LA GRANDE — An effort to improve the flow of rivers and streams in the Upper Grande Ronde Basin, which includes Catherine Creek, has received a major boost.

The Upper Grande Ronde Watershed Partnership Place-Based Integrated Water Resources Plan has been recognized by the Oregon Water Resources Commission. The recognition, received following a unanimous vote of the water resources commission, means the plan can now be put into effect to address issues like flooding and low in-stream late-summer flows.

“This is a local plan meant to move our community forward in the next 100 years in a way which will help all and hurt none,” said Union County Commissioner Donna Beverage, who helped develop the plan.

The plan, which was five years in the making, was prepared with the help of local, state and federal agencies, including the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Union County Farm Bureau, the Union County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Union County Cattlemen’s Association, the Grande Ronde Model Watershed, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and cities, plus many local farmers and ranchers.

Quality and quantity

The Upper Grande Ronde Basin is one of four in Oregon provided funding by the state commission to develop a plan for boosting its water quality and quantity as part of a pilot project. Beverage said the significance of the plan being recognized by the state cannot be overstated.

“I see this as a great milestone,” she said.

Beverage said it is a major step not only for the Upper Grande Ronde Basin, but for the Oregon Water Resources Department and all planning groups in the other three basins in the future. She said the success of the plan development here will make it easier for the plans being developed in the other three basins to move forward.

The plan lists what its creators believe are the nine most important strategies for addressing needs in the Upper Grande Ronde Basin.

“After six years of hard work, tough discussions and considering the water needs of all users, I am proud of the final list of the nine most important strategies identified to address our needs and concerns in the Upper Grande Ronde Basin,” Beverage said.

She also looks at the plan from a philosophical perspective.

“Water is life, and this local plan will help us look into the future and make sure we provide clean and abundant water for future generations,” she said.

Building resilience

The executive summary of the plan states that it will provide strategies for meeting the water needs of communities in the Upper Grande Ronde Basin while adhering to all existing laws and policies.

“This planning effort will help understand and meet the water needs of our communities, economy, and environment consistent with existing law and policy and will not jeopardize any existing rights to use water,” the executive summary states.

Jed Hassinger, a Cove area farmer who helped with the development of the plan, was pleased with how its creation progressed over the course of about 100 meetings.

“It’s been heartening to see the ag, municipal and ecological groups put political differences aside and work toward goals with mutual benefits. We’ve been able to acknowledge each others’ needs and put together a plan that offers benefits for everyone and takes proactive steps to mitigate issues we’re likely to face in the future,” Hassinger said in a statement he made to the planning group.

Hassinger said he is excited about putting the plan into effect.

“Now that we’ve made it through the planning phase, I look forward to the rubber hitting the road as we implement our plan. Using the strategies outlined in it, I’m hopeful that we’ll make real improvements to the water quantity and quality issues that we’ve been dealing with and also make our basin more resilient in the face of whatever changes the future holds,” Hassinger said.

Storage options

Some of the steps to improve water quality and quantity in the watershed include looking into accessing aboveground storage opportunities, such as expanding portions of rivers and streams to prevent the creation of ice jams in narrow stretches that can lead to flooding.

Options the plan calls for studying also include storage sites that would not impact stream channels. The plan sets the stage for investigative work to be done into the possibility of having reservoirs to which water from streams could be diverted. Storage of the water would help prevent flooding in the winter and spring, and its release in the summer would boost low stream flows.

Another option could be pumping water from Catherine Creek into underground caverns in the spring when flows are high, and then pumping it out in the summer when flows are lower.

This study will be conducted with the aid of grants, including a $114,000 Oregon Water Resources Department feasibility study grant and a $75,000 Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board in-stream flow grant.

Hassinger said that the storage in underground caverns would likely be best done at higher sites. This would be an ideal situation because it would create the deeper water salmon need at higher levels and provide more irrigation water to farmers on the floor of the Grande Ronde Valley.

“It would be the win-win everyone is looking for,” Hassinger said.

He added that improving late-summer stream flows would boost water quality. Much late-summer water now in the Upper Grande Ronde Basin streams is poor, Hassinger said, because the low flows cause water to have high temperatures and low dissolved oxygen levels.

Tim Wallender, also a Grande Ronde Valley farmer who assisted with the formation of the plan, said he would prefer to have aboveground water storage. He explained that he would feel more comfortable about being able to visually monitor the water being stored.

The plan also calls for steps to be taken to better collect river flow data in the Upper Grande Ronde Basin, said Dana Kurtz, an environmental scientist who served as a technical consultant for the development of the plan. Improved river flow data would help to better determine how much water is available, resulting in informed decisions about water management.

Links to the Upper Grande Ronde Watershed Partnership Place-Based Integrated Water Resources Plan can be found at www.union-county.org/planning/place-based-integrated- water-resources-planning.