By Anne Scheck
Mitch Teal at Brew Coffee & Tap House. The bank called with bad news the morning that Mitch Teal, owner-operator of Brew Coffee & Tap House, sat down for an interview to talk about his business. Federal funds had run dry before his application could be processed – and he'd been one of the first to file. He'll keep trying, he said. Mr. Teal's advice for other downtown merchants who missed out on the government revenue: Keep in mind "what helped us businesses in the first place," facing the ups and downs with an entrepreneurial spirit.
The first round of federal funds for small businesses – which was pronounced a near-failure by leading industry publications – drew criticism by some of the same people who helped support the plan. The U.S. Committee on Financial Services said it didn’t meet the needs of “the public nor the policy makers” in conveying timely information.
In the wake of these setbacks, the City of Independence stepped in, approving a new $200,000 loan program, to be rolled out as stay-at-home orders gradually are lifted. “This is a fairly significant amount of money for a city the size of Independence,” said City Manager Tom Pessemier, shortly before the Independence City Council endorsed the plan.
The program will be done in partnership with the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments; The agency will approve and process the loans after applications are taken by city staff. The $200,00 sum allocated for the loan fund likely will be split evenly – in $100,000 increments – for this fiscal year and the next one, with the aim to begin dispensing the funds during Oregon's "reopening" phases. Local restaurants and merchants are reeling in a sudden struggle. “The swiftness of how this came about, and how it changed the way we do business has been very challenging,” said Kate Schwarzler, president of the Independence Downtown Association and the owner of Indy Commons, a shared workspace for business owners that many consider the heart of downtown.
Ms. Schwarzler is seen as central to the community, and not simply because of the location of her business, according to Mr. Teal, but because she has worked tirelessly on behalf of Main Street during the COVID-19 crisis, providing support and advice.
“No one has worked harder for others,” said Mr. Teal of Ms. Schwarzler, who has an MBA and is “willing to take a lot of time” to share her expertise.
“We are actively trying to pass on the most up-to-date and relevant information about the availability of funding opportunities that could help our local businesses,” Ms. Schwarzler explained.
Mr. Teal’s doors at Brew Coffee and Tap House have been open seven days a week, all day long, for carry-out coffee, food and beer. Even so, he credits a sympathetic landlord for easing up on the rent and his son, Collin, for "working 60 hours a week" to keep the business going. With empty sidewalks along Main Street, Mr. Teal believes "we'll all need summer" for survival – and pushing a re-opening past mid-May would be a harsh blow. Older patrons of Mr. Teal’s corner establishment have likened it to the fictional tavern of “Cheers,” a 1980s television series with a catchy theme song that described it as a place where “everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came.”
That’s pretty much how Lauran Martinez said she feels about "Brew-n-Tap," calling it by the commonly-used shorter name. Since COVID-19’s shelter-in-place order, “I come here about every day,” she said, adding that it’s nice “just to have some place to go.” On a sunny day in April, she and Kenny Fisher, a college student, picked up their order and exited to enjoy Riverview Park.
Food orders are being filled by the Naughty Noodle down the street through Mr. Teal and his wife, Cathy, co-owner of the business. Lunch favorites by Naughty Noodle like stromboli go out through Brew Coffee & Tap House; So does beer from Parallel 45 Brewing, which is a production facility in the old city hall, a few blocks away.
Some other businesses have transitioned to selling “to-go” orders, some are staying active on social media, while others are taking this time to close in order to renovate and do projects that are more difficult to accomplish while customers are coming and going, noted Ms. Schwarzler.
Even when the COVID-19 crisis is over, it won't be back to normal, or at least not the same normal, Mr. Teal predicted.
"People are going to get used to home delivery," Mr. Teal said. Where once customers ordered pizza to arrive at their doorstep, from now on meals from restaurants will be brought there, too. Additionally, "this will get even more people to go online" for ordering, Mr. Teal said.
Soon, restaurants and bars like Brew Coffee and Tap House are expected to be able to have limited seating, not just take-out options. But that will happen only after a 14-day period of so-called “low-COVID.”
