Elk Creek Dam could be notched

Officials say fish corridor would be better than current trucking method

Elk Creek Dam, sitting half-built near Trail since the 1980s, could be notched within the next year to allow for fish passage, according to a plan announced by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Friday.

Russ Stauff, Rogue River watershed manager with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that's good news for the fish, which have been trucked over the dam for years.

"There's tangible benefits for fish in Elk Creek if the dam is notched," he said.

This is the Corps' third attempt to notch the dam, said Jim Buck, operations project manager for the Rogue Basin. He said plans to open up fish passage were presented in the late 1990s and again in 2002. This proposal has one difference, he said.

"It does not preclude future completion of the dam," he said, adding there are no plans by the Corps to finish it.

County Commissioner Jack Walker, who has been a supporter of completion of the dam, said he wanted to review the proposal before commenting.

"We'll have to see what they're proposing," he said. "A lot depends on whether it can be put back together."

The Elk Creek Dam is located on Elk Creek, 1.7 miles above the confluence with the Rogue River. Construction began on the dam in the early 1980s, then was halted by court challenges. The half-built dam was abandoned by the Corps, which proposed notching it so salmon and steelhead could swim unimpeded through the area. With its last plan, Congress ordered the Corps to abandon its plan to notch the dam, leaving the current structure in place so it may one day be finished.

The Corps has been trapping salmon and steelhead at the base of the dam and hauling them upstream in trucks since 1987 at a cost of $220,000 a year. Facilities designed to last about five years during dam construction have been used for 20, said Corps spokeswoman Amy Echols.

Plans call for starting construction next summer. The project is estimated to cost $10.4 million.

The Corps proposes to construct a fish passage corridor through the dam and return Elk Creek to its original alignment and gradient, it announced in a press release Friday. The effort is to support the continued existence of coho salmon, listed as threatened by the Endangered Species Act, and other native fish.

The Corps previously determined that removing a section of the dam (creating a "notch") to provide passage is the most cost-effective and biologically sound method to provide fish passage over the long term.

The plan includes removal of a portion of the concrete dam and spillway and realignment of about 5,000 feet of Elk Creek to its original route and gradient.

"This plan solves the fish passage issue with a biologically sound, long-term plan," said Col. Thomas O'Donovan, Portland District engineer with the Corps, in the press release. "Reliance on the temporary fish trap and haul facility is no longer an option since its continued use presents a risk to coho salmon in Elk Creek."

Buck said the Corps plans to award the contract in February and the work should be completed in mid-October 2008.

The Supplemental Environmental Assessment is available for public review and comment through Nov. 5. The document and the public notice are available on the Corps' Web site at www.nwp.usace.army.mil/pm/e/en_plan_assess.asp.

The Corps will host an open house from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Red Lion Hotel in Medford to provide more information on the proposed project and to answer questions from the public. At this meeting, the Corps also will accept written comments on the draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment.

Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail mlanders@mailtribune.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.