The Willamette Basin dams serve multiple purposes including hydropower production, flood risk management, irrigation and recreation reserves, and habitat for many species. However, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) plans to once again disrupt water resources focused on Stayton and Salem in deep drawdown of Detroit Lake and removing flood control dams. Eye witness researchers have pictures of fish easily jumping flood control dams, which shows there is no need for the drawdown or removal. Eliminating the fish concern and that there is no backup for electricity, it seems the purpose is to force out farmers and rural businesses, and force residents onto wind and solar energy.

Best practices are known as superior results based on proven quality as an alternative to mandatory standards. In 2024, the USACE drew-down Green Peter Reservoir with disastrous results that didn't support best practices or any justification to continue drawdowns. The cities of Sweet Home, Lebanon, and Albany employed a coordinated effort to halt the drawdown, but not in time to avoid severe damages.

This week, the cities of Lebanon and Sweet Home in Linn County filed a tort claim against USACE, citing the increased sediment load that severely impacted the water treatment systems of both cities, leading to heightened operational costs, equipment damage, and the need for costly pretreatment system upgrades.

USACE has been doing routine drawdowns for many years without impact under an Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), until NOAA fisheries wanted to add to the EIS. What people didn’t realize is the intent to remove hydropower from 10-12 dams in the Willamette Basin, and eventually from many other rivers (Columbia and Snake).

The fight Klamath County had over dam removal to preserve the salmon resulted in killing 2,000 salmon and a herd of elk. Tort claims are still pending. It resulted in USACE’s discussion of a Supplemental EIS to leave the dams in place and just remove the hydropower. How does that help the salmon move upstream? How does that help local communities with no backup power?

Why is this important? USACE is trying to proceed with Biden's EO under the radar of Trump and deep drawdown nine more dams in the Willamette Basin including Detroit Dam. Removing hydropower in a deep drawdown of Detroit will affect Stayton and Salem's water supply systems and electricity costs. News awareness is lacking and the council seems uninterested, so Salem residents remain in the dark to defend their water and electricity supply.

Lt Robert (Rocket) Powell GDO (Ret) released his comments to USACE, which exposes the involvement in deceit over the decline of fish species plagued with political ideology and pseudo-science by a flawed, ill-created initial premise going back to the 1960’s.

Powell says, “both political deception and military deception are twins in covering up multi-mission events. This is a non-negotiable truth. The Corp. of Engineers’ personnel are not with ill intent as being trapped by issues needing change by order of Trump’s Administration so the entire project is in need of a pause. Instead, they are in a hurry to complete the drawdown of nine dams in the Willamette Valley before the Trump Administration gets mobilized by confining decisions to the agency level, away from the eyes of Trump, employing deceit by the Corp and NOAA fisheries.

“In pre-planning for their differing objectives, information has been kept secret by a set of regulations, and neglected Congressional mandate of citizen involvement. Controlling water is their intent and take down power at the same time. There is a solution to protecting the salmon that has nothing to do with hydropower. If the fish are the initial concern, then the steps taken have been injurious to the fish and many other species for that matter. The damage done by possibly illegal dam removal causing silt travel, has killed thousands of many species, and polluted to literal extinction an entire river in Linn County who lost the use of their filtration in two days costing them millions of dollars in tort claims based on decisions on an incorrect premise.

"The incorrect premise is that dams are the reason for declining fish runs. NGO groups used junk science and outright ideological agitprop to taint the truth needed for discourse is in the NOAA Fisheries document. All up the west coast one can smell and view the up to 2,500-pound sea lion males – the main predator of salmon and other species. New and more valid research shows a complete correlation between sea lion numbers and declining fishery numbers are out of species food supply balance.

"USACE possess information on a device, designed by David White, that would be a one step at a time approach to protect fish from sea lions, especially at the dams in front of the fish ladders. In open media publishing and environmental movements, the intent has been aimed at dam removal. The misinformation has skewed best practices to the detriment of horrific damage in Southern Oregon, and the Willamette Basin is next. Taxpayers are the victims, and the tribes are being used by NGO groups with differing intent. This is happening because of the Woke education, and endless pandering to emotion versus common sense."

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The public can help shape the Detroit deep drawdown by attending public scoping meetings or by sending written comments by June 21 to:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Attn: CENWP-PME-E Willamette EIS
PO Box 2946, Portland, OR 97208-2946
or via email at Willamette.EIS@usace.army.mil.

Wake up Salem City Council by speaking to the council or emailing to: citycouncil@cityofsalem.net and Major Hoy to: jhoy@cityofsalem.net.
Stayton City Council list and Mayor Brian Quigley to: bquigley@staytonoregon.gov.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2025-06-15 12:55:36

Last Update: 2025-06-15 16:17:24