Category: Uncategorized

Dear Mr. Slattery,

I am writing to implore you to vote NO on piping the Ashland Canal.

I own property along the canal and this project will do more harm than good in the long run. I value the property I live on for it’s natural beauty which includes the native tree species of Madrone and Black Oak as well as the many species of animals that dwell and visit here, black tailed deer, bear, raccoon, fox and many bird species including pileated woodpeckers, western tanagers, and coopers hawks. I live in the city, but I feel as though I live in the forest because of the peace and tranquility that currently exist here. I seek refuge from my troubles by walking the path along the irrigation canal.

This piping project will destroy what I value about living where I live. It will devalue my property by putting a ROAD literally through my back yard since the canal bisects it at one point. It will not rid the canal of E. coli because E. coli already exists in the many miles of canal that come before the Starlight monitoring station, the site where the proposed pipe will begin.

Piping the canal will not insure long term use of TID water for extra irrigation because there are senior water rights that are held by the Klamath Tribe that they can call in if needed. Two of the reservoirs that help feed Emigrant Lake were created by damming Keene (Hyatt Lake) and Beaver (Howard Prairie) Creeks, both a part of the Upper Klamath River watershed. Why go to the expense of putting a pipe in, only to have the pipe run dry. https://www.talentid.org/klamath-adjudicationissues/; https://odfw.forestry.oregonstate.edu/freshwater/inventory/pdffiles/Basin%20PDFs/SW/Klamath%20River%20Watershed%20Map.pdf

I do believe that something should be done about the seepage in order to save as much water as we can for the times that it is available to us, but please consider that this can be done in a different manner than a pipe. Please consider the real possibility of fixing and then maintaining the canal. This is what should have been done all along. This will preserve a way of life that many Ashlanders have come to know and love and will deal with the water that is lost. I would be more than happy to sacrifice some of the trees that do show encroachment near the concrete liner of the canal as they would not be conducive to maintaining a good functioning canal, that I can live with. This would be a compromise that I hope we can all live with.

There are other ways to be good stewards of the land other than by disrupting people’s lives and homes by the destruction and construction of the Ashland canal/pipeline. Please vote NO on the piping project.

Respectfully,

Julia Bonney

Don’t cover the canal

It is with concern and alarm that I recently learned of the city’s plans to cover the TID ditch that runs near my home.

This intrusive and expensive project (estimated cost: around $4 million) would fundamentally alter the quiet rural character of our Terrace Street neighborhood. Nearly 300 trees lining the canal would be felled, depriving cover for the abundant wildlife of the area including deer, bear, owls and numerous other birds.

There are more affordable and more environmentally conscious solutions to the problems the city cites as reasons for this project. The leaking that accounts for the majority of the water loss could fixed for a fraction of the cost of covering the pipes.

In living 40-plus years on Terrace Street, I have come to greatly value the wilderness corridor along the existing pipes as a sanctuary of of sorts, ideal for walking dogs and humans, and as a place of respite from the increasing construction noise and traffic that disrupt what used to be a quiet country road. I implore the city to do the right thing and be mindful of the considerable negative impacts that this project entails for the neighborhood residents before green-lighting it.

Mike Fitch

Ashland

The easiest, least intrusive and most cost efficient approach to solving the TID Canal water loss problem would be to simply repair the sections of the TID Canal that need to be fixed!
According to a report presented by Ashland Public Works 77% of the TID cement liner is in good to fair condition with only 23% considered to be “poor”. It’s only logical to assume that most, if not all, of the 62.5 million gallons** of water lost each season comes from the section of the liner in “poor” condition. It doesn’t make logical or economic sense for anyone to consider tearing up the 77% of the cement liner that is in good condition.
We already know that the E-coli problem will not be fixed by piping the TID water; most of the E-coli is already in the water before it reaches City boundaries.
Ashlanders appreciate that our mayor and council make many difficult decisions but they don’t just don’t get easier than this. Repair the sections of the cement liner that need attention; then require Ashland Public Works to maintain the TID Canal as appropriate.
**the 62.5 M gallons seems to be an inflated estimate of water lost. Over the 5 month irrigation season, this would mean 400,000 gallons per day; a daily flood of epic proportions! ( think 3.4 times the water in Daniel Meyer Pool or 5,000 filled bathtubs )

check out www.ashlandtrails.com/keep-the-canal

John Hauschild