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CLOUDY Temp: 51 °F Wind: SSW at 14 mph Friday, April 25, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend March 7, 2003 Corps plans fish trap at Elk Creek Dam Newly signed law forbids agency from notching it By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday abandoned plans to notch Elk Creek Dam. Instead it will build a new fish trap to help capture and haul salmon past the half-built dam for the next several decades. President Bush signed into law last week a bill that forbids the agency from following through on its plans to notch the dam so fish can swim unimpeded past the structure on Elk Creek less than two miles from its confluence with the upper Rogue River. The notch was to be rebuilt if the dam were ever finished. The bill, pushed by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., requires the agency instead to capture adult salmon and steelhead at the dam’s base and truck them to upstream spawning grounds, leaving the dam’s current configuration alone. Corps leaders said Thursday they will begin designing a permanent trap-and-haul facility to replace the one used the past 11 years. The original was designed for short-term use — less than five years — to capture fish for brood stock after the dam was built. The permanent facility could include a larger trap, handling and storing facilities, a reconfiguration of the stream flow and possibly even residences for employees. "We will, basically, start from scratch on a new design and we’re going to have to work out all of these details," said Doug Clarke, the Corps’ Elk Creek project manager in Portland. The bill gives the agency $1 million this year to cover the roughly $500,000 cost for fish hauling, maintenance and security at the dam, the construction of which was halted by lawsuits in 1987. The remainder will go toward initial work on the design, which also will include consultation with federal fish managers over potential impacts to threatened coho salmon, Clarke said. The agency expects to have cost estimates by spring 2004 and complete the new facility by fall 2006, Clarke said. A 1997 estimate on a permanent facility placed the price tag at $8 million, with an initial operating budget of about $150,000 a year. Clarke called the notch plan "the best technical recommendation" that was cheaper and easier on handling migrating salmon while meeting federal thresholds meant to avoid jeopardizing Elk Creek’s run of threatened coho. "But we feel we can design a facility that will avoid jeopardy of a listed fish," Clarke said. The new law already has drawn sharp criticism from environmental groups that continue to insist the half-built dam must be removed to protect the basin’s salmon and water quality. "Millions of tax dollars have already been squandered on the failed Elk Creek Dam," said Peter Raabe of the conservation group American Rivers. "It’s too bad that in these tight budget times, Congress is willing to spend these dollars on such a wasteful and environmentally hazardous project." But dam-backers believe this week’s news significantly improves the chance that the dam and accompanying reservoir will one day be completed and help store water for an occasionally parched region. "Elk Creek is one of the only options for expanding our stored water," Jackson County Commissioner Sue Kupillas said. "We’re not going to see any new dams built, so it makes sense to keep this facility." Elk Creek Dam originally was one of three planned for the Rogue Basin for flood control and fisheries enhancement by augmenting low summer water flows in the Rogue. The dam’s construction began in 1986 but was halted by lawsuits the following year. In 1992, the agency began contracting with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to trap and haul migrating adult salmon and steelhead past the structure while it tried to hash out what to do with the facility. In 1995, the Corps notified Congress that it planned to keep the project uncompleted and pushed to notch the dam for fish passage. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [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 © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S