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72 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, May 24, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Biz Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 11, 2005 Bill lets rural homes tap Medford water Central Point Rep. Dennis Richardson’s bill irks Medford Rep. Sal Esquivel, who plans to fight it By DON JEPSEN for the Mail Tribune SALEM — In the late 1950s construction of new homes got under way in the Westwood Subdivision off Ross Lane, an enclave surrounded by farmland between Medford and Central Point. But this rural Eden is in trouble. It’s running out of water. Wells dug to serve the residents are going dry. Efforts to get the Medford Water Commission to deliver treated water to the site have been unsuccessful. Annexation is not in the cards because the subdivision is too far from the urban growth boundaries of both cities. "Our backs are against the wall," sighs Trent Nistler, a mortgage broker in Medford, who says his well is down to four gallons per minute — "and that’s during the rainy season." So Nistler, who is president of the Westwood Subdivision Water District, has turned to the Legislature, and specifically Rep. Dennis Richardson, R-Central Point, for a solution. Advertisement Sympathetic to Westwood’s plight, Richardson dropped a bill mandating that the Medford system "make (its) water treatment, transmission and distribution infrastructure" available to residents. Drafted over the weekend, it got a first hearing Monday in the House Business and Consumer Affairs Committee, chaired by Rep. Alan Brown, R-Newport. That surprised one member of the committee, Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford. And he was not amused. Esquivel said he first got wind something was brewing about Westwood on Friday, but was stunned when he saw it on the agenda Monday. "If we pass this, we will be opening a Pandora’s box," said Esquivel, a former member of the Medford City Council. "I don’t care if it’s Medford or Pendleton or anywhere else in the state, this is wrong." If residents want to change the Medford Water Commission’s charter prohibiting service outside the UGB, "all they have to do is gather enough signatures and submit it to a vote locally," Esquivel said. Besides, he adds, "people knew what the water situation was when they moved out there." Larry Rains, manager of the Medford Water Commission, said he first learned of Richardson’s proposal on Monday. "Our rules are long-standing and they do not allow us to serve that area," he said. An exception is the nearby Navy Reserve Center, which receives Medford water through a private service line to the property. That is the line the subdivision wants to tap into. When Westwood was first mapped out and people began building, residents relied on plentiful ground water replenished each year from spillage from open irrigation ditches, Nistler said. But the two major users —Bear Creek Corp. and the U.S. Forest Service’s J. Herbert Stone Nursery — replaced the ditches with pipes to reduce water loss. The nursery collects any excess water and recycles it. Drought conditions further impacted the water table, Nistler said. Adding to the subdivision’s woes is a rise in chemical residues from surrounding orchard spraying that is contaminating depleted wells. Richardson said this has affected water potability at about 73 homes. At first, Nistler said, residents asked the commission to sell water directly. This was denied. Westwood then purchased rights to Lost Creek water from the Army Corps of Engineers and asked that Medford merely treat and deliver those supplies. Again, no sale, Nistler said. At a meeting in April, the commission expressed sympathy with the district’s plight and encouraged it to be "creative" in finding ways to meet their water needs. "This bill fits that need," said Nistler. Richardson said a committee vote is tentatively scheduled for Friday on his proposal. "This will cost the Medford Water Commission nothing," he said. Because his bill is specific to one neighborhood, there is "no chance" its passage will have an impact on other areas. The Central Point Republican was cautiously optimistic he would win committee approval, but he admitted Esquivel’s opposition "doesn’t help." Even if it clears the committee, the bill must still pass the House and the Senate before going to the governor for signature. Don Jepsen is a freelance writer living in Salem. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg diamonds Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Auto Insurance Mesothelioma Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Payday Loans Advertisement s