Green Peter Dam Draw-Down Information

Updates 

The city of Sweet Home and Lebanon announced officially that they are seeking legal counsel together to file a lawsuit for the damages caused by the Corps drawdowns.  It would be directed at the Army Corps of Engineers.  Linn County commissioners have also made a public statement of intent to file.   When I find out more about what is in this document, I will keep you posted as long as it’s public.

Refill started as of December 16th, and we should see an increase in the reservoir.  I will post pictures as I get them.

On Tuesday 12/5/2023  at 5:30 the council held a meeting to allow for questions and comments on Green Peter dam drawdown information and the water quality.  The Corps was not available at this meeting and for the most part, they didn’t have a very large turnout.  Some questions were posed to the council and some teeth-mashing about how they have handled this situation.  If you would like to listen here is the link.  Council Website.

There are further questions I personally would like to forward to the Corps of Engineers.  Before I give those here, I would like to say that they have always been very forthcoming when I have asked questions face-to-face and one-on-one.  Some very valid questions I am getting from the public about this matter are as follows:

Are Spring Chinook Salmon naturally occurring in this creek system?  I have been told, “It depends on who you ask.”  Frankly, that is not an acceptable answer. It is the heart of the problem we face here.  This community loves its fish habitat.  What is the cost to our natural ecosystem and balancing one species over another?  If the Salmon were introduced here, then any number of fish being sustained is enough.  If the actions needed to keep that species living here aren’t adequate  (without a drawdown of the reservoir) then maybe they don’t need to be here.  

Second, why do they need to spawn to the top of Green Peter Dam and further upward?  Is below Foster far enough?  

I think these are questions that would have been factors when doing the BiOPS study that was required.  Who is responsible for performing this study, and why it wasn’t done promptly.  IE a timeframe that a judge could have determined if the arguments presented in that study were enough to stop the effective devastation seen today.  These are the difficult answers and most of the frustration is thrown towards the municipality.  If we could get some of these answers and what they are planning to do moving forward, it would help relieve community concerns.

Background  on the Green Peter dam Drawdown Information

In 2008, as part of the Endangered Species Act, a Biological Assessment needs to be completed once a species is determined to be endangered.  This study includes details on potential effects to a species or its designated critical habitat.  When a federal agency (The Army Corps of Engineers) determines that its action is likely to adversely affect a listed species and/or its designated critical habitat, the agency is required to submit a request for formal consultation.  

The Federal Government was sued in March of 2018 for delays in meeting this requirement.  The specific study needed is for major structural modifications to several dams for downstream juvenile fish passage and temperature management.  The court issued an injunction on September 1, 2021, requiring the Corps to delay refills, perform deep drawdowns, and increase spill.  The consultation by the ESA must also be completed by the end of December 2024.

They will be evaluating a range of alternatives for operational versus structural changes that would allow the Corps to continue to operate the Willamette Valley System and avoid further damage to the endangered fish species, in this case, Spring Steelhead and Chinook Salmon.

This Biological Assessment will have new legal requirements for operating and maintaining to resolve the injunction.  Including a “near-term” requirement to continue the drawdown, delay refills, and increase spillways, if structural changes are selected as the long-term management option.

The Water Resources Development Act of 2022 aims to determine hydropower’s production economic value, including non-monetary benefits such as the ability to provide operational flexibility to meet environmental requirements. 

Background Summary 

The Endangered Species Act required the Federal Government to provide a biological study for a species identified as “endangered”.  The Corps of Engineers failed to meet this requirement and a court decided to force a known working way to get fish downstream, ie drawdown the dam and don’t refill til the run is mostly completed.  Furthermore, if they don’t provide alternative ways in order to accomplish this task (ie structural fish ladders or other structural plans that work) they will potentially remove the hydropower ability of the dam altogether.  Including the possible complete removal of the dam.  The latter is probably a very long way away from happening, but it is on the table.

Unintended Consequences 

Drinking Water

Once the drawdown occurred, sediment that had been at the base of both dams was stirred, dislodged, and began downstream to the inlets for drinking water in the cities of Sweet Home, Lebanon, and Albany.  On March 20, 2023 Sweet Home held a council meeting to address the concerns of residents of Sweet Home. It was a heated meeting with many people yelling at the council members and the Corps of Engineers to fill the reservoir back up.  I currently reside in Sweet Home and can attest, that the water coming out of the tap is not ideal.  The chlorine level, although below allowable limits is palatable.  It’s very strong and many have reported animals and people with stomach and intestinal problems.  The city has sent out samples to an independent lab for testing of heavy metals.  This test was performed before the drawdown and is required every three years, with two tests done three months apart.  We were due to submit these levels.  The first results indicate a known heavy metal load below “background”.  Those are considered “safe”.  The new results will be posted when the city receives the report.    You can view current weekly reports HERE.

