Straydog
07-13-2002, 10:12 PM
Facts About Savage Rapids Dam
Savage Rapids Dam was built on the Rogue River near Grants Pass, Ore., in 1921. The dam is of concrete construction, 500 feet long and 39 feet high. It's owned and operated by the Grants Pass Irrigation District.
The dam interferes with access to more than 100 miles of mainstem and tributary habitat important to coho salmon, chinook salmon, steelhead, and sea-run cutthroat.
Fish ladders, to help adult fish get to their upstream spawning grounds, were constructed on the north side of the dam in 1923, and on the south side in the early 1930s. In 1934, two screens were installed to keep fish out of canals delivering water to irrigators, and two additional screens were installed in 1958 to keep fish out of turbines and pumps.
The fish ladders and fish screens at the dam have never worked well. Fish passage problems at the dam are documented and widely acknowledged. Between 15 and 25 percent of young coho are killed trying to pass the dam. The chief fish killer is the water diversion system, where water velocities are about five times what is considered safe and the screen mesh is twice as big as it should be.
Operation of the dam has continued while Oregon and federal agencies have tried to persuade the irrigation district to improve its fish passage facilities. After decades of negotiations, fish passage facilities at the dam remain very primitive and losses of fish at the dam continue to offset efforts elsewhere on the river to save them.
In 1982, the district's water right was reduced from 200 cubic feet/second to 100 cfs because the Oregon Water Resources Commission determined that less than half the land claimed by the irrigation district in the original water right was still being irrigated.
In 1990, the commission granted the district a temporary permit to divert an additional 50 cfs at the dam, with the condition that the irrigation district show due diligence in removing the dam. The dam's irrigation system is so inefficient because of leaks, that only about 18-22 percent of the water diverted is delivered to the district's customers.
In 1994, the irrigation district agreed to remove the dam.
A 1995, a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation study of the district's options concluded that removing the dam and pumping water to customers would cost $13 million and would result in saving thousands of salmon and steelhead. The estimated cost of retrofitting the dam was put at $21 million.
Scientific findings announced in April 1997, found that coho salmon in this area were threatened with extinction and required protection under the Endangered Species Act. In June, ESA regulations against killing or harming protected coho went into effect.
The dam's operations kill and harm threatened coho. Oregon estimates that an additional 21,000 to 94,000 adult salmon and steelhead would be produced annually if the dam were removed. The National Marine Fisheries Service has been working with the irrigation district since June of 1997 to protect coho and meet the needs of the district's customers.
Under the ESA, the irrigation district must do its best to minimize harm to coho. Removing the dam and installing pumps would meet irrigation needs, cost less than retrofitting the dam, and would increase salmon and steelhead production. It is thus clearly the best option available to the irrigation district. This view is also shared by Oregon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Reclamation and conservation groups like WaterWatch of Oregon, Trout Unlimited and American Rivers.
The fisheries service has told the irrigation district since September of 1997 that interruption of irrigation deliveries could be avoided if the district committed to a method and schedule for removing the dam, determined how removal would be paid for, and implemented protective measures to reduce harm to coho until the dam was removed.
The irrigation district has refused to commit to dam removal or to implement meaningful interim measures to reduce impacts to coho from operation of the project.
On March 31, the state's water resources commission found that the district had failed to show due diligence about removing the dam and it recommended denial of the district's request to continue diversion of the additional 50 cfs in 1998.
Savage Rapids Dam was built on the Rogue River near Grants Pass, Ore., in 1921. The dam is of concrete construction, 500 feet long and 39 feet high. It's owned and operated by the Grants Pass Irrigation District.
The dam interferes with access to more than 100 miles of mainstem and tributary habitat important to coho salmon, chinook salmon, steelhead, and sea-run cutthroat.
Fish ladders, to help adult fish get to their upstream spawning grounds, were constructed on the north side of the dam in 1923, and on the south side in the early 1930s. In 1934, two screens were installed to keep fish out of canals delivering water to irrigators, and two additional screens were installed in 1958 to keep fish out of turbines and pumps.
The fish ladders and fish screens at the dam have never worked well. Fish passage problems at the dam are documented and widely acknowledged. Between 15 and 25 percent of young coho are killed trying to pass the dam. The chief fish killer is the water diversion system, where water velocities are about five times what is considered safe and the screen mesh is twice as big as it should be.
Operation of the dam has continued while Oregon and federal agencies have tried to persuade the irrigation district to improve its fish passage facilities. After decades of negotiations, fish passage facilities at the dam remain very primitive and losses of fish at the dam continue to offset efforts elsewhere on the river to save them.
In 1982, the district's water right was reduced from 200 cubic feet/second to 100 cfs because the Oregon Water Resources Commission determined that less than half the land claimed by the irrigation district in the original water right was still being irrigated.
In 1990, the commission granted the district a temporary permit to divert an additional 50 cfs at the dam, with the condition that the irrigation district show due diligence in removing the dam. The dam's irrigation system is so inefficient because of leaks, that only about 18-22 percent of the water diverted is delivered to the district's customers.
In 1994, the irrigation district agreed to remove the dam.
A 1995, a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation study of the district's options concluded that removing the dam and pumping water to customers would cost $13 million and would result in saving thousands of salmon and steelhead. The estimated cost of retrofitting the dam was put at $21 million.
Scientific findings announced in April 1997, found that coho salmon in this area were threatened with extinction and required protection under the Endangered Species Act. In June, ESA regulations against killing or harming protected coho went into effect.
The dam's operations kill and harm threatened coho. Oregon estimates that an additional 21,000 to 94,000 adult salmon and steelhead would be produced annually if the dam were removed. The National Marine Fisheries Service has been working with the irrigation district since June of 1997 to protect coho and meet the needs of the district's customers.
Under the ESA, the irrigation district must do its best to minimize harm to coho. Removing the dam and installing pumps would meet irrigation needs, cost less than retrofitting the dam, and would increase salmon and steelhead production. It is thus clearly the best option available to the irrigation district. This view is also shared by Oregon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Reclamation and conservation groups like WaterWatch of Oregon, Trout Unlimited and American Rivers.
The fisheries service has told the irrigation district since September of 1997 that interruption of irrigation deliveries could be avoided if the district committed to a method and schedule for removing the dam, determined how removal would be paid for, and implemented protective measures to reduce harm to coho until the dam was removed.
The irrigation district has refused to commit to dam removal or to implement meaningful interim measures to reduce impacts to coho from operation of the project.
On March 31, the state's water resources commission found that the district had failed to show due diligence about removing the dam and it recommended denial of the district's request to continue diversion of the additional 50 cfs in 1998.