And waiting for a government bailout isn’t helpful in maintaining a customer base, advised Marilyn Scott, Portland-based district director for SCORE, a national volunteer advisory network of business mentors. Ms. Scott made a trip to Independence last year, to visit the city – and stopped in at Indy Commons.
Finding innovative ways to preserve business is a good approach, even if the pay-off seems small or non-existent. For example, she ordered a dietary supplement online from a local vendor, presuming she'd see it show up in a package mailed to her. Instead, "I was there gardening, and looked up, and it was one of the people from the business, delivering it right to me," she said. The result: A new and loyal customer.
Hard-working business owners may want to pour everything into staying afloat, a laudable goal, she said. "But this thing is separating people from each other, and we are social creatures – even introverts are," she explained. Her hope is that all small businesses who need the aid get it. But she believes, until then, an important strategy is to "stay connected." Ms. Scott noted that FaceTime, Zoom and similar technology are essential tools right now. So, it's entirely possible that this period will mean a change "where we will have far more people working remotely" and going to an office only one or two days a week.
The first round of federal funds for small businesses – which was pronounced a near-failure by leading industry publications – drew criticism by some of the same people who helped support the plan. The U.S. Committee on Financial Services said it didn’t meet the needs of “the public nor the policy makers” in conveying timely information.
In the wake of these setbacks, the City of Independence stepped in, approving a new $200,000 loan program, to be rolled out as stay-at-home orders gradually are lifted. “This is a fairly significant amount of money for a city the size of Independence,” said City Manager Tom Pessemier, shortly before the Independence City Council endorsed the plan.
The program will be done in partnership with the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments; The agency will approve and process the loans after applications are taken by city staff. The $200,00 sum allocated for the loan fund likely will be split evenly – in $100,000 increments – for this fiscal year and the next one, with the aim to begin dispensing the funds during Oregon's "reopening" phases. Local restaurants and merchants are reeling in a sudden struggle. “The swiftness of how this came about, and how it changed the way we do business has been very challenging,” said Kate Schwarzler, president of the Independence Downtown Association and the owner of Indy Commons, a shared workspace for business owners that many consider the heart of downtown.
Ms. Schwarzler is seen as central to the community, and not simply because of the location of her business, according to Mr. Teal, but because she has worked tirelessly on behalf of Main Street during the COVID-19 crisis, providing support and advice.
“No one has worked harder for others,” said Mr. Teal of Ms. Schwarzler, who has an MBA and is “willing to take a lot of time” to share her expertise.
“We are actively trying to pass on the most up-to-date and relevant information about the availability of funding opportunities that could help our local businesses,” Ms. Schwarzler explained.
Mr. Teal’s doors at Brew Coffee and Tap House have been open seven days a week, all day long, for carry-out coffee, food and beer. Even so, he credits a sympathetic landlord for easing up on the rent and his son, Collin, for "working 60 hours a week" to keep the business going. With empty sidewalks along Main Street, Mr. Teal believes "we'll all need summer" for survival – and pushing a re-opening past mid-May would be a harsh blow. Older patrons of Mr. Teal’s corner establishment have likened it to the fictional tavern of “Cheers,” a 1980s television series with a catchy theme song that described it as a place where “everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came.”
That’s pretty much how Lauran Martinez said she feels about "Brew-n-Tap," calling it by the commonly-used shorter name. Since COVID-19’s shelter-in-place order, “I come here about every day,” she said, adding that it’s nice “just to have some place to go.” On a sunny day in April, she and Kenny Fisher, a college student, picked up their order and exited to enjoy Riverview Park.
Food orders are being filled by the Naughty Noodle down the street through Mr. Teal and his wife, Cathy, co-owner of the business. Lunch favorites by Naughty Noodle like stromboli go out through Brew Coffee & Tap House; So does beer from Parallel 45 Brewing, which is a production facility in the old city hall, a few blocks away.
Some other businesses have transitioned to selling “to-go” orders, some are staying active on social media, while others are taking this time to close in order to renovate and do projects that are more difficult to accomplish while customers are coming and going, noted Ms. Schwarzler.
Even when the COVID-19 crisis is over, it won't be back to normal, or at least not the same normal, Mr. Teal predicted.
