REPORT OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF RECLAMATION DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, To: Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation. Subject: Report on Talent division, Rogue River Basin project, Oregon. TRANSMITTAL 1. This is my report on the Talent division of Rogue River Basin project, Oregon. It is supplemented by a substantiating report in which will be found complete discussions and data covering each aspect of the plan, together with pertinent reports and letters of other interested agencies of the Department of the Interior and the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers. There is concerted local agreement on the need for early development of a project. 2. The plan presented in this report is feasible from an engineering standpoint. Benefits would exceed costs in the ratio of 1.30 to 1 for a 100-year period and 1.06 to 1 for a 50-year period. Full recovery of the construction costs assigned to the Talent division of the Rogue River Basin project, Oregon, based on the January 1953 price level are in prospect. Power costs, including interest, would be returned in 49 years. Irrigation costs would be repaid in 70 years by applying net power revenues to the irrigation allocation after year 49. AUTHORITY 3. This report is authorized to be made by virtue of the Federal reclamation laws (act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 4. The Bureau of Reclamation has received the cooperation and assistance of many Federal, State, and county agencies, and also many local organizations and individuals. Data from all these sources have been used and are gratefully acknowledged. Reports of the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service, Department of the Interior, together with a letter report of the Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, are appended. GENERAL 5. The Talent division is located in Jackson County of southwestern: Oregon and acquires its name from a town within the division area. It is an integral part of a larger area known as the Rogue River Basin. Jackson County had a population of 59,000 in 1950, a substantial increase of 22,000 over the previous decade. Ashland, Oreg., within the division, has a population of 7,700-an increase of 3,000 persons in the past 10 years. Population of the general area has increased to some extent in the past decade, made possible for the most part by subdivision of existing holdings. The population within the division numbers about 2,700 people. 6. Diversion of water was undertaken as early as 1851 in this area. By 1916, organization of the Talent Irrigation District was accomplished. Major development of the district, including construction of irrigation facilities, came in the early 1920's. Three issues of bonds were sold from 1919 to 1927 for a total of $1,235,000. By 1924, 11,500 acres were being assessed for irrigation water. Reduction in the irrigation acreage was made gradually when it became apparent that water supplies were inadequate. At present there are 10,351 assessed acres. Talent Irrigation District encountered serious financial difficulties in 1931, with insufficient income to meet either principal or interest payments to bondholders. Outstanding principal bond debt at that time was $1,078,500, with interest at 6 percent. In addition, $208,371 was owed to the State of Oregon on certificates of indebtedness covering advancements for interest payments. Four years later a loan was obtained from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in the amount of $422,500, whereby that agency acquired the outstanding bonds. The debt to the State was canceled. As of July 1, 1952, the district had $255,000 in bonds outstanding, with interest at 4 percent. These bonds have been sold to individuals by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and their repayment schedule calls for annual principal and interest payments ranging from $19,380 to $21,700 through fiscal year 1968-69. 7. The present economy is based principally upon lumbering and agriculture. Also of significant importance is the tourist trade. Traffic counts taken on United States Highway 99 within the boundaries of Talent division show that 264,400 out-of-State cars traveled this highway in 1951. Tourist travel appears certain to continue at or above the present volume. Retail trade, services, and other supporting industries have kept steady pace with population increases. School, church, and public utility developments are very good. Major improved highways connect with Portland on the north, San Francisco on the south, the Pacific coast on the west, and Klamath Falls and the Deschutes Basin on the east. The Southern Pacific provides excellent north and south rail transportation. Medford is served by three airline companies with good connections to transcontinental routes. 