News Release
| Release Number: | 03-024 |
| Dated: | 3/5/2003 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore.--In the Fiscal Year 2003 Omnibus Appropriations Conference Report, Congress made funds available for the design and construction of "a permanent trap-and-haul facility to replace the existing, interim facility." The language also stated that funds may not be used for any further work on the Corps of Engineers proposal to remove a section of the dam for fish passage.
"We will follow the congressional direction we have received," said Doug Clarke, Corps projects manager for the Elk Creek work. "Our intention is to design a permanent trap and haul facility that will not endanger the fish we are working to protect."
Clarke said he would spend much of this month pulling together a team to draft a detailed plan for design of the facility, as well as develop a preliminary cost estimate for the effort.
The existing trap and haul facility at Elk Creek Dam is not adequate for long-term use, Clarke said. "It was designed to be used for a short period of time for the sole purpose of establishing brood stock at the hatchery when the project was completed. It was not intended to maintain a run above the project."
The new trap and haul facility, he said, would be designed to maintain the fish run in Elk Creek and would avoid the deficiencies of the current temporary facility. Counted among the deficiencies is a physical barrier weir that can be damaged by debris and allows adults to become trapped above the weir during high flows. The weir also presents an obstacle to returning steelhead (kelt) that can make more than one spawning run. The weir can also injure downstream bound juveniles as they pass through any debris on the weir. Holding and crowding areas are small and require significant manual efforts, increasing the potential for fish injury. In short, Clarke said the new facility would most likely eliminate the barrier weir. In its place, the Corps would design a water velocity barrier to keep fish from moving upstream and direct them into the holding facility.
Clarke said the Corps will seek guidance on specific environmental and biological design criteria from involved resource agencies, including NOAA Fisheries (National Marine Fisheries Service), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. This will include consultation with NOAA Fisheries under the Endangered Species Act.
"Realistically, we'll have a detailed construction schedule and cost estimate sometime in 2004," Clarke said. He added the target date to have a completed trap and haul facility has been tentatively set for the fall of 2006.
The Elk Creek Project was authorized as one of three multiple purpose projects designed to operate as a system to reduce flooding in the Rogue River Basin and to accomplish additional purposes, including irrigation and fish and wildlife enhancement. Construction of the main dam began in 1986, but legal actions that ensued stopped construction in 1988. In 1995, the Corps notified the U.S. Congress of its intent to evaluate options for long- term management of the project in its incomplete state.