September 23, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, please contact:
Jim McCarthy, WaterWatch of Oregon, jim@waterwatch.org
Link to September 15, 2026, Final Order:
https://tinyurl.com/3tasahap
Links to March 16, 2026, Combined Rulings:
https://tinyurl.com/4axretk7
and
https://tinyurl.com/2karpf5n
Environmental Quality Commission Upholds Fines Over Botched 2023 Winchester Dam Repair
River advocates intervened to hold polluter accountable.
Winchester, Oregon — Last week, in another victory for a grassroots coalition of river advocates campaigning to remove Winchester Dam, the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) issued a final order upholding a combined $104,767 fine by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) against Winchester Dam owner Winchester Water Control District and TerraFirma Foundation Repair, Inc., the primary contractor for the botched summer 2023 repairs at the dam. TerraFirma is a basement repair company owned by the District’s board president. The District and TerraFirma have 60 days from the date of the EQC’s September 15 final order to appeal to the Oregon Court of Appeals.
WaterWatch of Oregon, Steamboaters, Native Fish Society, Umpqua Watersheds, and Oregon Wild are intervenors also known as “Limited Parties” in the case on behalf of the river, water quality, fish, and wildlife, and are represented by Crag Law Center. The river advocates intervening in this case are part of a larger coalition of fishing, conservation, and whitewater groups seeking to remove the dam while working to raise alarm bells with government officials over the District’s chronic non-compliance with state and federal protections for fish, wildlife, and water quality.
The EQC oversees the DEQ, and the District and TerraFirma appealed to the EQC in the wake of a senior administrative law judge’s scathing ruling issued March 6 upholding the fines. In response, the EQC scheduled two hours of oral argument and deliberation on September 10 before voting to uphold the fines. This was a long-fought victory for river advocates, as they had documented and reported many of the 2023 repair violations, then intervened in the subsequent contested case in support of enforcement. Indeed, the March ruling marked the second time in under five years that a judge has upheld state fines for water quality violations during botched Winchester Dam repairs after the same five groups intervened in support of the previous fines.
In the most recent proceeding, the judge found that the District has a “history of hiring contractors inexperienced with complex in-water work.” The judge also found that “TerraFirma did not have a background with in-water projects with respect to dams or otherwise” and that Winchester Water Control District demonstrated a pattern of “choosing expediency and low cost over qualifications and experience when selecting a contractor [for dam repairs].” Further, the judge found that TerraFirma’s conduct during the 2023 repair was “reckless” and that the state had established that TerraFirma “consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk” which “constituted a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would observe in that situation.” In addition, the same judge also found TerraFirma acted “flagrantly” during the 2023 repair, and the state had established that TerraFirma “had actual knowledge that the conduct was unlawful and consciously set out to commit the violation.”
Previously, in the wake of 2018 repairs at the dam, DEQ issued a $53,578 fine after state investigators found that pollution from the repair degraded aquatic habitat, killed fish, and harmed the primary drinking water source for the City of Roseburg and the Umpqua Basin Water Association — serving approximately 37,700 people combined. Investigators also found that dam repairs were conducted without following known best management practices, even after authorities provided the dam owners with information in advance on how to protect water quality and fish.
Unfortunately, 2018 and 2023 likely were not the only times repairs at the 450-foot wide, 17-foot tall, and 136-year-old structure polluted drinking water supplies and/or harmed North Umpqua fish and wildlife. On average, Winchester Dam repairs have occurred once every three to five years since the 1960s, but public records show no permits for these prior repairs.
Public records do describe “leakage” during one previous repair and a state official complaining to the contractor “about cement in the river and no permits.” State records also show the dam owners have at other times repaired the dam by installing large numbers of pressure-treated wood planks. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Human Services recommend that treated wood not be used where it may come in direct or indirect contact with public drinking water. Winchester Dam is just 50 feet upstream from Roseburg’s public drinking water intake. The structure lies entirely within state designated Essential Salmonid Habitat and federally designated critical habitat for Oregon Coast Coho salmon protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Winchester Dam impedes access to 160 miles of high-quality habitat for salmon and steelhead.
River advocates have learned the hard way that Winchester Dam will continue to harm the North Umpqua and its invaluable runs of native fish until it is removed. Over the last five years, WaterWatch has offered twice in writing to the dam’s owners to remove the dam for little to no cost to them. The offer still stands. River advocates would like to remove Winchester Dam because they believe it would be beneficial for Oregon, for the local community, and for the environment. Our hand will remain out to work cooperatively with Winchester Water Control District, state and federal government, and private organizations to accomplish successful dam removal and site restoration at Winchester.
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For over 40 years, WaterWatch of Oregon has been committed to a single, clear mission: To protect and restore flows in Oregon’s rivers and waterways to sustain the native fish, wildlife, and people that depend on them. WaterWatch of Oregon was the first organization in the West to seek structural reform of antiquated water laws to protect and restore our rivers, and facilitated passage of Oregon’s landmark Instream Water Rights Act in 1987.