Army corps' flip-flop on Fern Ridge raises doubts.

Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard

FERN RIDGE - Lowering Fern Ridge Lake takes pressure off an aging dam and puts it on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The corps decided last month to limit the reservoir level to 360 feet above sea level - 13 1/2 feet below normal - fearing that erosion has placed the 63-year-old clay dam at a "high to very high" risk of breaking in the next three years if operated at the regular level.

A shallow Fern Ridge has deep impacts: Irrigation is threatened, boating stops, tourism drops, businesses falter and the likelihood of storm-related flooding grows.

All sides agree that the dam's safety is the priority, but some question the dire assessment and the move to cut back so dramatically on the water supply for at least the next two summers. The corps will explain the move at meetings tonight in Veneta and Thursday in Monroe.

According to project manager Mark Dasso, the dam is breaking down from within due to the failure of aging drain pipes. A fix could come late in 2006 at the earliest, as Oregon's federal lawmakers go after the money for the work.

But one of those lawmakers, Rep. Peter DeFazio, wants answers first.

In a letter last week to the corps headquarters in Washington, D.C., DeFazio said the agency's recent reversals on the status of the dam have caused confusion and skepticism.

He wants a review of the decision to restrict the water level; a firm cost for a fix; consideration of whether a phased repair is possible to keep the lake open in the meantime; and consideration of filling the lake to a higher level during the summer.

The corps hopes to have a firm cost by the end of the year, but Dasso rejected the possibility of raising the lake. Given that the erosion continues, "if we revise (the lake level)," Dasso said, "it will be downward, not upward."

The corps struggled to pinpoint the problem after a sinkhole was found on the dam's downstream side in 2002. As more sinkholes were found early in 2003, the corps speculated that the dam was losing stability, but ruled it out by the end of the year.

Instead, another problem - muddy water in the drains, thought at first to be related to the stability concern - was identified last fall as internal erosion. The culprit: water passing through the dam or the foundation, making a pipe-like hole that is working back toward the lake, and would eventually cause the dam to break unless the water level, and thus the pressure on the dam, is lowered.

Three experts assembled by the corps confirmed this in December, and warned that the dam was in the second stage of a three-stage breakdown, Dasso said. With the lake at the normal level, the last stage would be a break occurring over a matter of hours, flooding areas along the Long Tom River.

The corps has based repair estimates on worst-case scenarios, because it takes two years for Congress to fund such problems, Dasso said. As the corps learned more about the severity of the problem, $7 million rose to $10 million, then to between $15 million and $20 million.

Total cost now: up to $75 million, if the corps must also retrofit the dam against earthquakes and a worst-case flooding scenario, and add other improvements.

Temporary fix?

DeFazio isn't the only one who wonders whether the corps can keep the lake level higher while repairs are being done.

The corps' three experts said a phased repair might be necessary - in part, to keep the reservoir as full as possible in the meantime - and that the corps should consider methods that allow increased water storage until the work is done.

Harve Waff, a professor of groundwater hydrology at the University of Oregon, offered another option: Remove water in the dam with pipes installed horizontally through drilling.

Dasso dismissed Waff's suggestion - horizontal pipes won't solve the internal erosion and decaying pipes, he said.

He also said a phased repair won't work because the corps can't isolate the spots where the dam is failing - the agency can't find them, in fact, because a camera can't pass through the main drain line, which is partially plugged with water deposits.

After further consideration, one of the three experts - James Talbot, a consulting specialist from Maryland - echoed Dasso, saying that the repair will require drawing the water down for one to two years.

Irrigation could be cut

Farmers fear that the restriction means there won't be enough water this summer to irrigate the 10,000 acres in the area.

The lake is currently at 353 feet, but even at the corps' restricted summer level of 360 feet, Fern Ridge will have 16,000 acre-feet of water available - enough for annual irrigation use, which is just under 12,000 acre-feet, said Michael Mattick, of the Oregon Water Resources Department.

The corps must also consider adequate flows for fish, although Dasso said there are no threatened or endangered species below the dam.

The variable is how much rain will fall this winter and spring - that's unknowable, Dasso said, and it could mean shortages for farmers and fish this summer.

Farmer John Reerslev wants the lake raised to 364 feet, a level that will guarantee the water he and other farmers are entitled to through contracts with the Bureau of Reclamation.

The 50-year-old Reerslev, who runs a 2,250-acre farm in the Junction City area with two brothers, has planted crops based on the corps' past statements of sufficient irrigation water, he said, and the current restriction could cause him to lose part of his crops.

Last year, Reerslev said, after the corps said there would be enough water through 2005 and beyond, he planted 25 acres of sugar beets for seed and continued the cultivation of 170 acres of peppermint - both would be lost if the water stops.

"I have crops at risk of not coming to harvest, I have economic or financial commitments, we have families and employees to support and I also have contracts on the peppermint and sugar beet seeds to honor," he said. "(The restriction) puts me at risk of not delivering."

In one study - no water for a 10,000-acre area - farmers would lose $2 million to $3 million annually, said Steve Cornacchia, counsel for the Junction City Water Control District.

He wants the corps to postpone work three years so farmers can plant suitable crops, or fix the dam now without affecting supply.

Said Cornacchia: "We need to make damn sure that what (the corps) is saying is necessary, is necessary."

Boating events canceled

A shallow Fern Ridge also leaves sailors and others without one of the top 10 boating spots in the state.

This summer's biggest events won't be held: The Memorial Day Regatta may move to Newport, while the Santana 20 Nationals must go elsewhere in the Northwest.

The nationals - which draws 50 sailboats from across the nation - would have brought $25,000 to the Eugene Yacht Club, Lane County parks and local businesses, said Gale Morgan, the club's commodore.

Lane County, which has four parks at Fern Ridge, expects a steep drop in user fees and wants a federal reimbursement of $150,000 for every season that the lake is low, said Tony Bieda, a lobbyist for the county.

Veneta City Administrator Ric Ingham said the lake will no longer be a selling point for new business, but he plans to work with the corps and the state Fish & Wildlife Department to promote the area's bird-watching opportunities.

Area businesspeople, meanwhile, are bracing themselves. Ray's Food Place enjoys a 30 percent to 40 percent surge in sales in July and August between lake users and travelers to the coast, store manager Wilbur Quiring said.

This year, the store won't add as many people for the summer rush.

"Survival is not the issue," Quiring said. "It's just profitability."

PUBLIC MEETINGS

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will meet with the public on the Fern Ridge Dam problem.

Veneta/Elmira: 7 o'clock tonight, Fern Ridge Middle School gym, 88831 Territorial Road.

Monroe: 7 p.m. Thursday, Monroe High School Commons Room, Highway 99 West, at the north end of the city.

For more information: Call the corps at 503-808-4510.

CAPTION(S):

Jim Beal, a park ranger for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, measures the flow from a drain at Fern Ridge Dam where the corps has found high levels of sediment in the water, a sign of internal erosion. Thomas Boyd / The Register-Guard