When: April 30th 2025 5-8pm
Where: Oakshire Public House
The spring issue of WaterWatch of Oregon’s Instream newsletter includes an article detailing the latest on WaterWatch’s efforts, in conjunction with Steamboaters and Pacific Coast Federations of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), on securing formal permission to participate in a state fish passage enforcement proceeding that may ultimately determine the fate of the 135-year old Winchester Dam near Roseburg on the North Umpqua River.
The groups are intervening in support of native fish runs and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), and against dam owners Winchester Water Control District (WWCD) and their legal challenge to a recent ODFW order requiring the installation of new and improved upstream and downstream fish passage facilities at the dam in compliance with state law. WaterWatch and allies are jointly represented in this particular case by Earthjustice and Crag Law Center, and the Law Office of Karl G. Anuta.
Construction costs for new fish passage facilities at Winchester Dam are expected to be about $100 million. The most recent comparable fish passage upgrade in the North Umpqua subbasin was at PacifiCorp’s Soda Springs Dam in the Umpqua National Forest, which cost upwards of $70 million. In contrast, estimates for Winchester Dam’s removal range between $3 and $6 million.
This contested case is the latest in the years-long, high-profile back-and-forth between a WaterWatch-led statewide coalition of fishing, conservation, and whitewater groups and the WWCD over the dam’s poor management and ongoing harm to the North Umpqua. The District’s governing board previously rejected the coalition’s 2019 offer to contribute $10,000 in engineering services to improve the dam’s fish ladder function, and then a subsequent 2020 offer to remove the decaying dam at little to no direct cost to the District.
WaterWatch’s formal offer to remove the dam still stands. Click here to read the complete, detailed update from WaterWatch.
Join WaterWatch staff in Eugene this Wednesday the 30th for an Oakshire Inspires event at the Oakshire Public House at 207 Madison Street. As part of Oakshire Brewing’s support for area nonprofits, WaterWatch will receive one dollar from each core pint sold throughout the day, and WaterWatch staff will be on-site from 5 to 8 p.m. to connect with you about our ongoing programs and work, including the Winchester Dam removal campaign.
WaterWatch will have copies of the latest Instream newsletter, free Rivers Need Water and Oregon Rivers stickers, and raffle tickets for sale to win packages including books and our WaterWatch 40th Anniversary YETI Custom Water Bottles.