"People are going to get used to home delivery," Mr. Teal said. Where once customers ordered pizza to arrive at their doorstep, from now on meals from restaurants will be brought there, too. Additionally, "this will get even more people to go online" for ordering, Mr. Teal said.
Soon, restaurants and bars like Brew Coffee and Tap House are expected to be able to have limited seating, not just take-out options. But that will happen only after a 14-day period of so-called “low-COVID.”
And waiting for a government bailout isn’t helpful in maintaining a customer base, advised Marilyn Scott, Portland-based district director for SCORE, a national volunteer advisory network of business mentors. Ms. Scott made a trip to Independence last year, to visit the city – and stopped in at Indy Commons.
Finding innovative ways to preserve business is a good approach, even if the pay-off seems small or non-existent. For example, she ordered a dietary supplement online from a local vendor, presuming she'd see it show up in a package mailed to her. Instead, "I was there gardening, and looked up, and it was one of the people from the business, delivering it right to me," she said. The result: A new and loyal customer.
Hard-working business owners may want to pour everything into staying afloat, a laudable goal, she said. "But this thing is separating people from each other, and we are social creatures – even introverts are," she explained. Her hope is that all small businesses who need the aid get it. But she believes, until then, an important strategy is to "stay connected." Ms. Scott noted that FaceTime, Zoom and similar technology are essential tools right now. So, it's entirely possible that this period will mean a change "where we will have far more people working remotely" and going to an office only one or two days a week.
Collin Teal, Mitch Teal’s son is working 60-hour weeks to help at “Brew & Tap.” The use of technology to link remotely is here to stay, Mr. Teal agreed. "I think we are in the middle of a tidal wave of change," he said.
However, even if more people opt to work out of their homes in the future, they'll need a place to stop in, meet up and congregate. "People already are thanking us for being here," he said, adding that those who come in to pick up orders seem to appreciate the change of scenery and brief interaction. "I think people always will need time together, and I mean face-to-face," Mr. Teal said.
However, even if more people opt to work out of their homes in the future, they'll need a place to stop in, meet up and congregate. "People already are thanking us for being here," he said, adding that those who come in to pick up orders seem to appreciate the change of scenery and brief interaction. "I think people always will need time together, and I mean face-to-face," Mr. Teal said.
Polk County Courthouse The CIVICS LESSON: County Commissioners Weigh in On COVID
Response Control Plan
Polk County will likely partner with neighboring counties to build a phased plan that addresses the mid-valley as a region. Can they really do that? They’d need acceptance from the governor’s office – but they seem hopeful that their county may be seen as part of a distinct region.
However, significant relaxing of stay-at-home orders isn't likely to happen any time soon, said Craig Pope, a member of the Polk County Board of Commissioners. A long-term change may include taking precautions while allowing some business to re-open. "What will we be doing differently?" he said. Social-distancing placement at every other table in restaurants, sitting several seats apart in movie theaters, staggering customers for essential shopping all may be part of the plan, he suggested.
Commissioner Lyle Mordhorst added that “now that we know who are the most susceptible – the elderly and people with challenged immune systems – we (can) ask that they help by limiting their exposure and use personal protection as we open up our business community.”
“The last thing we want is to lose our loved ones to this virus,” he said.
Even if Oregon were allowed to "re-open," it would take at least 18 months for life to return as it once was – and even then, hugs and handshakes might be gone for good and hand sanitizer may be common everywhere, said Commission Chair Mike Ainsworth. --AS
Response Control Plan
Polk County will likely partner with neighboring counties to build a phased plan that addresses the mid-valley as a region. Can they really do that? They’d need acceptance from the governor’s office – but they seem hopeful that their county may be seen as part of a distinct region.
However, significant relaxing of stay-at-home orders isn't likely to happen any time soon, said Craig Pope, a member of the Polk County Board of Commissioners. A long-term change may include taking precautions while allowing some business to re-open. "What will we be doing differently?" he said. Social-distancing placement at every other table in restaurants, sitting several seats apart in movie theaters, staggering customers for essential shopping all may be part of the plan, he suggested.
Commissioner Lyle Mordhorst added that “now that we know who are the most susceptible – the elderly and people with challenged immune systems – we (can) ask that they help by limiting their exposure and use personal protection as we open up our business community.”
