News Release
| Release Number: | 05-041 |
| Dated: | 3/22/2005 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore.- Willamette Valley reservoirs most likely will not fill and rivers downstream will remain at lower flows than normal this year. That will be the topic at four U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public information meetings planned for next week in Oakridge, Sweet Home, Detroit and Eugene.
The meeting schedule is as follows:
Oakridge, 7 p.m., March 28, 2005: Middle Fork District Ranger Office,
HWY 58 in West Fir
Sweet Home, 7 p.m., March 29, 2005: Sweet Home Senior Center, 880 18th Ave.
Detroit, 6 p.m., March 30, 2005: Detroit High School gym, 345 Santiam Street (*note time and location changes from earlier information)
Eugene, 7 p.m., March 31, 2005: Lane Community College, Center for Meeting and Learning (Bldg. 19)--30th Ave. Exit off I-5
Even a wet spring will probably bring too little rain too late to fill the reservoirs, said Matt Rea, the Corps’ Willamette Basin Coordinator. The two exceptions are Foster and Dexter reservoirs. Because they are reregulating reservoirs, they are expected to fill, he said.
Most of the other reservoirs will still have recreation opportunities available, both in and out of the water. The City of Detroit, for example, is moving forward with its annual fishing derby in May and Fourth of July festivities, while many of the other reservoirs will have at least one low-water boat ramp accessible during the early part of the summer, Rea said.
The Willamette Valley Reservoirs include: Big Cliff, Detroit, Green Peter, Foster, Fern Ridge, Blue River, Cougar, Fall Creek, Dexter, Lookout Point, Cottage Grove, Dorena and Hills Creek. For more information about current water levels and accessible boat ramp elevations, visit the Corps’ Top Issues Web site at https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil