Author: AshlandJim

We know that the council and mayor are asked to address myriad issues; time and resources are precious and the easiest path is to rely on city staff to provide the facts needed to decide wisely. The council may also realize that Ashland citizens do not normally band together to oppose intelligent, rational and cost-effective uses of our finite resources.

With regard to the Ashland TID Canal Project, I think we can all agree upon the facts that water leakage must be stopped, water contaminants must be addressed and cost to the public must be minimized. Both the city public works proposal to pipe the entire two-plus miles and the citizens alternative to repair and maintain the canal will eliminate the water loss caused by the years of neglecting to maintain the canal. We can also agree that neither proposal will eliminate pollutants carried by TID water that ultimately are added to Ashland Creek. Contamination starts at the mountain source of the water and builds over miles of open channel until it reaches our city border and “our” section of canal.

The cost to repair and maintain the canal will obviously cost much less than the pipe proposal, and this is highlighted much more by the recent estimates for the new city water treatment plant. Cost estimates went from $23 million to $36 million because of unforeseen factors. In the pipe project, we have the same situation about to unfold.

Estimates for the pipe project sit at around $3.7 million, but no engineering has been done to study groundwater, hillside springs, private property damage, etc. Using simple math, can we expect the piping to end up costing $5.5 million to $6 million or more? This is an unknown, but we know it will not cost $3.7 millionm. To repair the canal will cost $800,000 to $900,000 (we have a contractor’s bid) with a guaranteed 50 to 100 years of service if properly and inexpensively maintained; quite the bargain in comparison!

In the years ahead, should the TID and others decide to pipe the many miles of open canal in Southern Oregon, that would be the time to consider a project to pipe our section. Overall cost would be lessened as part of a large-scale project, and financial burden on the Ashland resident would be minimized. At that future time, damage to private property and the loss of a community asset might be seen as a trade-off necessary to improve the big picture of water quality and conservation.

Whether it is ill-conceived, or simply a project that is putting the cart before the horse, the citizens of Ashland should be spared the grief and unknown cost of piping the stretch of TID canal in our care. We have bigger and more pressing strains on the city budget and staff at this time. Please, do the right thing and oppose the Ashland Canal pipe project!

John Hauschild lives in Ashland.

Frequently, as we have all found in life, something that was created for one purpose will go on to become valuable for other reasons as well. Egypt’s pyramids? Roman aqueducts and triumphal arches; monolithic stones set in a circle? As a smaller, local example I want us to consider Ashland’s TID canal.

Its sole original purpose was to convey water to orchardists and farmers down the valley. Along the way, adjacent property owners were allowed the option of pulling some of the water for local use. These uses are still active and important.

Over time, our TID canal and its adjacent walking path have assumed another set of values that are important to thousands of people. Literature used by geographers and land-use experts sometimes calls these qualities “vernacular landscape.” The TID Canal and walking path is a widely appreciated vernacular landscape. It has become, in fact, a cherished riparian area with diverse qualities which enhance the life of our community. And it is in use from pre-dawn to dark by thousands of Ashlanders and visitors yearly. For brevity’s sake, I’ll use bullet points here:

• The “wetland,” riparian nature of this canal enhances the adjacent walking path and largely accounts for its popularity (and drives the public outcry against covering it over).
• Animals use the water — racoons, squirrels, bears, deer, frogs, crayfish, and dozens of aquatic animal and plant species.
• And the grand intangibles of the canal — rippling brook sounds, dappled reflections of forest and sky, the moisture in the air, the pleasures we walkers feel just strolling beside it.
• The many, many (yes, it is thousands) of people who walk this canal yearly. The dog people; the joggers; the newcomers to Ashland who have just discovered this forest interface treasure.
• The fact that the covered-over parts of this canal have a dry deadness to them, when compared to where the water enters or exits the buried pipes and flows rippling along. The difference in the ambience, and even the light, is palpable.

So, please, respect what this open TID canal has become as it has aged into our community. Recognize that it is not simply a civil engineering project to deliver water. See that it is far more — a naturalized riparian environment, a vernacular landscape of and for the people of this city and our visitors.

Do repair the leaks and perform deferred maintenance. But please do not cover and remove this resource from its many appreciative users. That would be a major loss for all of us.

Keith S. Chambers lives in Ashland.

Dear Ashland City Council Members,
I am writing to you regarding the Ashland Canal Project. I appreciate all the effort put into the studies and preliminary reports purchased by the City of Ashland. I find myself asking: Do we need to conserve water, yes. Do we need to mitigate eColi in the canal and ultimately Ashland Creek, yes. Will the proposed piping project meet those goals, NO.
The canal water begins at Howard Prairie Lake where there is a substantial population of open range cows wandering in the Lake and surrounding mud. The water then continues on flowing above and below ground, in a lined canal and sometimes in a dirt canal on private property and public easements. By the time the water reaches Starlite (the beginning of the Ashland Canal) there is eColi in the water. This eColi will enter the pipe flowing on down into Ashland Creek unless something is done at the entry point to mitigate the eColi.
Water conservation is an important factor but not the only factor. Cost to benefit ratio must also be considered. The City has voiced most of the water is lost due to seepage. The City of Ashland has deferred maintenance on this stretch of canal which has lead to areas in need of repair. The reports show the repairs would have less of a financial impact, less impact on the environment, less impact of the property owners, less impact on the wildlife and serve the community for many years.
The 3-4 million dollar price tag to pipe the canal seems wasteful and disrespectful to the citizens of Ashland. As a community we have been asked to pay more for electricity, water, and sewage in the last couple of years. We will once again be carrying the burden for a project that is overwhelming not supported by the Community or property owners along the Canal. At a meeting on January 31, 2019 with well over a 100 people in attendance a show of hand was requested for all in support of the project only four people raised their hand.
I want to thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I also want to strongly urge you to vote No on piping the Ashland Canal and vote Yes for the repairs.
With great appreciation,
Darlene Beckett

