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Kitzhaber vetoes bill supporting retention of Savage Rapids Dam By PETER WONG SALEM -- A special water right for the Grants Pass Irrigation District, which wants to keep Savage Rapids Dam, was the target of Gov. John Kitzhaber's latest veto Tuesday. Kitzhaber's sixth veto this session, and his 101st in five years, was expected. House Bill 3065 would have allowed GPID to draw supplemental water from the Rogue River. That right would not be tied to its 1994 pledge to work toward removal of the dam, which sits on the line between Josephine and Jackson counties. "I vetoed a substantially similar bill in 1995," Kitzhaber said in Tuesday's veto message. "In the intervening time, little progress has been made by the district in solving the fish passage and other problems associated with Savage Rapids Dam. There is no persuasive reason why I should change my position with respect to granting the water right sought by the district." Though both houses could override his veto by two-thirds majorities, an override attempt is unlikely in the House. The House passed it last month, 32-27, with one vote to spare. "All you can do is do your best and hope something may change," said Rep. Carl Wilson, R-Grants Pass, the bill's chief sponsor. "But apparently it has not. I am disappointed but not surprised. The governor's track record on this issue is well-known to all, so this is simply another chapter." The district has gone to the Oregon Court of Appeals to overturn last year's cancellation by the state Water Resources Commission of its supplemental water right. Wilson portrayed the struggle in David-and-Goliath terms when the House passed the bill. But Kitzhaber said it was GPID that tried to circumvent the system of water rights by going to the Legislature. "This unprecedented step would be contrary to public policy by ignoring the application process and review required for all others to obtain water rights," he wrote. Dam supporters say GPID has improved fish passage at the dam. But the National Marine Fisheries Service, which has designated south coast runs of coho salmon as a threatened species requiring federal protection, has filed an enforcement action against GPID. Democrat Kitzhaber is now seven vetoes from tying the modern record of 108 that Republican Gov. Vic Atiyeh compiled between 1979 and 1987. Like Atiyeh, Kitzhaber has had to deal with legislative majorities of the opposite party through his two terms. Kitzhaber soon may receive related bills to veto: Senate Bill 987, which has cleared both houses, would require legislative approval of most dam removals. Kitzhaber's threat to veto a similar bill in 1995 caused the Legislature to convert it into something else. House Bill 2600, which has passed the House and is pending in a Senate committee, would exclude the amount of water lost to seepage from counting against the water rights of irrigation districts such as GPID. The district has 160 miles of unlined canals. House Bill 3346, which has passed the House and awaits a vote of the Senate, would require sediment studies before some dam removals. The requirement is not applicable to Savage Rapids Dam because a federally funded study is pending. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA