Westlund continues opposition to Metolius resorts

While developers have cleared a hurdle in the courts in their quest to site destination resorts in the Metolius River Basin, Senator Ben Westlund continues to try to halt them in their tracks.

Two resorts are in the early planning stages: a conventional destination resort of some 2,500 acres with golf courses, and a 627-acre resort dedicated to other forms of recreation, such as hiking and horseback riding, west of Camp Sherman.

Westlund, who co-sponsored Senate Bill 30 to ban resort development in the basin, explained his opposition at a meeting of the Metolius River Forest Homeowner's Association earlier this month.

Westlund began by quoting a line from an old Paul McCartney song: "There are places I remember...some have gone and some remain." He says his hope and the goal of the failed SB 30 is that the Metolius Basin will not endure the fate of a place changed forever.

There are some holes in Senate Bill 30, Westlund pointed out. Governor Kulongoski effectively killed the bill when he announced that he would veto it.

Westlund said Kulongoski later walked into Westlund's office giving him a laundry list of steps he should take to get his bill passed.

The governor's main objections, as stated in a June 22, 2007 letter to the House Rules Committee, focused on addressing "procedures set forth in state and local law."

His letter ends with a call to action to Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD), the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to evaluate existing laws.

"If the agencies advise me additional laws are necessary to achieve these objectives," Kulongoski said, "I will work with the legislature to develop those legislative changes..."

Westlund said the governor has been working with him to identify existing laws that affect the impacts of development in the basin.

Their new focus is an emphasis on fire prevention and traffic flow. While concerned about elk herds and other indigenous species, Westlund indicated that he's interested in impacts on the area in general.

Water use is another key issue, he stated.

The impact of a resort pumping near the headwaters of the Metolius results in a five-gallon loss of water to the river for every 10 gallons pumped, per information he received from the Water Resources Department.

In October 2007, the OWRD responded to Governor Kulongoski's request to evaluate water use by a destination resort, and its impact on the Metolius Basin. Their letter states, "...the Deschutes Mitigation Program is the strongest program available to the department to address protection of stream flow in the Metolius River."

The program, begun in 2002, was a joint study of OWRD and the United States Geological Survey. Their study confirmed, "...ground and surface water are directly connected within the Deschutes study area, including the Metolius sub-basin." They went on to say "...new ground water use would impact stream flow that is already fully appropriated in the Deschutes Basin."

One local resident asked if it would be worthwhile to pass a law to protect the water supply. Westlund cautioned it would take three to four sessions to pass a bill to protect water statewide.

Westlund invites people to contact him at [email protected] He is interested in hearing opinions on both sides of the resort issue.