage Rapids Dam near Grants Pass on the Rogue River. The bill should be swiftly approved. Beyond that, Congress should appropriate money to help pay to remove the aging structure to improve fish runs in the Rogue River while maintaining water supplies to patrons of the Grants Pass Irrigation District. The battle over Savage Rapids Dam has taken 15 years and cost far more than it should, including $750,000 spent by the irrigation district in a futile attempt to save the dam. This despite a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department estimate in the 1970s that the dam reduces fish runs in the Rogue by 22 percent, and a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation study in 1995 that it would be cheaper and more effective to remove the dam than alter it to improve fish passage. All the delay has been expensive, too. Since 1995, the estimated cost of removing the dam and replacing it with pumps has doubled. Some money has been raised already, including $750,000 to study and design the pump installation. In January 2001, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board pledged $3 million in state lottery proceeds toward the project. But the total cost could exceed $22 million. The groups that have been working on dam removal hope to put together a combination of money from federal agencies, nonprofit foundations and some private money to reach the goal. Federal money will be a key component. Wyden and Smith have started the final stage of the project with their bill to authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to move forward, but financing is needed as well. The rest of Oregon's congressional delegation should get behind the effort and support funding for the project. It's long overdue. 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 -