New rules aim to fix city water quality.

Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard

NEW WATERWAY RULES Eugene is proposing new building setbacks to protect the Willamette River, its tributaries and other waterways.

What's proposed: No new building within 75 feet of each side of waterways. Existing buildings could remain.

What's affected: Willamette River, Amazon Creek, Amazon Diversion Channel, the A3 Channel, Willow Creek, plus waterways and creeks that drain into them, as long as they have earth channels and vegetated banks, and headwaters that drain at least 10 acres.

What's next: Open house June 15 for residents to get more information. Details: from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Hilyard Community Center, 2580 Hilyard Street.

Contact: Therese Walch, 682-8647, or Tim Bingham, 682-4410. Visit the city's Web site: www.eugene.or.gov/PW, or e-mail: [e-mail].

About 4 feet of rain falls on Eugene each year, giving officials plenty of incentive to improve the quality of water that trickles, flows and gushes through the city.

There's another reason: State and federal regulators list the Willamette River and its major tributaries in the city as "water-quality impaired" because they have excessive bacteria, arsenic or other pollutants. The Willamette, for example, exceeds standards for bacteria, mercury and temperature, according to the city's Public Works Department.

In response, city officials are proposing building setbacks to protect the Willamette and the tributaries on the impaired list: Amazon Creek, Amazon Diversion Channel, the A3 Channel and Willow Creek.

And in a related move, they're looking to reduce pollution by restoring altered waterways to their earlier condition.

For example, in the Amazon headwaters in south Eugene, the city this summer will convert into an above-ground stream a portion of Amazon Creek that now flows in an underground pipe. The restored waterway will be in Frank Kinney Park, near where West Amazon Drive meets Martin Street.

The new city rules, if approved as an ordinance by the City Council later this year, would prohibit building within 75 feet on each side of the waterways, creeks that drain into them and headwaters that drain at least 10 acres.

Existing structures would not have to be removed, and a property owner could build within the proposed setback before an ordinance takes effect, said Therese Walch, Eugene's water quality manager.

City officials are about to launch a publicity effort to spread the news about the proposed rules. They hope to convince property owners of the value of protecting the waterways from pollution, perhaps preventing some owners from building before the construction prohibitions take effect.

The setbacks are one of several ways that the city tries to reduce urban runoff pollution, Walch said.

Street sweeping, for example, reduces the amount of pollutants that reach waterways. Creeks and drainageways that were modified by can be restored to their previous natural states, she said, which improves water quality.

"No one, single action is going to solve our water quality problems," Walch said. But the proposed setbacks "are a very important complement to an overall stormwater management program."

This week, more than 3,000 property owners who may be affected are to receive a mailing with details about the proposed rules, she said. Property owners can learn more at a June 15 open house.

Meanwhile, the city is finalizing plans for opening the piped section of Amazon Creek.

As the Frank Kinney Park area developed with houses, the city in the 1960s installed the pipe to route runoff away from the middle fork of upper Amazon Creek to the main Amazon Creek channel.

But over time the 700-foot-long pipe deteriorated. Now, instead of replacing it, the city will restore flow to the long-dormant middle waterway. The project will create a 350-foot long above-ground stream.

"We'll take the water out of the pipe and put it where the stream once was," said Terry Colvin, a project manager with Public Works.

Construction should start in July or August and finish in early 2007, he said.

"It will be a meandering stream with stone and wood features and lots of native vegetation," Colvin said. "We'll plant 25 individual species of trees and shrubs and grasses, with a couple of thousand of plantings," he said.

A curving stream rather than a straight, 48-inch-diameter pipe will reduce the speed of water flowing into the main channel of Amazon Creek, causing less erosion in the larger creek, Colvin said. The area around the stream also will provide places for runoff to pool during heavy rain.

Plus, there's the benefit of providing natural habitat for plants, animals, and aquatic life, Colvin said.

The project is estimated to cost $350,000. The money comes from stormwater fees paid by property owners.

Last month, the city approved raising stormwater rates by $1.14 a month to $8.69 monthly for homeowners with a building footprint of 1,000 to 3,000 square feet. The higher fees will take effect next month.

The new plants and trees are to be planted by next March. It will take a few years for the restored area to look natural, Colvin said. "It takes about five years for a site to establish itself and heal itself," he said.

City officials are planning other creek restoration projects, including one in the south hills near 34th Avenue, and one in the Bethel area off Royal Avenue. For more information, call Colvin at 682-5398.