“The last thing we want is to lose our loved ones to this virus,” he said.
Even if Oregon were allowed to "re-open," it would take at least 18 months for life to return as it once was – and even then, hugs and handshakes might be gone for good and hand sanitizer may be common everywhere, said Commission Chair Mike Ainsworth. --AS
INDY HOP: Don’t Beam Me Up, Scotty! ZOOM Me In
The first ZOOM meeting of the Independence City Council went off without a hitch, but in the weeks leading up to it many other cities had been ZOOM-bombed with "inappropriate visuals," as it's now termed. Screen-invading Z-bombs of council meetings elsewhere ranged from protesters shouting anarchist slogans to naked adults showing ... a lack of inhibition. Jason Kistler, the city's IT manager, had confirmed that there was almost no chance this would happen in the city's ZOOM meeting. And, sure enough, there were no such cyberattacks. However, a dog's hearty bark, some household noises and a few cell-phone buzzes could be heard – the side effect of zooming to the meeting from home-sweet-home. --AS
The first ZOOM meeting of the Independence City Council went off without a hitch, but in the weeks leading up to it many other cities had been ZOOM-bombed with "inappropriate visuals," as it's now termed. Screen-invading Z-bombs of council meetings elsewhere ranged from protesters shouting anarchist slogans to naked adults showing ... a lack of inhibition. Jason Kistler, the city's IT manager, had confirmed that there was almost no chance this would happen in the city's ZOOM meeting. And, sure enough, there were no such cyberattacks. However, a dog's hearty bark, some household noises and a few cell-phone buzzes could be heard – the side effect of zooming to the meeting from home-sweet-home. --AS
Danny Jaffer May 2020 supplement to The Independent.
Danny Jaffer, President of the Luckiamute Domestic Water Cooperative, is a life-long resident of Polk County, and a retired Naval Aviator. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon State University and a Juris Doctor of Law from the University of Oregon, earning a special certificate in Ocean and Coastal Law. He has been involved in water quality issues since high school, and is a volunteer and contributor to the Luckiamute Watershed Council.
Danny is currently running for Polk County Commissioner, Position 1, a non-partisan position which will appear on all ballots for the May primary. --AS
WATER
By Danny Jaffer
Without water, cool, clean, life giving water, you don’t have much. It is a resource truly more valuable than gold. You can live a long time without a lot of things, yet only about three to seven days without water. Yet, as precious as the resource is, as we see from the Aral Sea disaster (more on that later), and from countless other smaller man-made errors, we don’t treat it as such.
As a rural Polk County resident, I have seen the pressures on our Willamette Valley water supply. I have been a member of the Luckiamute Domestic Water Cooperative (LDWC) for over 20 years, and I have now served as a Board Member and President for the past nine years. It has been an eye-opening experience. I have had the opportunity to observe in a way that I never would have, and may have taken for granted, how important and vital this resource and service is to everything that we do. Without the Water Cooperative, many rural Polk County residents would be on their own, drilling for water for domestic use, drinking “flavorful” water, and putting up with orangish underwear coming out of their washing machines. Or worse, they would be incurring the cost of trucking water.
The LDWC is in the not-for-profit business of providing clean, clear, potable water to around 3000 Polk County residents, living in the un-incorporated areas of the county between the Willamette River and Falls City, from just south of Monmouth, Independence and Dallas, down to the Benton County line. It’s an area of around 270 square miles, in which the Cooperative has run over 170 miles of pipe. It is one of the largest water cooperatives in the state. While primarily for domestic home use, members also use it to water small numbers of livestock and water gardens. These are all approved uses by the state Department of Water Resources.
Note: Water systems are considered “necessary” under FEMA guidelines regarding the current COVID-19 crisis. LDWC has taken steps to ensure the safety of the water, the safety of our employees, and the safety of our members during this difficult time.
The members of the Cooperative are thankful to have the service, and for the most part understand the process of providing “quality on tap.” But, unlike any other utility, if the water stops flowing, people are immediately affected. People will patiently wait a few days if the electrical power goes out, but if the water stops flowing, due to a pump failure, or a break in a mainline, we hear about it in the office almost immediately. And we should of course, as all members are owners of the endeavor. However, patience is pretty short if you can’t flush your toilet.
