By Gloria Coleman | Dec. 23, 2024 | Roseburg News-Review
On Sept. 17, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) issued a Notice of Noncompliance to the Winchester Water Control District (WWCD) regarding the Winchester Dam.
The notice highlighted unauthorized repair activities, including concrete capping and foam injections, which deviated from the 2022 temporary fish passage blockage permit. ODFW mandated the construction of a new fish ladder to enhance fish passage at the dam, providing a detailed 48-month schedule for its completion.
The 23-page document included a notice of non-compliance for the Winchester Dam with plans for building a new fish ladder, a proposed order for rebuilding the dam spanning 15 years, and a right to a hearing.
Michelle Dennehy, statewide communications coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the Winchester Water Control District had requested a contested case yet to be scheduled in November.
The notice said when the water control district carried out work to the dam in Aug. 2023, the work included additional undisclosed work to the upstream area and top face of the dam.
The notice alleges that this work included sheeting intended to mend or cover weakness in the dam face or to modify the surface of the dam to address leakage.
The notice outlined developments at the dam department staff observed since 2018, watching how fish in the dam are treated and what is going on with the dam in general. They determined the district conducted concrete cap work, filled voids with foam injections, and otherwise varied from their 2022 temporary blockage of fish passage permit.
The district is required to install a fish passage or alternatives to fish passage. The proposed order in the notice outlines a 15-year plan for the district to install the fish passage consistent with government criteria.
The documents say the dam’s fishway does not meet state fish passage design standards and criteria in multiple areas including undersized auxiliary water supply system, bad fishway location, non-conforming fishway design aspects and inadequate fishway attraction flows at the fishway entrance.
Winchester Water Control District president Ryan Beckley did not immediately respond to The News-Review.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife sued the Winchester Water Control District, TerraFirma Foundation Systems, and DOWL LLC, for alleged unlawful killing of fish a few months after constriction work on the Winchester Dam in Aug. 2023.
This article originally appeared in the Dec. 23, 2024, issue of the Roseburg News-Review.