This article appears in the fall 2026 issue of WaterWatch of Oregon’s Instream newsletter.
State legislators in Salem heard testimony on Sept. 9th regarding ongoing enforcement at Winchester Dam during a presentation by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon Water Resources Department to the Senate Interim Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire. State Senator Jeff Golden (D–Ashland), the committee chair, and committee member Senator Floyd Prozanski (D–Springfield) led the discussion and expressed appreciation for a Sept. 4th letter from WaterWatch and our allies requesting necessary state dam safety enforcement at the derelict 450-foot wide, 17-foot tall, 136-year-old structure on the North Umpqua River. WaterWatch greatly appreciates the diligence and leadership of these two senators on this issue.
On Sept. 10th, in another victory for WaterWatch and our allies, the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) upheld a combined $104,767 fine issued 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 final order to appeal to the Oregon Court of Appeals.
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 6th that upheld the fines. This was also a victory for WaterWatch and our allies, as we had documented and reported many of the 2023 repair violations, then intervened in the subsequent contested case in support of enforcement. The March ruling marked the second time in under five years a judge has upheld state fines for water quality violations during botched Winchester Dam repairs after WaterWatch and our allies intervened in support of the previous fines.
In the most recent proceeding, the judge found the District has a “history of hiring contractors inexperienced with complex in-water work.” The judge also found “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.” The same judge also found TerraFirma acted “flagrantly” during the 2023 repairs, and the state had established 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 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 Winchester Dam repairs 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 complained to the contractor “about cement in the river and no permits.”
State records also show Winchester 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.
Unfortunately, we 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 at little to no cost to them. Our offer still stands. We would like to remove Winchester Dam because we believe it would be beneficial for Oregon, the local community, and 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.
Banner photo of North Umpqua River courtesy of Native Fish Society, John Day River Instream cover photo couresy of Andy Archer, Instream cover design by Monet Hampson.