As a proud cooperative board member, I help oversee a 50-year legacy of LDWC serving the residents of the south Polk County area, and it is in my charge to ensure that the LDWC is in business for the next 50 years. To that end, we are striving to modernize our system, with new storage capacity, a new sanitary treatment facility, and new pumping facilities, that will increase capacity, reduce loss, and lower power requirements. It is the right time to do it as our system is aging, in order to make the most efficient use of our water allotment, for lowering costs in the future, while at the same time taking advantage of low interest rates and providing construction jobs for local contractors. It is our own little green initiative. It will cost real money, and we are fortunate to have the backing of Business Oregon in order to secure our loan, but ultimately the cost is borne by the members of the Cooperative only, and not a tax-supported government entity. We are very proud of that. But, even with increased storage and better pumping facilities, we cannot alone protect the quality of the water. That takes a conscious effort on everyone’s part.
LDWC draws most of its water from wells located in the American Bottom aquifer, in the Wigrich area south of Independence. We are not the only user. Water is also drawn out of American Bottom by the cities of Monmouth and Independence, as well as individual domestic wells in the area serving farm houses, and many agricultural irrigation users. Without going into detail about its structure, I will say that it is a very fine aquifer, but as you might guess, there are a lot of pressures on the aquifer, from water table drawdown, to non-point source pollution, which we do our best to monitor.
The Willamette Valley is so very fertile because of the water falling on it, and flowing through it, both on the surface, and underground. It is what brought the first human inhabitants of this continent to this area, and it was the magnet that drew tens of thousands of people across the country to settle here, farm the land, and build a society at the water’s edge. It was a rapid growth, creating a booming economy by the start of the 20th century. The three-F’s: farming, fishing and forestry, were the drivers, but other businesses, many of them created to support the three-F’s, soon were working full tilt with them. None of this would have been possible without the water, and particularly the Willamette River, providing power, transport and irrigation.
It is a phenomenal achievement, but the gain is not without consequence. There once was a time in the not too distant past when the sanitation adage was: “The solution to pollution is dilution.” Or, in other words, “if you’ve got a big enough water source, no one will worry about what you dump in it.” I think that everyone now understands that this is pure folly. The truth is that over the past century and a half we have abused and ignored the health of our valley’s water. The most famous quote in reference to this was by the late great Gov. Tom McCall who referred to our great river as a “festering cesspool” in his famous 1961 documentary, “Pollution in Paradise.” During this time, fish were rarely seen in the river. While we have made great strides in cleaning up the visible pollution since the 1970’s, there is still a great deal unseen that quietly makes its way to our waterways and aquifers from non-point sources, like city storm drains, agricultural and forest run-off, home septic systems and even recreation. Of course, this is not an intentional defilement, but it is dangerous to our water system just the same. Our valley, with over 200 different crops being grown, producing 70% of the nation’s grass seed, 95% of the nation’s hazelnuts, and accounting for 70% of the Oregon’s wine production, as well as being home to 70% of the state’s population, must have a clean, safe water supplies to maintain the civilization that we have created here in the “Eden at the end of the Oregon Trail.”
My association with the LDWC, and with the Luckiamute Watershed Council (shout out!) to which I have been a volunteer and contributor (LWC is not related to LDWC, but hard at work protecting and enhancing the watershed from which LDWC draws the resource), has convinced me that we can, and should do a better job of protecting the resource. It is too important not to.
So, what can we do? In honor of the recent 50th anniversary Earth Day, I offer this: With non-point source pollution, limit the application of herbicides and pesticides to that which is truly necessary, whether it is a home garden or flower bed, or a 50-acre hazelnut orchard, or a 1000-acre tree farm. Many studies have shown that the greatest abuse is by homeowners on their lawns and flowers (“I’ll go just a little bit more to make sure that it works”). And while farmers and foresters have reduced the use of truly damaging chemicals, as the recent troubles with Roundup has shown, even moving from third generation to fourth and fifth generation chemical treatments is not without consequence. There is a cost-benefit analysis to this, of course, but often costs can be lowered without decreasing benefit by the same amount. County Extension Agents are a great resource for information on this.
Dispose of hazardous waste appropriately. Whether it is for household or outdoor use. Any container that has, or has had, toxic substances in it will eventually break down, and when it does, whatever remains will travel into the soil, and eventually into the water cycle. For those of us in the rural areas, always remember that the water that percolates through the ground you are standing on will eventually be in your faucet. Your waste disposal company or your public works department can give you information on proper disposal.
Do your best to keep your vehicles in proper running order. If you have an oil or coolant leak, try to get it fixed. At a minimum, keep a drip pan under your car in the driveway, and clean it regularly, and use proper disposal procedures. Talk with your mechanic to see if there are easy (hopefully non-expensive) fixes to the problem.
Help protect and restore riparian habitat, wetlands and meandering waterways. These are incredible buffers that provide natural filtration and help slow the travel of water, thereby limiting the rapid introduction of toxins into our surface and subsurface waterways. An added benefit is that it also reduces the scouring of the streambeds, which provides spawning grounds for fish. This in turn provides habitat for those organisms which provide indicators of the overall health of the water cycle. The Luckiamute Watershed Council has volumes of information on this, and, their volunteer outings to do this restoration work is both fun and rewarding.
There are a multitude of other things that you can do to help protect our water quality, both large and small. Check out the state or federal EPA homepages, or the Earth Day website. Know that any task you undertake to help the quality of the water, helps you as well.
Finally, don’t waste it! Water truly is precious.
As a member of the U.S. military, I have been to many places throughout the world, from Southern Europe, to the Mid-East, to India, to Southeast Asia as well as Pacific islands, and one thing that I have observed is that nearly every other place gets more use out of a gallon of water than we do here. Perhaps at one time we did better, as I recall my grandmother talking about those times when water used for washing and bathing was then applied to the garden. I am not suggesting that we plug our drains and then pump the water on the flowerbeds, but maybe moving your car onto the lawn when you wash it would be a good way to get a secondary use out of that water. And, I’m sure that most of you know by now to turn off the faucet while you have your toothbrush in your mouth. Conserve it as much as possible. And, fix your leaks, your faucets and toilets. The water cooperative has at times seen a household’s water usage jump from under 5000 gallons of water in a month, to over 50,000 gallons the next (that is a lot of water), just from a malfunctioning toilet. That is not just a waste of good water, it’s also costly.
I think that most people understand how water is the life blood of the place we live. Without water, civilizations, societies, do not exist. Every major city in the world is constructed on, around, or near the water, providing for life, transportation, and commerce. Those civilizations that lost their access to water, either through natural or man-made occurrences, have ceased to be viable on the world stage. Some collapses were unavoidable, such as those brought on by the gradual drying of the Sahara region after a tilt in the Earth’s axis caused a slight change in our planet’s orbit, which changed the amount of sunlight hitting the Earth. It is very hard to continue a vibrant civilization in the desert. Some collapses are tremendously avoidable, such as the mid-20th century rechanneling of the rivers that fed the Aral Sea in what was then the Soviet Union (now Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan), causing what was at the time the world’s fourth largest lake, at over 26,000 square miles and supporting a large fishing industry and communities involved in trade, to shrink to fewer than 5,000 square miles, with salinity and pollution levels that killed most of the fish, and left communities tens to hundreds of miles from the sea’s edge, effectively creating ghost towns within a short few years. It is considered to be the largest man-made environmental disaster, ever.
We must do now what we can to prevent the preventable. Water is a finite resource. All the water that is on the earth, is all the water we have. You can break it down into its base elements, and reconstruct it, but short of going through the expensive process of finding hydrogen and oxygen in outer space, and somehow getting it home, you cannot add to the supply. We need to treat it well, and protect it, even as we use it.
Danny Jaffer, President of the Luckiamute Domestic Water Cooperative, is a life-long resident of Polk County, and a retired Naval Aviator. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon State University and a Juris Doctor of Law from the University of Oregon, earning a special certificate in Ocean and Coastal Law. He has been involved in water quality issues since high school, and is a volunteer and contributor to the Luckiamute Watershed Council.