Keep the canal
How many Ashlanders would support waking up one day to find that our city had decided to put a new road through their property? Before you answer let me assure you that yes, it’s possible. Just ask the 87 Ashland property owners along the Ashland TID Canal.
Such is the crazy saga around Ashland Public Works’ push to pipe two miles of the Ashland TID Canal. To mitigate initial concerns over the piping, Ashland Public Works told affected land owners early on at on-site meetings that once the project began, not much along the TID Canal would change.
They failed, however, to outline some critical details: The unique asthetic of the TID canal would be completely changed; 300 otherwise healthy trees would need to be destroyed; driveways, waterlines, electric and sewer lines would be halted and moved, impacting many families lives; property values would be negatively impacted; plant and wildlife would disappear and, oh yes, the present pathway on the TID would be replaced, not by a new path but, after a 20-foot swath of ground was reclaimed, with a new road.
It’s unfortunate that only after many of the people who walk the TID Canal every day and property owners impacted by this disruptive project started asking questions themselves, that the real details started seeping out. It’s understandable that some facts were unknown, yet considering what is at stake it would have been much more useful for the community to have been presented with all the possible assumptions prior to the Public Works meeting at SOU on Jan. 31. That way impacted stakeholders could have attended to voice their views.
Our City Council must look at a better alternative to the chaos, environmental impact and cost of tearing up two miles of the TID Canal. We already know that the E. coli problem won’t be fixed by piping the TID water as most of the E. coli is already in the water before it reaches our city. As for the water loss, the council should require that Public Works repair the 23 percent of the canal said to be in “poor” condition and then actively maintain the canal. This is the most cost-efficient approach, costing far less than the $4 million to $5 million now projected for the project. TAP is our emergency water source already in place to provide Ashland with water during summer months, so lets use it when we must. Any alternatives other than “fixing and maintaining the TID Canal” outlined by Ashland Public Works just don’t make sense.
For more details and information why people want to keep the canal, visit the website at https://ashlandtrails.com/keep-the-canal/
Tracie Stubbs
Ashland

Regarding the Ashland Water Department’s plan to pipe the 2-mile stretch of open water (estimated cost: $4 million), I will attempt to raise the project team’s awareness on behalf of the wildlife that frequents our treasured canal.

This riparian trail and the wildlife are, for many, the reason we love Ashland. How fortunate to live surrounded by wildlife and large trees! If the project moves forward, the project team has identified 286 trees for removal, many established Douglas fir and ponderosa pine.

Have you ever experienced the canal at dawn or dusk and spied a mother bear and her cubs playing in the Ashland canal? Or, imagine being on a sun-dappled trail witnessing three evening grosbeaks drinking water in unison. Or coming upon a doe lying peacefully in the cool water. Or watching western screech owl parents teach their juvenile owlets how to hunt in a riparian setting. Truly awe-inspiring!

The water project team called wildlife “an attractive nuisance,” and said the wildlife will just seek other water sources elsewhere.

Why the grim attitude toward wildlife? How much is this riparian treasure worth? It’s priceless! Let’s celebrate what makes Ashland unique — don’t cover the water!

Leigh Hood

Ashland

The city’s proposal to replace 2 miles of the Talent Irrigation District is flawed.

The proposal plans to replace open canals, but also will replace a long stretch of the TID that is already piped.

The city of Ashland’s Comprehensive Water Management Plan (https://www.ashland.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=15317) states the following:

S-11 TID Canal Piping

It is recommended that the city convert the Talent Irrigation District (TID) canal to a piped system from the Starlite Monitoring Station to the Terrace Street Pump Station. This project is estimated to cost approximately $1.1 million. (Note that the price has greatly increased to $3 million to $4 million.)

There is nothing said about replacing already piped sections, so clearly that alternative has never been analyzed. Yet, the city forges ahead.

It would clearly be cheaper to either leave the piped sections alone, or to reline them without disturbing the land. And the city needs to analyze a maintenance-only or repair-only option instead of letting grant money drive the project.

And what’s this about nearly 300 trees being cut? That’s a stump, on average, every 35 feet.

The city needs to properly analyze this proposal so that it is done with the minimal invasiveness, the minimal cost and the minimal impact to the environment. And, the city needs to follow its own Comprehensive Water Master Plan.

Tom Dimitre

Ashland