Document text
Bear Creek, Illinois imperiled, group says WaterWatch: Overuse endangers fish habitat, and laws need reform By Paul Fattig Bear Creek and portions of the Illinois River drainage are among 10 Oregon waterways being tapped dry by human use, according to a study by WaterWatch of Oregon. Too much water is being diverted for irrigation and development around the state, leaving many young salmon and steelhead high and dry, the Portland-based conservation group concludes. WaterWatch is calling for reforming water laws and establishing basic minimum flows on Oregon streams and rivers. "We�re losing the spawning and rearing habitat," said Bob Hunter, a Medford resident who is staff attorney for WaterWatch. The Illinois River drainage in the Illinois Valley during the late summer is a good example, he said. "The mainstem typically maintains a flow, but the flow is greatly diminished," he said of a drainage heavily impacted by irrigation. "The water temperature is high and can be dangerous to salmonoids." But tributaries like Deer Creek and Sucker Creek, as well as the east fork and west fork of the Illinois River, have had extremely low, fish-killing flows, he said. In Bear Creek, in addition to too many demands on the water, there is additional concern of pollutants, he said. "Bear Creek is water-quality limited," he said. Some Oregon streams are being overtaxed, confirmed Paul Cleary, director of the state Water Resources Department, which administers the state�s 70,000 water-withdrawal permits, including those in Jackson and Josephine counties. "We�ve stretched the resource in some areas beyond what rivers are capable of providing," Cleary said. "We�re trying to find ways to restore and protect water for fish while still providing to economic users," he said. The department has assembled an endangered-species task force to come up with new ways of increasing water flow in the drying streams, he said. One answer would be to build more reservoirs to provide water for fish and farms, suggested Andy Anderson, executive director of the Oregon Farm Bureau. The Oregon Water Trust has another answer. The nonprofit organization buys or leases water rights for fish, paying out $250,000 last year. In Rogue Basin streams, that included seven cubic feet per second � 3,179 gallons a minute � that remained in streams for fish. In recent years, there have been efforts to resolve the historic fight for water on Oregon streams, observed Eric Dittmer, director of environmental studies at Southern Oregon University. "But the entities that really haven�t sat down at the table can�t: the fish," he said. "Yet the federal regulations and state�s response has brought the fish interests to the table with strong messages." The former water quality coordinator for the Rogue Valley Council of Governments says Bear Creek is "upside down." "There is hardly any water left at the lower end because of withdrawals from approved water rights upstream," he explained. "That�s backwards. The normal pattern is disrupted." The stream was closed to additional appropriations in 1959. "One answer is the continuing refinement of water management," he said. "That would include using the artificial impoundments we�ve got � dams, canals and reservoirs � to allow flows in streams that would be otherwise impounded." Conservation and agricultural improvements, such as drip-system irrigation, also allows less water to be withdrawn, he said. Hunter agrees there will be no quick solution to a water problem that took decades to develop. "The hard thing now is figuring out how to get stream restoration," Hunter said. "We have to keep in mind that there are people out there who rely on the water for historic uses. "But we do need to find ways to restore that balance," he added. While it made sense to offer water rights to those who were helping settle the West during pioneer days, water laws should be reformed to reflect the current situation, he said. "The dialogue has changed," he said. "People are starting to recognize there are competing uses. Under the old system, we went so far out of balance with the natural system. We need to bring it back into balance." On the Web: www.waterwatch.org Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA