Lovelace Dam on Slate Creek in the Applegate Subbasin of the Rogue
IT’S ON-LINE AUCTION TIME – SAVE THE DATE!
Sun/May 15 – Sat/May 21, 2022
The Flyfishers Club and Foundation thank each of you for all of your contributions and bidding on our 2021 on-line auction! You did a great job, with a grand total of $35,144 in funds raised for mitigating the Archie fire damage on watersheds in the North Umpqua, and focusing on bringing more native steelhead into the river.
This year, we have a phenomenal Flyfishers Foundation 2022 grantee project for you to support!
WATERWATCH OF OREGON – LOVELACE DAM REMOVAL, ROGUE RIVER BASIN
Project Timeline: Lovelace Dam – Removal planned 2023.
In 2022, WaterWatch of Oregon will advance the removal of at least two more obsolete, high priority dams in the Rogue Basin: Lovelace Dam on Slate Creek and Pomeroy Dam on the Illinois River. The Flyfishers Foundation will be focusing their grant funds on critical areas in the project to remove the Lovelace Dam.
LOVELACE DAM REMOVAL
Lovelace Dam is the highest priority fish passage barrier in the salmon-bearing Slate Creek subbasin and the sixth highest priority privately owned dam on ODFW’s 2019 Statewide Fish Passage Barrier Priority List (ODFW List). This obsolete dam serves no water storage, flood control, or irrigation function, but impede fish passage to over 25 miles of salmon and steelhead habitat on Slate Creek. After years of inability to secure agreement by others, WaterWatch obtained a voluntary agreement in December 2021 to remove this dam – at no cost to the private landowner. In 2022, WaterWatch will be raising funds for the project management, engineering, permitting, and construction in preparation to remove the dam during summer 2023. Upon removing Lovelace Dam, WaterWatch will have achieved four priority dam removals in three years in one subbasin.
UPPER REACHES OF ROGUE BASIN RESTORATION
Southern Oregon’s Rogue River Basin is a critically important stronghold for multiple runs of anadromous fish. The Rogue and tributary rivers and streams offer unparalleled and internationally known fly angling opportunities for steelhead and salmon. The basin has been subject to extensive habitat restoration efforts for anadromous fish. However, fish passage remains a limiting factor for the health of runs of wild fish in the Rogue. Coho salmon remain listed on the Endangered Species Act. Providing unobstructed access to the high quality spawning and rearing habitat in the upper reaches of Rogue tributaries is one restoration measure that can help these runs of incredible fish survive into the future in a climate changed world.
WATERWATCH ACHIEVES SUCCESSES
WaterWatch of Oregon has a strong track record of successful dam removal projects in the Rogue Basin through their longstanding Free the Rogue Campaign. Together, this work comprises one of the most significant river restoration campaigns in the nation, and their momentum continues. In 2021, WaterWatch was responsible for three out of the seven dam removals undertaken in the entire state of Oregon.
WaterWatch also strives to do more than remove obsolete concrete through their projects. Their multi-faceted dam removal project in 2021 not only significantly improved access to approximately 15 miles of spawning and rearing habitat, it also replaced an old dams’ water diversion function with anew, fish-friendly, solar powered, screened, and metered pump, replaced 1,000 feet of leaky concrete canal with new pipe, removed a relic road abutment from Slate Creek, and decommissioned a logging road.
Submitted by,
Janet Arenz, Auction Chair
