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Dam continues to divide Water committee advances bill on authorizing removals By PETER WONG SALEM -- The fate of Savage Rapids Dam continues to divide an Oregon House committee. By a 5-4 vote Wednesday, the House Water and Environment Committee advanced a bill to give the Legislature the final say on whether Savage Rapids Dam and others should be removed from Oregon's waters. The bill awaits a vote of the House. Senate Bill 987 was changed Wednesday to exempt the state Water Resources Commission from having to obtain legislative approval to order removal of illegal dams and some private dams. But those changes in the Senate-passed bill failed to satisfy Democrats on the House committee. "It seems unproductive to me to do something that we know is going to end in a veto," said Rep. Jackie Taylor, D-Astoria. Gov. John Kitzhaber threatened to veto a similar bill four years ago, so the Legislature converted it to a bill forming a task force on the Savage Rapids Dam. The state has revoked the right of the Grants Pass Irrigation District to draw supplemental water from the Rogue River because the district failed to follow through on a 1994 pledge to remove the dam. The district has appealed the order to the Oregon Court of Appeals. Rep. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, said a legislative role is justified in the controversy. "The state may do something here that is not in the best interests of the Grants Pass community," he said. "We do not fulfill our obligations if we base our decision on whether this bill gets vetoed or not. If we are doing the right thing for the people of Oregon, its fate in the governor's office should be a secondary concern." Despite the changes by Senate President Brady Adams, R-Grants Pass, the amended bill failed to mollify critics, including the state Department of Water Resources, Trout Unlimited and Water Watch of Oregon. "By requiring the express consent of the Legislature for removal of any dam, this legislation would establish a major political obstacle for river restoration and salmon recovery, and could threaten public safety," said Doug Myers, a lobbyist who spoke for both environmental groups. Only one dam has been removed under state law. Earlier this week, the House passed and sent to the Senate two other bills related to Savage Rapids Dam, both along party lines. House Bill 3065, which passed 32-27, allows GPID a supplemental right to Rogue River water without tying it to the dam's removal. House Bill 3075, nearly identical, went back to a House committee to die. House Bill 2600, which passed 31-29, allows GPID and other districts with conservation plans to draw water without state approval if the amount they lose through seepage is not specified in their state water rights. GPID's 160 miles of canals are mostly unlined. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA