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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Successful post-seasons put SOU athletic budget in the red ... Tuesday meeting: State-appointed panel to examine Rogue Valley's transportation future ... Morrison's Rogue River Lodge revitalized through acquisition ... Successful post-seasons put SOU athletic budget in the red ... Tuesday meeting: State-appointed panel to examine Rogue Valley's transportation future ... Morrison's Rogue River Lodge revitalized through acquisition ... Breaking Barriers After a dozen years of debate, the Farmers Ditch Dam on the Little Applegate River has been removed The old Farmers Ditch irrigation dam on the Little Applegate River refused to flow easily into history. Comment By Paul Fattig MailTribune.com By Paul Fattig Posted Sep. 18, 2012 at 12:01 AM Updated Sep 18, 2012 at 12:11 AM By Paul Fattig Posted Sep. 18, 2012 at 12:01 AM Updated Sep 18, 2012 at 12:11 AM » Social News The old Farmers Ditch irrigation dam on the Little Applegate River refused to flow easily into history. When heavy equipment operator Josh Kelsey deployed his excavator armed with a giant hammer to pound away at the concrete diversion dam early Monday afternoon, the blows initially seemed to have little impact. "When we get it removed depends on how things go — it will have rebar and steel in there," cautioned Rich Kilbane, field coordinator of the fish screening and passage program for the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife in southwest Oregon. But by the end of the day Kelsey and his ODFW dam removal crew had taken the concrete down to the river channel, opening up an estimated 30 miles of the river and its tributaries to steelhead and cutthroat trout and possibly coho salmon. "This will enhance the fishery," Kilbane said. "During low flows, the fish ladder is not adequate for fish passage. Removing the dam should be a big improvement." The barrier is the second diversion dam to be removed from the river in the past decade. In 2005, the Buck and Jones Dam about two miles upstream near Buncom was removed to improve fish passage. The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan identified the river as a key watershed because of its sensitive fish stock and overall water condition. Coho are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In the late 1990s, the 41 irrigators in both the Farmers Ditch Association and the Buck and Jones Association agreed to pump out of the main Applegate River, taking water that had been stored behind the Applegate Dam. The irrigators basically turned their water rights, some going back to 1857, over to in-stream use on the Little Applegate, Kilbane said. The diversion dams have been replaced with a system of pumps and pipes to provide water for more than 40 ranches and farms dependent on the diverted water. "The main purpose of this dam removal project is to improve the fishery by providing access to habitat upstream," said Frances Oyung, president of the nonprofit Rogue Basin Coordinating Council, an association of watershed councils. "The Little Applegate is a valuable fish habitat," she added. "Because of this obstacle, fish have not been able to access that additional habitat." She noted it took a major contribution by the landowners to get the project under way. "If these landowners did not share belief this was an important project, it would have never happened," she said. "Granted, it took a long time. But none of this would have happened if it hadn't been for the landowners." "This is about water quality, water quantity and fish passage," added Sam Whitridge, council coordinator. Together, the dams diverted nearly 15 cubic feet of water per second from the river. While the circa-1920s Farmers Ditch Dam was concrete, the Buck and Jones Dam was built up each irrigation season with 2-by-12-inch boards set against metal stanchions to a height of 6 feet. Work on the Farms Ditch Dam project is expected to continue with additional removal of concrete, including the fish ladder, officials said. Earlier this month, a contract crew hired by ODFW began working on a private bridge immediately upstream to re-enforce abutments expected to be impacted by the removal of the dam, Kilbane said. The bridge upstream was installed after the 1997 flood with the abutment resting on sediment built up by the dam over the decades. Those abutments now need to be shored up to prevent the bridge support from being eroded, he noted. Meanwhile, the dam removal appears to be just in time. "This is the time of year when steelhead begin to move upstream," Kilbane said. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or email him at [email protected]. By Paul Fattig MailTribune.com By Paul Fattig Posted Sep. 18, 2012 at 12:01 AM Updated Sep 18, 2012 at 12:11 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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