By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
March 25, 2006
According to one key local water watcher, many residents of the city of Hood River have only a basic understanding of where they get the water for homes, yards, and businesses.
“While we intuitively realize that the origin is rain and snow falling high on Mount Hood, many of us wonder if the actual source is a spring, a creek or maybe even a well,” said Steve Stampfli, coordinator with Hood River Watershed Group.
“Given scientific information related to the expansion of global warming, we also might wonder how weather changes could affect water availability,” Stampfli said.
That’s the kind of information that Dave Bick, City of Hood River engineer, will be presenting to the Hood River Watershed Group’s upcoming March 28 meeting.
Beginning at 7 p.m., Bick will describe the history of the city’s water supply system, and trace the system’s pathway from its origin high in the West Fork Hood River basin. He will also address such important topics as water quality, plans to upgrade the system, and the possible incorporation of hydroelectric turbines to generate revenues using water from the existing diversion.
Since 1993, the Hood River Watershed Group has worked to sustain and improve the watershed through education, cooperation and stewardship.
As part of a regular series of “stakeholder presentations,” this event represents one way that the group tries to expand communication, and ultimately facilitate better cooperation in solving the basin’s natural resource related problems.
The watershed group meeting and presentation will be at the OSU Extension Office meeting room at 2990 Experiment Station Road in Hood River. The public is welcome to attend. For more information (including directions to the site), call Stampfli or Kate Merrick at (541) 386-6063.