Wells

There have been some wells run dry at levels above the dam drawdown.  The water table those wells were drawing from  was drained into the S. Santiam and will likely return once the dam is refilled, but what do homeowners do until then?  Being a Realtor, a well running dry is cause for serious loss in value of real estate.  

Fish 

The water at the fish hatchery looks like the water everywhere else.  I visited there to talk with them about the conditions.  The fish all down the basin have gill irritation.  This should not cause any lasting danger to the fish according to a few different sources.  These sources are not environmentalists, just FYI.  The fish in the hatchery have a parasitic infection this time of the year, in general.  They usually get treated for this, but the water turbidity won’t allow for that treatment to occur.  The field hatchery biologists don’t think the delay in their treatment will have long last effects to their overall health.  

The adult fish in the lakes do tend to hunt by sight.  They are likely not able to do that due to the visibility in the water.  That could have an impact.  Most everyone who lives in the area is aware that you can’t even drive into a stream

Loons and other water foul, including bald eagles and other hawks also hunt by site.  No professional opinion on their long-term condition has been relayed to me.

Keep In Mind

The city does NOT control the dam levels.  They would love for the inlet water to be it’s normal clear 20 NTUs.  It makes the water they are producing easier and cheaper to manage.  They have been working overtime and are incurring additional expenses to produce water within the parameters allowed.  They are tracking these expenses, so they can be included in the costs of a drawdown option for the dam.  Here are a few questions that the city addressed at this last meeting.  I recommended that people within the city limits be permitted to have a voice at the meetings, even if for only a few minutes.   

The city did send out samples for Mercury and Lead testing (and many other heavy metals) that could be sitting in the bottom of the sediment layer.  A couple of things to note: many heavy metals combine with non-soluble materials and get filtered out through the sand filtration system (a good thing).  There were tests performed on the sediment level before the drawdown, and those levels were save for heavy metals.  It would be surprising to find those levels elevated on the incoming tests.  Not impossible.  

The city has three sand filtration systems.  The media in these are changed as needed and two of them have been updated recently, and the third was just performed.  So, they are working optimally currently.  They do need to be backwashed to remove the filtering depris.  That means they filter about 300,000 gallons and then back filter with 100,000 gallons to wash the filters out.  A 3 forward, one back scenario.  

The city is working on legal actions against the injunction.  They are discussing a class action with other cities and the county.  These take time, and wouldn’t likely stop the problem before refilling starts on December 15.  

The plaintiffs in the original lawsuit were the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, Wild Earth Guardians, and the Native Fish Society.  

The maximum level of chlorine allowed for water treatment is 4.0 mg/L.  The city of Sweet Home chlorine residual has been 1.5 mg/L over the last month.  Well below the allowable maximum, but they have detected at a max of 1.67 mg/L

Solutions

When this first occurred my thoughts were, well, this seems to have huge impacts that are costly.  Including one that can be calculated, the monetary loss in hydropower electricity.  So, my first question was what is the fine for not following the court order?  I still have not gotten a number for this proposed solution.  Simply don’t do the drawdown and accept the consequences, a fine.  When speaking with the Corps, I was informed that non-compliance has not been considered.  They are a government entity and going against the court is not something they have even entertained and aren’t likely to start now.

The seemingly best option for water quality and fish sustainability is to place a fish ladder in so they can cross successfully over the dam.  There are some rumblings of Green Peter being too high to place a fish ladder.  I think maybe at a certain price that is likely true.  So this is a numbers game.  Do you want to keep the hydropower (the cleanest energy form we can get, so far, that is not dependent on wind or the sun being out)?  Then, place a great fish ladder, the best we can find.  Yes, it will cost, but I see a win for all parties.  Fish get where they need to be, the dam stays up, hydropower continues, wells and drinking water stay high quality.  There is a cost to conservation.  Let’s find a way to cover the cost and get a high-quality investment that brings in even more visitors with a research area like Bonneville Dam.