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The Roseburg News Review---January 31, 2008
In 2003, the Cow Creek tribe began its Creekside Water Resource project, a $50-million endeavor.
Today the Cow Creeks are utilizing their own water treatment system, a complex, long-term vision of natural resource planning.
The goals of the Creekside Water Resource project are to improve the South Umpqua River environment and to support the tribe's business growth plans and job creation program.
By Cara Pallon
The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians is preparing for future investments, including a 150-room addition off the east side of Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort, a theme park and a retail outlet village.
In planning for such large-scale endeavors, it was evident to the tribe that Canyonville's water treatment plant would be inadequate for its needs.
In 2003, the Cow Creek tribe began its Creekside Water Resource project, a 250-acre, $50-million endeavor that will restore Jordan Creek, a tributary of the South Umpqua River, improve the river environment and support the tribe's commercial growth while attaining goals of job creation and economic security.
As Wayne Shammel, general counsel for the tribe, said, "The tribe is going to be around; we're not going anywhere. You can't allow something as basic as sanitation to be out of your control if you're going to be selfsufficient."
Stages of the project were completed throughout 2007, enabling the tribe to discontinue its use of Canyonville's water treatment plant and gradually start utilizing its own system, a complex, long-term vision of naturalresource planning.
Previously, sewage went into Canyonville's plant and into the South Umpqua River. The new system carries sewage from the casino and other facilities to a wastewater lagoon, where it is treated and then distributed into a reservoir. It is then used for irrigation and trickled down through the wetlands to Jordan Creek.
"Rather than dump dirty water back into the river, it's used for irrigation, which saves water during the low-flow part of the year," Shammel said.
Canyonville faces a loss of annual revenue estimated at $100,000 as a result of the tribe's switch from city utilities to its own system.
However, Canyonville Mayor Chuck Spindel said the city doesn't anticipate any budgetary problems as a result.
"Yes, we're undergoing some loss of revenue right now, but nothing that is going to put us in any kind of jeopardy," Spindel said. "We've been fortunate that we've been able to run below budget and have never exceeded the budget."
The new system will also supplement Canyonville's wastewater treatment capacity, providing room for non-tribal growth. It will reduce the city's waste by storing millions of gallons of treated sewage for irrigation use and will keep that sewage from being directly emptied into the South Umpqua River. This will protect the river during Southern Oregon's dry summers.
According to Shammel, both the city and the tribe will be able to depend on each other for an emergency water system if necessary.
"We have a favorable and cooperative relationship with the city. They're our neighbors; they will be able to rely on us if in distress," said Shammel.
Spindel said the system will enable Canyonville's plant to last longer and will enable the city to grow further in the future.
"The tribe has been beneficent to us. They have helped us so much by bringing on tourism," said Spindel.