6/2/2020 Guest View: Willamette Valley dams need work - Opinion - The Register-Guard - Eugene, OR

Opinion

Guest View: Willamette Valley dams need work

Posted at 12:01 AM
Nearly 80 years ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished two major
Willamette River Basin engineering projects, Cottage Grove and Fern Ridge
dams. Over the next 27 years, the corps constructed 11 more dams.

We also have hundreds of decades old state and private dams. Most of our dams
are from a bygone era When many of these dams were built, most cars did not
have seat belts or power steering, Sputnik launched the Space Age, and the first
computers were developed The reality is that most dams on the major
tributaries of the Willamette River are beyond or near the end of their designed
lifetimes, and at some point in the near future some will have to be removed or
rebuilt.

Recently the corps issued an environmental analysis that proposes lowering the
reservoir heights behind Lookout Point and Hills Creek Dams due to an
unacceptable risk of structural failure during a Cascadia subduction zone
earthquake. This is a troubling conclusion for those two dams, which may point
to significant issues with others in the Willamette system. How does concrete
and pounded earth possibly hold up beyond 50 or 80 years, against the forces of

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6/2/2020 Guest View: Willamette Valley dams need work - Opinion - The Register-Guard - Eugene, OR

water and sediment even outside of a major earthquake? Significant portions

of these dams are earthen a mix of rock and soil that holds back millions of
acre feet of water and tons of sediment seeking to hold fast against all of the
wear and tear and immense pressure that the water creates.

While general upkeep, some emergency improvements and fish passage projects
have been undertaken here and there, none of these dams have been rebuilt or
proposed for removal. There likely are engineering issues due to the age,
materials and location of these large structures in the Willamette Basin. Last
year, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave Oregon dams a grade of D
plus with a hazard rating of “high” or “significant” and cited national risks for
America’s dams relating to age, downstream development, dam abandonment
and lack of funding for dam safety.

Two weeks ago in Michigan, an earthen portion of a dam failed and caused
significant impacts to local communities. Climate change also may have been a
factor in the dam’s failure Floodwater poured across three towns and destroyed
homes and other structures. A failure of any of dams in the Willamette Basin
clearly would have major impacts to people and the downstream environment

Two months ago, Willamette Riverkeeper submitted a Freedom of Information

Act request to the corps, seeking all engineering analyses, studies, reports and
related records for all of the Willamette Basin dams We know dams have caused
unparalleled damage to fish passage and river ecosystems. Our aging dams also
may pose unacceptable risks to human life If there is substandard or aging
concrete, steel or other problems, the public needs to know and to be in a better
position to push for solutions

Given the concerns about the structural integrity of Oregon’s dams and the
impacts of climate change, we are requesting that the corps, the state of Oregon
and private dam owners conduct public safety analyses to determine which dams
can be removed or rebuilt and identify dates by which that must occur. If such
analyses already have been done in some form, we request that they proceed with
making this information public and begin immediate steps to implement
removal or rebuilds of problematic dams.

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6/2/2020 Guest View: Willamette Valley dams need work - Opinion - The Register-Guard - Eugene, OR

As part of any removal or rebuilding effort, we have a unique opportunity to

completely rethink major improvements where our dam system is failing. This
would include addressing the perilous situation of federally listed spring Chinook
and winter steelhead populations and planning for water use in light of a
changing climate.

Instead of being nickel and dimed to retrofit antiquated feats of civil engineering
as we have been for years we need a new, comprehensive and forward
thinking, long term approach. It is time to re imagine flood control, fish
passage, water certainty and public safety for the valley. It is time for a dam
change.

Travis Williams has been riverkeeper and executive director of Willamette Riverkeeper
since 2000. Elisabeth Holmes is sta f attorney for Willamette Riverkeeper.

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