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CLOUDY Temp: 76 °F Wind: NW at 6 mph Thursday, June 27, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Cyberchef E The People Golf Job Network Headbone Zone Wellness Connection Movie Times Newspaper in Education Oregon CarZone Outdoor Journal Personals Prime Times Real Estate Tempo A & E TV Times W3 Magazine CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Destinations Automotive Communities Employment Entertainment Publications Real Estate Recreation Shopping Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Jobs @ Mail Tribune Email Story to a Friend June 16, 2002 An excavator with a rake attachment cleans moss froma Talent Irrigation District ditch that runs through Ron Meyer's pear orchard near Talent. The lavborious mechanical process has replaced the use of a chemical, whose use now requires a permit. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Agreeing to find a solution TID, Headwaters put aside their inherant differences to deal with the problem of moss in irrigation canals By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Harmony is not a word that first comes to mind when most folks consider relations between the Ashland-based Headwaters environmental group and Talent Irrigation District officials. In comparison, the never-ending war of words between Democrats and Republicans is warm and fuzzy. After all, Headwaters successfully sued TID following a May 8, 1996, incident that killed young salmon and steelhead in Bear Creek after the aquatic herbicide acrolein spilled out of the district’s irrigation system into the stream. The chemical, used to control moss in the ditches, can only be applied if the district obtains a permit, an appeals court ruled early last year. Yet the two factions are working together this spring to find a solution of ridding the irrigation ditches of the moss that threatens to plug pumps and stop sprinklers each irrigation season. "We’re interested in running this district smoothly and delivering water on a timely basis," said Ron Meyer, a TID board member and third-generation area pear grower. "How we do it doesn’t make a lot of difference as long as it is efficient and economic." "We are in a problem-solving mode as opposed to a confrontational mode," added Cindy Deacon Williams, a fishery scientist and Headwaters representative. While both sides say they prefer conflict resolution, they were nudged by the court into the joint effort to solving the moss problem. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in March 2001 that private parties must first obtain federal permits before discharging pollutants into public waterways, including irrigation ditches. That decision reversed a U.S. District Court ruling in February 1999 in a lawsuit brought by Headwaters and the Oregon Natural Resources Council against the TID. With the court settlement, the TID is required to put $25,000 into a fund each year for four years. That money can be used for either district pesticide monitoring or rehabilitation projects, or both. The court’s only restriction was that Headwaters and the TID agree on the approach. The two factions rolled up their sleeves and hired Cascade Earth Sciences, a science and engineering consulting firm, to help them find a solution. The firm is monitoring different sites throughout the district to obtain baseline information such as water temperature. It is also taking measurements of PH levels and turbidity. "There are all kinds of things that can be done," explained Robert Coffan, senior hydrologist for the consulting firm in Medford. "We are looking for what is feasible. ... We want to get the best bang for the buck." This marks the second irrigation season the district has not used acrolein. If the TID did pursue the permits as the court decreed, it could cost up to $50,000 for each of its four canals, Meyer said. An excavator operator employing a four-foot moss rake began cleaning ditches Thursday, continuing a stopgap measure that began last summer. But the current mechanical method of cleaning the more than 150 miles of canals in the system stirs up the moss and costs twice as much as using acrolein, Meyer said. The chemical had generally been applied four times a season. "We don’t want to go broke while we’re trying to figure this out," he said. "Agriculture is economically weak already. We’re just hanging on. If they lose a crop, they probably won’t be around next year." The region’s irrigation-dependent pear industry alone is valued at an estimated $14 million. "We really want to make sure the agriculture community in this region is able to thrive," said Tonya Graham, executive director of Headwaters. "We just want to make sure it happens in a way that also allows for healthy salmon and steelhead populations. "I think it can be done, using both the expertise Headwaters has on environmental issues and fish habitat along with the knowledge farmers and the TID has about the system and how they need to deliver water," she added. "I’m encouraged we have all the pieces to solve the problem." During a tour of the Talent canal this past week, Meyer, who has 115 acres in pear orchards, pointed out the problems in solving the moss infestation. His pump system is protected from the moss by an eighth-inch mess screen. But the screen was clogged with moss, causing the automatic low-flow mechanism to shut off the pump. He backflushed the pump, swept off the screen with a broom and restarted the pump. The sprinklers resumed spraying the fruit trees. "When we’re not using the excavator, I have to clean this two to three times when running a 24-hour set here," Meyer explained. "When we’re using the excavator, the pump will run less than an hour. I might as well forget irrigating until this is over with." All the district patrons are on two-week rotation. Missing a rotation could mean missing a crop, he said. The moss is more than a mere nuisance. "Even though it’s flowing almost bank-full here, it is drying up the lower end of the canal," he said, noting that the buildup of moss restricts the flow of water in addition to plugging irrigation systems along the way. If you look closely in the murky water, you can see strands of moss known as mare’s tail waving in the current. Clumps of what is commonly known as frog moss float along the surface. The excavator operator working nearby used the moss rake to scrape the stuff off the bottom of the canal and dump piles of the wet, green glop onto the north bank. "He’s working blind," Meyer observed, referring to the fact the operator can’t see into the muddy water. "He has to scrape across the bottom and try to get as little material as he can other than moss. "If we do this long enough, these canals are going to fill up their total right-of-way and there won’t be anything left," he added. But TID manager Jim Pendleton may have a solution. He is designing a suction dredge specifically for the district canals to harvest the moss. A firm has approached the TID with a cost-sharing proposal to have it built. "This will be the first one of its kind," Meyer said. "We think it will work." But he reiterated several times that acrolein will be difficult to replace. The district used the chemical, which kills algae by depleting oxygen in the water, for more than a quarter of a century without any problems until the 1996 incident, he said. "To find a replacement for that is pretty slim," he said, later adding, "It can be used safely. It’s just my opinion but I think we’ve overreacted." Williams believes a mechanical or other solution is better for the environment. "From a salmon and steelhead perspective, these valley bottom areas are the parts of the watershed that have the biggest potential to allow restoration," she said. "They are the most productive parts of the basin. "Figuring out how to work cooperatively with irrigation districts and landowners is crucial if we really want to solve salmon and steelhead problems," she added. The district has looked at several solutions in recent years, including employing grass carp, hoping the plant-eating fish would consume the moss problem. That didn’t work. "We think the ultimate solution would be piping the canals," Meyer said. "That would get rid of the algae problem." Piping would mean about a 30 percent recovery of irrigation water lost to evaporation and seepage in the existing canals, he said. The hitch is it would cost a prohibitive $80 million to $100 million for the entire system. With state and federal budgets heading back into deficits, help from that level is unlikely, he said. However, some local municipalities may be willing to pitch in financially if they can use the irrigation system to dispose of their treated wastewater instead of putting it into Bear Creek, he said. "Piping is one of the long-term solutions we would like to see occur," Graham said. "If we can get enough people signed on, that’s a possibility." "Getting an environmental group and an irrigation district together is a pretty strong coalition in asking for money, whether it is from Congress or a foundation," Williams said. "I think we would be a pretty powerful partnership." The bottom line, Meyer stressed, is that a solution, both short and long-term, is essential for pear growers. "One had better be found or we are out of business," he said. "There isn’t any ‘if.’ We have to find a solution." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S