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Proposed study would gauge water needs By CHRIS BRISTOL The future of mothballed Elk Creek Dam is at the core of a proposal to study how much water Jackson County needs for the next 50 years. Billed dryly as a "comprehensive inventory of water resource needs," the proposed study was backed in principle Tuesday by the county Board of Commissioners. The project won't get off the ground until the county secures a grant to underwrite it. The driving force behind the study is Commissioner Sue Kupillas, who says she is concerned about growth in the Rogue Valley and historic drought cycles that could overtax smaller reservoirs and other infrastructure. Much of the water in Lost Creek Lake, the region's biggest reservoir, has already been spoken for. The last drought ended in 1994 -- a seven-year dry spell that many residents of Southern Oregon already have forgotten about, Kupillas said. Meanwhile, new threats to the status quo -- particularly salmon restoration and so-called "in-stream allocations" that ensure creeks contain enough water for fish -- are sure to change the way water rights are gauged. "Even today, with drought cycles, we could be short of water for fish runs," she said. "If there's not enough for fish, who gets the water?" Results of the study could be used to persuade the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers against a controversial plan to "notch" the dam, a half-built flood-control project near Trail that was mothballed in the wake of several environmental lawsuits. Kupillas said it would be irrational to raze the dam or even notch it -- cut a chunk out of it to improve fish passage -- if the region's water needs demand a new reservoir to supplement Lost Creek Lake and a half-dozen smaller man-made storage basins. "This is such a huge waste of peoples' money," she said. "It's a totally preposterous situation." No timetable has been set for completion of the study. Kupillas said she would like to see it finished within a year after it starts. Several local experts have signed on: Bill Ryan, a member of the county's Natural Resources Advisory Committee and a scientist at the consulting firm CH2M Hill; Eric Dittmer, a geology professor at Southern Oregon University and former water resource coordinator for the Rogue Valley Council of Governments; Ed Olson, director of the Medford Water Commission; and Larry Menteer, state water master for Jackson County. Dittmer and Olson confirmed that Kupillas has raised the Elk Creek Dam controversy as part of the impetus behind the study. Even so, they insist the study has merit that goes beyond the dam. A long-term survey of the region's needs has never been conducted, they said. "There's been bits and pieces done," Olson said, "but certainly nothing for the county as a whole." Dittmer said the study will be scientific and that a number of factors that could affect the water supply will be taken into account, not just reservoirs. The ecological nature of the political landscape -- especially salmon restoration -- means that nobody in Southern Oregon should take water for granted, Dittmer said. "If it wasn't for long-range planning like this, there would be difficulty in the future," he said. "And that's for every user." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA