“Eugene Water & Electric Board commissioners are grappling with the future of the Leaburg Canal, which is out of service and slated for decommissioning, recommissioning or something in between.
EWEB commissioners were scheduled to decide in December what to do with the dewatered hydroelectric project from four alternatives, some of which include changes as radical as removing the Leaburg Dam and draining Leaburg Lake. But after a four-hour discussion at a Tuesday work session, many of the commissioners’ questions remain unanswered.
EWEB staff now plan to present commissioners with a recommendation by December, but the commissioners” vote has been postponed.”
Reported by Adam Duvernay, Register Guard published 5:30 am Oct 27th
“Federal regulators require EWEB do something about it, but all of the options are costly and are likely to impact locals and raise rates for customers.
EWEB have 4 option, but all of them have consequences.
‘Choosing the least worst’
EWEB hired experts to review its options and score each option by the potential environmental, economic and social impacts from the four options.
The 4 options are:
- recommissioning the project;
- partially recommissioning it;
- decommissioning it;
- or partially decommissioning it.
Most of the public response about this is whether to keep the lake or restore the natural flow of the McKenzie River.
Support for keeping the lake
Most locals who’s live on the lake are horrified at the prospects of losing their beloved lake shore.
Those who live on the lake and others who use the lake for recreation are the primary advocates of keeping the lake.
- Leaburg Lake provides recreational opportunities & some economic benefit for those recreating
- Leaburg Lake is nice to look at
- Loss of Lake will impact lakeside property owners
Support for Restoring the McKenzie
Yet there is a large group of people who would prefer to see the river restored to its natural state for many good reasons that are also compelling.
- Dams seriously harm native fish
- Dams have nearly decimated salmon levels
- Dams create a habitat that encourage non-native fish to take over
What a lot of people don’t know is that the historic large salmon runs of the past (pre dams and pre industrial pollution) were critical fertilizer for the forest – with animals spreading out the post spawning fish throughout the forest. These nutrients help to protect the forest from disease, pests and some biologists argue make the forest more resistant to fires.
We’re shared an article about why trees Lake should stay. Soon we plan to share an article with some resources about why the river and surrounding forest is better without a dam. MCP is not taking a side on this issue. Yet we are committed to helping educate the community on issues that impact them like the Leaburg Dam.
Source: Register Guard and MCP admin
