By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews
YACHATS – With a turning of valves last week Yachats entered a new era of water security during any future drought-stricken times.
In a joint operation Tuesday, crews from the Yachats public works department and Southwest Lincoln County Water People’s Utility District opened the valves that connect the two systems at a pump located on the west side of U.S. Highway 101 just north of the Overleaf Lodge.
“We’ll be putting a foot of water into our reservoir on Radar Road, which is about 20,000 gallons,” said Yachats water supervisor Rick McClung, who was overseeing the operation.
Earlier in the day McClung lowered the level of water at the reservoir to make room for Southwest Lincoln’s water. With a flow-level of about 100 gallons a minute, McClung said it would take only a couple hours to refill the reservoir.
The water test was the culmination of a long-sought agreement between the two water districts that was completed in August.
Yachats city manager Bobbi Price announced the agreement at the Aug. 21 Yachats city council meeting.
“The agreement is that we can utilize them anytime between the months of August and December,” Price said at the meeting. “And we have some agreements and terms of a seasonable charge and a maximum amount that we could use and what the rate and daily fee will be.”
Under the agreement, the seasonable startup fee Yachats will pay each year to Southwest Lincoln is $10,000. It will then pay an additional amount of $6 for every 748 gallons of water used. Yachats is also restricted to getting about a million gallons of water a month, McClung said.
“Yachats doesn’t have enough water for the future and especially during the end of summers, late fall, so we have this agreement with South Lincoln,” McClung said. “We don’t need the water today but we are exercising (the system) to make sure that it’s there when we need it. And to find out in our systems what needs to be improved to make it an easier process because right now it’s all manual.”
The long-term goal is to automate the system so it is controlled by computer.
The piping connection between the two districts has been tested throughout the years, McClung said, but Tuesday marked the first time since an agreement had been reached.
Yachats, which draws its water supply from Reedy and Salmon creeks in the Yachats River valley, had been looking for another source since 2000.
“I’m just appreciative of both sides, Southwest Lincoln’s board and our council,” McClung said. “Without them I could push all I want but unless they’re on board it won’t work. So I’m proud of them.”
Yachats did not have a water shortage this year, said McClung, and the last time it “came real close” was 2017 when the city was on the verge of declaring a level three shortage, which would have closed hotels and motels.
“But if we would have had this as a source then it would not have been an issue,” he added.
Southwest Lincoln has two water treatment plants and draws water from Starr, Vingie, Big and Dicks Fork creeks. The district provides water to 1,400 customers and has approximately 37 miles of water lines covering a service area from as far north as Hilltop Café-Bistro, Waldport High School and the Waldport industrial park, and as far south as the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District station.
Last year, the district was embarking on more than $6 million in infrastructure projects to repair valves and replace mile of deteriorating pipes.
“Our streams get low usually toward the end of summer,” former Southwest Lincoln district manager Tui Anderson told YachatsNews last year. “And that’s about as much as the drought affects us. Because as soon as it starts raining again, we have more water than we know what to do with.”
Achieving water sustainability was one of the Yachats city council’s 2024 objectives, Yachats Mayor Craig Berdie wrote in the city’s October newsletter. With the agreement in place, he said, the council amended its water-shortage emergency ordinance and simplified the city’s conservation phases while also enacting more stringent conservation measures should they be needed.
“It might not seem like much to some, but this is a major step forward for our city,” Berdie wrote.
- Garret Jaros is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com
This agreement for water through a local partnership is a victory for local residents, workers, businesses, and government. Thanks goes to Yachats city staff, the mayor, city councilors, and the Southwest Lincoln County Water People’s Utility District for applying their energies and operating the levers of government to such worthy ends.
Slowing down growth, new homes are putting a strain on our water. Now we will end up paying even more for our water, no matter what they say.