8. Grain and native grasses are the principal crops grown without irrigation. Precipitation is light, evaporation rapid, humidity low, and temperatures moderate. The average frost-free season is about. 183 days. With irrigation, orchards, hay, pasture, and specialty crops have been successfully grown for many years. AREA NEEDS 9. Present storage capacity and available streamflow are insufficient to bring dry lands into development or to provide an adequate water supply for presently irrigated lands. There is imperative need to maintain present productiveness on irrigated lands and to secure optimum development of land and water resources. 10. Farms along Bear Creek, as well as industrial, commercial, and residential property are subject to floods from Bear Creek almost every winter. Flood damage would be substantially reduced by the planned enlargement of Emigrant Reservoir. 11. Irrigation is needed to provide additional incomes for families on small tracts. Even after full irrigation development, it is estimated that approximately two-thirds of the water users will need some income other than that provided by the farm. Future prospects of agriculture, lumbering, tourist trade, and many other related activities appear ample to furnish employment opportunities needed for sound repayment ability of the division. 12. There is also vital need for expansion of the power potential in the southwest Oregon area. The proposed power feature at the Green Springs site will provide a modest but valuable addition to help serve the anticipated power requirements of this area. LOCAL INTEREST 13. Residents of the division area are favorable to development of a Federal irrigation project. Farmers have expressed a willingness to pay reasonable costs. There is fundamental agreement on the need for firming up present irrigation water supplies and to provide additional opportunities on dry lands to be irrigated. The California-Oregon Power Co. serving the local area has expressed a willingness to contract for the power produced in connection with the irrigation development: PLAN OF DEVELOPMENT 14. Basically, the Talent division would be an extension and addition to works of the Talent Irrigation District. The plan for the division provides an adequate water supply for 17,890 acres of irrigable land, develops 10,000 kilowatts of nominal prime power, reduces flood damages, and produces incidental benefits associated with recreation and fish and wildlife. During an interim period, it is proposed to defer development of 2,680 irrigable acres under the Phoenix Canal in the division and to use the water (9,000 acre-feet) on the Medford and Rogue River Valley Irrigation Districts to supplement their present inadequate supplies until an alternative source of supply can be developed. No new construction would be required to accomplish this temporary arrangement, inasmuch as the water would be released into Bear Creek for use by the districts through existing facilities. 15. Existing works of Talent Irrigation District will be used insofar as possible. This includes Hyatt Prairie Dam and Reservoir, canal alinements, turnouts, and sublateral systems which will be utilized with little change. Canals and canal structures will be rebuilt to take care of larger flows, and Emigrant Dam and Reservoir will be enlarged. Keene Creek Canal, Sampson Creek diversion dam, and Emigrant Creek siphon on Ashland lateral will be abandoned. 16. The upper west and Frederick laterals divert unregulated runoff of Wagner Creek, augmented by transbasin diversions from McDonald Creek, a tributary of the Little Applegate River. Lands served by these two laterals are a part of Talent Irrigation District, but will not receive additional benefits in the plan of development. These lands and structures serving them have not been included in the plan or division area. 17. Principal items of construction include: Collection canals, Howard Prairie Dam and Reservoir, Howard Prairie delivery canal, power canal, penstock, Green Springs powerplant, reconstruction of Emigrant Dam, extensions of Ashland and west laterals, and division drainage works. 18. Storage for use of irrigation and for generation of power will be provided in Howard Prairie and Hyatt Prairie Reservoirs in Klamath River Basin, east of the Cascade Divide. Irrigation and flood-control storage will be made available in Emigrant Reservoir in the Bear Creek Basin. Water released from Howard Prairie and Hyatt Prairie Reservoirs will be carried by Howard Prairie delivery canal and the power canal to the Green Springs powerplant penstock, located between these reservoirs and Emigrant Reservoir. This water, together with divertible flows from streams which the delivery canal crosses, will pass through Green Springs powerplant. Ashland lateral diversion dam on Emigrant Creek just below the powerplant will divert water requirements of Ashland lateral from power discharges or spills from the power canal. Water in excess of the needs of this lateral will