Danny is currently running for Polk County Commissioner, Position 1, a non-partisan position which will appear on all ballots for the May primary. --AS
WATER
By Danny Jaffer
Without water, cool, clean, life giving water, you don’t have much. It is a resource truly more valuable than gold. You can live a long time without a lot of things, yet only about three to seven days without water. Yet, as precious as the resource is, as we see from the Aral Sea disaster (more on that later), and from countless other smaller man-made errors, we don’t treat it as such.
As a rural Polk County resident, I have seen the pressures on our Willamette Valley water supply. I have been a member of the Luckiamute Domestic Water Cooperative (LDWC) for over 20 years, and I have now served as a Board Member and President for the past nine years. It has been an eye-opening experience. I have had the opportunity to observe in a way that I never would have, and may have taken for granted, how important and vital this resource and service is to everything that we do. Without the Water Cooperative, many rural Polk County residents would be on their own, drilling for water for domestic use, drinking “flavorful” water, and putting up with orangish underwear coming out of their washing machines. Or worse, they would be incurring the cost of trucking water.
The LDWC is in the not-for-profit business of providing clean, clear, potable water to around 3000 Polk County residents, living in the un-incorporated areas of the county between the Willamette River and Falls City, from just south of Monmouth, Independence and Dallas, down to the Benton County line. It’s an area of around 270 square miles, in which the Cooperative has run over 170 miles of pipe. It is one of the largest water cooperatives in the state. While primarily for domestic home use, members also use it to water small numbers of livestock and water gardens. These are all approved uses by the state Department of Water Resources.
Note: Water systems are considered “necessary” under FEMA guidelines regarding the current COVID-19 crisis. LDWC has taken steps to ensure the safety of the water, the safety of our employees, and the safety of our members during this difficult time.
The members of the Cooperative are thankful to have the service, and for the most part understand the process of providing “quality on tap.” But, unlike any other utility, if the water stops flowing, people are immediately affected. People will patiently wait a few days if the electrical power goes out, but if the water stops flowing, due to a pump failure, or a break in a mainline, we hear about it in the office almost immediately. And we should of course, as all members are owners of the endeavor. However, patience is pretty short if you can’t flush your toilet.
As a proud cooperative board member, I help oversee a 50-year legacy of LDWC serving the residents of the south Polk County area, and it is in my charge to ensure that the LDWC is in business for the next 50 years. To that end, we are striving to modernize our system, with new storage capacity, a new sanitary treatment facility, and new pumping facilities, that will increase capacity, reduce loss, and lower power requirements. It is the right time to do it as our system is aging, in order to make the most efficient use of our water allotment, for lowering costs in the future, while at the same time taking advantage of low interest rates and providing construction jobs for local contractors. It is our own little green initiative. It will cost real money, and we are fortunate to have the backing of Business Oregon in order to secure our loan, but ultimately the cost is borne by the members of the Cooperative only, and not a tax-supported government entity. We are very proud of that. But, even with increased storage and better pumping facilities, we cannot alone protect the quality of the water. That takes a conscious effort on everyone’s part.
LDWC draws most of its water from wells located in the American Bottom aquifer, in the Wigrich area south of Independence. We are not the only user. Water is also drawn out of American Bottom by the cities of Monmouth and Independence, as well as individual domestic wells in the area serving farm houses, and many agricultural irrigation users. Without going into detail about its structure, I will say that it is a very fine aquifer, but as you might guess, there are a lot of pressures on the aquifer, from water table drawdown, to non-point source pollution, which we do our best to monitor.
The Willamette Valley is so very fertile because of the water falling on it, and flowing through it, both on the surface, and underground. It is what brought the first human inhabitants of this continent to this area, and it was the magnet that drew tens of thousands of people across the country to settle here, farm the land, and build a society at the water’s edge. It was a rapid growth, creating a booming economy by the start of the 20th century. The three-F’s: farming, fishing and forestry, were the drivers, but other businesses, many of them created to support the three-F’s, soon were working full tilt with them. None of this would have been possible without the water, and particularly the Willamette River, providing power, transport and irrigation.
