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Water deal good for Butte Creek Mill and salmon By Damian Mann Updated: Nov 15, 2022 05:20 PM A A Butte Creek Mill celebrated its 150th anniversary last month. The mill this week announced that a deal has been struck to ensure the Butte Creek water right needed to turn the historic mill’s buhr stones. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] Butte Creek Mill Foundation board chair Jay O'Neil shows the waterway where water from Butte Creek flows to turn the buhr stones that grind the mill's flour. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] A deal has been struck to provide water power for Butte Creek Mill and preserve one of the valley’s most important salmon-spawning tributaries. Trout Unlimited, Butte Creek Mill and former mill owner Bob Russell have reached a series of agreements that will provide the Eagle Point mill with 16 cubic feet per second of water to turn the two French-made buhr stones, each weighing 1,400 pounds and producing distinctive flours that are sold at the mill store. Trout Unlimited bought the 24-cubic-feet-per-second water rights from Russell for $690,000, making it the largest water-right transaction of its kind in Oregon history. The historical mill, destroyed by fire in 2015, has been reopened, though it still needs about $700,000 worth of work for items such as a heating and air conditioning system. “The mill has come back to life,” said Jay O’Neil, board chair of the Butte Creek Mill Foundation. “It’s a big milestone to get the mill the water rights it needs.” More than a year has been spent by Trout Unlimited to get grants from the Oregon Water Resources Department, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Restoration and Enhancement Board and the Medford Water Commission. Trout Unlimited’s mission is to protect fish-bearing streams, and the water rights for Little Butte Creek will preserve this important fish habitat. These are some of the most senior water rights in area, originally established to power the mill. “The creek is the No. 1 salmon-spawning tributary for the Rogue River,” said O’Neil. Unlike with many other water rights in the valley, Trout Unlimited will not be using any of the water for crops or any other purpose. Likewise, the mill will only use the water periodically to turn the mill stones from an 1,800-foot diversion sluice. The water used to turn the stones will flow back into the creek. Over the past two years, the mill has diverted the water three times to produce flour under a temporary arrangement with Russell. “What we’re selling in the store is what we’ve produced,” said O’Neil. The mill, originally built in 1872, celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and reportedly the last water-powered grist mill still commercially operating west of the Mississippi. As part of Trout Unlimited’s agreement, a portion of the water right was transferred to the state of Oregon to permanently protect instream flows on Little Butte Creek. If flows in the creek drop to 25 cubic feet a second during a drought, the mill would have to temporarily halt using the water, under the agreement. O’Neil said the historical record indicates the flows have gotten that low in the past. While the fire destroyed much of the original mill, the original 4-foot diameter buhr stones survived. Quarried outside of Paris, France, they were assembled in Moline, Illinois. In addition to an HVAC system, O’Neil said some interior walls and other equipment are needed to complete the restoration. Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at [email protected].