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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 12, 2006 Budget includes $13 million toward dam removal By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune The Bush Administration’s proposed 2007 budget includes $13 million toward replacing Savage Rapids Dam with electric pumps, some $3 million more than a consortium of environmental groups suggested. If it survives the budgetary process, the money will be the largest single payout to date toward removing the 85-year-old dam from the Rogue River while continuing to furnish water for the Grants Pass Irrigation District. But it likely is not enough to complete the plant, water intake and piping necessary before the dam is replaced, said Bob Hamilton, project manager for the federal Bureau of Reclamation. The money is in the federal Bureau of Reclamation’s proposed budget, which must pass through Congress and get President Bush’s signature before it goes into effect in October. "Thirteen million dollars will be enough of a boost to really push this thing," said WaterWatch attorney Bob Hunter, who has worked more than a decade for replacing the dam deemed the biggest fish killer on the Rogue River. Advertisement "It means the administration wants it and the bureau wants it," Hunter said. "Now we’ll have to work hard to keep it." The money will be scrutinized in the House Energy and Water Committee, where U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and bureau projects get funded. In its 2007 budget suggestions to the Bush Administration, the group American Rivers asked for $10 million for the project. Hamilton said the latest estimates for building the plant and removing the dam are anywhere "from $25 million to $50 million," with an estimated three-fourths of the cost for the pumping plant. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board also has pledged $3 million toward dam-removal. The bureau expects to have design specifics available by the end of the month so contractors can review them and offer bids as quickly as possible. A contract could be awarded in April, when work outside the Rogue’s riverbed can begin. In-stream work is restricted to June 15 through August to protect the Rogue’s native salmon and steelhead. A consent decree signed by GPID calls for it to stop using the dam for irrigation purposes in 2007. Removing the dam and installing the pumps provides a long-term solution to the current dam’s fish-passage problems while keeping GPID in the irrigation business. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study concluded the dam severely reduces the Rogue’s ability to grow wild salmon and steelhead. The bureau recently completed an environmental study that backed a 1995 conclusion that dam removal was the best and cheapest alternative for solving the dam’s fish-passage and water- delivery issues. The bureau’s design also calls for a single large pumping station along the river’s south bank. A large electronic substation would be built to carry the power necessary to run the pumps within the enclosed station. The design once called for nine pumps, but it since has been altered to include 12 total pumps, Hamilton said. Also, the water-delivery pipe to deliver water to patrons on the north side of the river will be suspended downstream of the current dam and not across remnants of the old dam as previously designed, he said. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail Budget includes $13 million toward dam removal ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations Casinos Canada dvd-r Generic Viagra Myspace Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Student Loans Sudoku Online Advertisement s Advertisement