DRA Releases First Annual Crooked River Water Quality Report (And What it Means for the Lower Deschutes River)

As noted in the blog post preceding this one, the DRA has released its report on the water quality monitoring results in the lower Crooked River from 2019. The report confirms Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) designation of the water quality in the Crooked River as “poor.”We previously documented these problems in our GIS-based evaluation of water quality in the Crooked River titled “Mapping Water Quality and Land Use in the Crooked River Basin.”The contaminating pollutants in the Crooked River create problems not only for the Crooked River and its aquatic lifeforms, but for Lake Billy Chinook and, further downstream (under present practice) the lower Deschutes River.The damage to the Crooked River is the result of a century of land and water practices. It will take decades to repair and return the river to a more natural condition. Some organizations like the Crooked River Watershed Council and Deschutes Land Trust are making progress in restoring the Crooked River, but far more is needed.The Problem Crooked River Water Quality CreatesThe Crooked River has been proven to be the largest source of nitrogen-based nutrient laden water in Lake Billy Chinook. The nutrient loaded water leads to recurrent toxic algae blooms in the reservoir. Vastly compounding the damage, operators of the Pelton-Round-Butte Hydroelectric Project (“Project”) selectively mainline those contaminants directly into the lower Deschutes River, thereby inducing nuisance algae growth, and disrupting the cycles of invertebrate hatches that underlay the river’s reputation as a world-class trout stream. The fact of that degradation has been established not only by multiple studies, but also by user observation.Solutions: Temporary and PermanentThe Crooked River needs to be cleaned up. That will require a change in business as usual, including changes by agriculture to reduce their reliance on pesticides and nitrogen-laden fertilizers. Now denuded riparian zones must be replanted, restored vegetation then must be protected, and leadership at the local and state level must actually prioritize conservation and environmental restoration. The effort will take years if not decades.In the short term, Project operation -- in particular operation of the SWW Tower -- needs to fundamentally change. That is the only way to restore the biological integrity of the 100-miles of the lower Deschutes River. Indeed, a substantial release of additional cold, clean bottom water from the reservoir to the lower Deschutes is available at the flip of a couple switches, and we have reason to believe that such an action would enable the lower river to return to close to its previous state of health. The data demonstrates that this will not impair fish reintroduction efforts beyond their present limitations.In particular, records now establish that in 2019 Tower operators used more bottom draw in the spring and early summer than in prior years. This was apparently the result of a “communications problem.” This increase in the use of bottom draw substantially improved conditions in the lower Deschutes River, including water quality parameters and aquatic insect hatches.Today we can fix the lower Deschutes River while we work on the long-term and necessary work to clean up the Crooked River.The Project operators have demonstrated that they will not fix the problem on their own, and responsible State authorities appear steadfast in their determination to do next to nothing. For that reason, the DRA will continue to prosecute its Clean Water Act enforcement lawsuit against Project licensees -- even while we examine additional levers under the law.