MAY 19 ELECTION WILL DETERMINE
WHAT KIND OF WATER YOU WILL DRINK
in the Tualatin Valley Water District (TVWD)
Is the Willamette Plant Still in the Running?
An Update on TVWD's Search to Cut Back on use of Bull Run Water
On
May 19 customers of TVWD will vote to elect three commissioners
to the TVWD Board. Two candidates, Colm Brennan and Joanne Delmonico,
have announced their determination to question and turn around the
recent decision of the Board to severely cut the use of Bull Run water
for the District. They are concerned that the current Board may
be seriously considering the use of the Willamette River as an
immediate substitute water source if its plans for a dam raise are
curtailed. In 2005 a TVWD poll of its customers revealed that
they preferred Bull Run water over Willamette water by 5 to 1.
Families for Safe Water believe that we should elect TVWD Board members
who will keep an open mind and pay close attention to their
customers. We strongly endorse these two candidates. They
have been a consistent voice for the public at TVWD Board
meetings, raising questions on costs, why the Board has cut back on
using Bull Run water and why it financially supports an agency whose
major mission is to move the TVWD toward using the Willamette Plan.
How Did We get to This Point:
The TVWD Board decided to sharply reduce the amount of water it
would receive from Portland under its new contract. They studied
two options for its future water supply - raising an
existing dam at Hagg Lake or going to the Willamette.
In December 2007 the Board indicated that they were joining instead
with several other water service and irrigation districts to accept
transfer of ownership of the federal Bureau of Reclamation Dam at Hagg
Lake and proceed to raise that dam to provide more water. They
stated that this meant that the Willamette Plant was off the
table as a major water source, since they could not afford to develop
both the Willamette Plant connection and the dam raise at the same
time. Now we have learned that seismic studies suggest that it
may not be feasible to build a higher dam sufficient to supply the
region. It may be necessary to build a smaller dam and get the
rest of their supply from the Willamette Plant!
As
reports from observers attest, the information about this possible
switch in plans has not been stated directly to the public by the TVWD
board or adminsration, but has dribbled out from other sources.
Further, there has been little information on what the various options
would cost.
The
fear is that the Board may suddenly declare an emergency if the big dam
raise is declared to be unfeasible. They may say that in order to
meet water demands they may have to settle for a smaller dam, and
fill the gap with water supply with water from the Willamette River.
They could ignore a possible alternative which would be to negotiate a
new longer term contract with the City of Portland to maintain an
adequate long term water supply from the Bull Run system. See
item on why we want to continue primary reliance on Bull Run water.
Critical decisions will likely be faced as early as June, just after the May 19 election.
Electing public advocates to the Board is important in determining
whether the Board will finally start to answer questions from the
public and be more responsive to the people's preferences.