flow down Emigrant Creek into Emigrant Reservoir. Emigrant Reservoir capacity of 8,300 acre-feet will be enlarged to 45,000 acre-feet to reregulate the releases made from Hyatt Prairie and Howard Prairie Reservoirs through the Green Springs powerplant, and to store additional available runoff from Emigrant Creek. The filling schedule would provide flood-control space during high_runoff months to materially reduce flood damage in Bear Creek Valley. Irrigation releases from the reservoir will be made as required to the east, west, and Talent laterals, and the Phoenix Canal. Water for east and west laterals will be diverted into the east lateral and releases for Talent lateral and Phoenix Canal will be routed into Bear Creek for diversion downstream into the lateral and canal. 19. Hyatt Prairie Dam and Reservoir, located on Keene Creek in Klamath River drainage, is in good condition and will be used without change. The usable storage capacity is 16,000 acre-feet. Howard Prairie Dam, to be built on Beaver Creek in Klamath River drainage, is designed as an earth-fill structure which will rise 86 feet above the creek bed and will provide a usable reservoir capacity of 60,500 acre-feet. There are no provisions for flood-control space or power facilities at the site. The enlarged Emigrant Dam will be located at the site of the present concrete arch dam on Emigrant Creek. Design for this dam is based on an earth-fill structure using the present thin arch dam for a cutoff wall. It will rise 198 feet above creek bed at maximum section. Usable storage capacity will be 43,500 acre-feet. The increased capacity of this reservoir will require construction of two dikes. The first will have a length of 1,580 feet, crest width of 25 feet, and maximum height of 74 feet; the second will be 700 feet long, with a crest width of 20 feet, and have a maximum height of 30 feet. Emigrant Reservoir will be operated for joint use of irrigation and flood control. Power facilities are not planned because reservoir operation for irrigation will assure releases only during that season. Incidental benefits will accrue to recreation and fish and wildlife. 20. Coordinated operation of Howard Prairie and Hyatt Prairie Reservoirs to develop maximum power during the critical generation period of the Columbia River power system will provide a constant flow of 78 cubic feet per second to the Green Springs powerplant. At an effective head of 1,775 feet on the 2 turbines, 10,000 kilowatts of nominal prime power will be developed. Features associated with this development include: Power canal, headworks and wasteway structure, penstock, powerplant, and switchyard. 21. The total length of canals and laterals to serve the division area, including the Howard Prairie delivery canal, but excluding the collection canal system for Howard Prairie Reservoir, will be 126 miles. Canal capacities will range from 39 cubic feet per second for the west lateral to 132 cubic feet per second for the east lateral. Sufficient capacity is provided to satisfy farm-delivery requirements on a continuous-flow basis plus estimated transit losses for the month of maximum demand. Capacity so determined has been modified to provide excess capacity for peaking and for periods of unusually high-water requirements. Exceptions to this are Howard Prairie delivery and power canals, but capacities of these two features will be sufficient to develop rated output of the powerplant. 22. Existing sublaterals and ditches in the distribution system are small and usually under 2 miles in length. A typical sublateral serves an area of less than 200 acres. Almost without exception, they are adequately maintained and will be used without change. Wooden structures, however, will be replaced with concrete structures. Extensions of sublaterals, with necessary structures, will be needed to serve new lands. 23. The major portion of the Talent Irrigation District has_no drainage problems after some 30 years of successful irrigation. Enlargement of the area to be irrigated includes several areas where drainage may be required. These are at a topographic break under the east lateral; the channels of Anderson, Coleman, and a small unnamed creek near Ashland; new farm drains around Talent, Phoenix, and Ashland; and a smaller number of farm drains for the rest of the area. Careful irrigation will keep drainage needs to a minimum. LANDS 24. The division lands have been classified and 17,890 acres determined to be irrigable under the plan of development. About 14,780 acres were included in classes 1 and 2, of which 8,040 acres were in class 1. The remainder (3,110 acres) includes 2,650 acres of class 3 lands and 460 acres of class 5 W. Some 9,250 acres are being irrigated at the present time. All of the class 1 and 2 lands are well suited to irrigation and have an excellent record of production where adequate irrigation supplies have been provided. Class 3 lands are restricted |