News Release
| Release Number: | 99-035 |
| Dated: | 4/14/1999 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore.--The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking public comments on a proposal to expand the Upper Pony Creek Reservoir, located in Coos County, Ore. Expanding the reservoir will increase the available water supply for the Coos Bay-North Bend area.
An Environmental Impact Statement, prepared by the Corps, outlines the potential impacts of the project and is available for public review and comment until May 24, 1999. The EIS, as well as any received comments, will be used to determine whether a permit will be issued under the requirements of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act of 1977, as amended, and Section 10 of the River and Harbors Act of 1899.
Members of the public are invited to comment on the Corps' public notice outlining the proposed actions. To comment on, or to receive a copy of, this public notice, write to: District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District - Portland, Attn: CENWP-CO-GP (Ron Marg), P.O. Box 2946, Portland, OR 97208-2946. Written comments should be mailed no later than May 24, 1999. Questions may be directed to Ron Marg, Regulatory Branch, at (503) 808-4390. Please refer to Corps ID number 94-10 in any correspondence. The public notice also is available on the Internet at http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/g/Regs/Pub_bull.htm. Copies of the Corps' EIS are available for review at the Coos Bay, North Bend, Lakeside and Coquille public libraries. A limited number of copies are available from the Corps of Engineers.
The Coos Bay-North Bend Water Board wants to expand the existing Upper Pony Creek Reservoir to meet immediate "peak season" municipal and industrial water supply demands for the customers of the water board. Water supply shortfalls have been experienced in recent years and the situation is expected to worsen in the future as the area population increases.
Preliminary determinations indicate that the proposed actions may affect three species of anadromous fish: Coho salmon, Steelhead trout and Sea-run Cutthroat trout. Critical habitat has not been designated at this time. Consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as required by Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, has been initiated. A permit will not be issued until the consultation process is completed.
The existing Upper Pony Creek Dam and Reservoir were constructed in 1951 to meet the area's water demands. The dam is an earthfill embankment with a maximum height above the original ground of approximately 45.5 feet. At the maximum water surface elevation, the total storage volume in the reservoir created by the dam is about 2,150 acre-feet and the surface area is approximately 130 acres.
The proposed project would raise the dam by about 24 feet. This would increase the inundation area from 130 acres to about 273 acres. About 6,250 acre-feet of water could be stored behind the raised dam.
In addition to expanding the reservoir, the water board wants to construct a larger pumping station at Joe Ney Reservoir, rehabilitate the existing Joe Ney dike and install a permanent fish passage system, construct four new wells in the Dunes aquifer wellfield to augment existing water supply, and construct a one-mile, 12-inch pipeline to connect the new wells with the existing wellfield pipeline.
To compensate for project impacts, the applicant is proposing to create 29.2 acres of wetlands at the Upper Pony Reservoir, manage a 167-acre forested reservoir buffer, restore all project-related temporary impacts, create a 10.8-acre inter-reservoir wildlife corridor, create 5.2-acres of inundated scrub-shrub/forested snag habitat, and inundate approximately 19.4 acres of freshwater wetlands by breaching an existing dike at the Old Wagon Road Site on Catching Slough between Eastside and Sumner.