It is a phenomenal achievement, but the gain is not without consequence. There once was a time in the not too distant past when the sanitation adage was: “The solution to pollution is dilution.” Or, in other words, “if you’ve got a big enough water source, no one will worry about what you dump in it.” I think that everyone now understands that this is pure folly. The truth is that over the past century and a half we have abused and ignored the health of our valley’s water. The most famous quote in reference to this was by the late great Gov. Tom McCall who referred to our great river as a “festering cesspool” in his famous 1961 documentary, “Pollution in Paradise.” During this time, fish were rarely seen in the river. While we have made great strides in cleaning up the visible pollution since the 1970’s, there is still a great deal unseen that quietly makes its way to our waterways and aquifers from non-point sources, like city storm drains, agricultural and forest run-off, home septic systems and even recreation. Of course, this is not an intentional defilement, but it is dangerous to our water system just the same. Our valley, with over 200 different crops being grown, producing 70% of the nation’s grass seed, 95% of the nation’s hazelnuts, and accounting for 70% of the Oregon’s wine production, as well as being home to 70% of the state’s population, must have a clean, safe water supplies to maintain the civilization that we have created here in the “Eden at the end of the Oregon Trail.”
My association with the LDWC, and with the Luckiamute Watershed Council (shout out!) to which I have been a volunteer and contributor (LWC is not related to LDWC, but hard at work protecting and enhancing the watershed from which LDWC draws the resource), has convinced me that we can, and should do a better job of protecting the resource. It is too important not to.
So, what can we do? In honor of the recent 50th anniversary Earth Day, I offer this: With non-point source pollution, limit the application of herbicides and pesticides to that which is truly necessary, whether it is a home garden or flower bed, or a 50-acre hazelnut orchard, or a 1000-acre tree farm. Many studies have shown that the greatest abuse is by homeowners on their lawns and flowers (“I’ll go just a little bit more to make sure that it works”). And while farmers and foresters have reduced the use of truly damaging chemicals, as the recent troubles with Roundup has shown, even moving from third generation to fourth and fifth generation chemical treatments is not without consequence. There is a cost-benefit analysis to this, of course, but often costs can be lowered without decreasing benefit by the same amount. County Extension Agents are a great resource for information on this.
Dispose of hazardous waste appropriately. Whether it is for household or outdoor use. Any container that has, or has had, toxic substances in it will eventually break down, and when it does, whatever remains will travel into the soil, and eventually into the water cycle. For those of us in the rural areas, always remember that the water that percolates through the ground you are standing on will eventually be in your faucet. Your waste disposal company or your public works department can give you information on proper disposal.
Do your best to keep your vehicles in proper running order. If you have an oil or coolant leak, try to get it fixed. At a minimum, keep a drip pan under your car in the driveway, and clean it regularly, and use proper disposal procedures. Talk with your mechanic to see if there are easy (hopefully non-expensive) fixes to the problem.
Help protect and restore riparian habitat, wetlands and meandering waterways. These are incredible buffers that provide natural filtration and help slow the travel of water, thereby limiting the rapid introduction of toxins into our surface and subsurface waterways. An added benefit is that it also reduces the scouring of the streambeds, which provides spawning grounds for fish. This in turn provides habitat for those organisms which provide indicators of the overall health of the water cycle. The Luckiamute Watershed Council has volumes of information on this, and, their volunteer outings to do this restoration work is both fun and rewarding.
There are a multitude of other things that you can do to help protect our water quality, both large and small. Check out the state or federal EPA homepages, or the Earth Day website. Know that any task you undertake to help the quality of the water, helps you as well.
Finally, don’t waste it! Water truly is precious.
As a member of the U.S. military, I have been to many places throughout the world, from Southern Europe, to the Mid-East, to India, to Southeast Asia as well as Pacific islands, and one thing that I have observed is that nearly every other place gets more use out of a gallon of water than we do here. Perhaps at one time we did better, as I recall my grandmother talking about those times when water used for washing and bathing was then applied to the garden. I am not suggesting that we plug our drains and then pump the water on the flowerbeds, but maybe moving your car onto the lawn when you wash it would be a good way to get a secondary use out of that water. And, I’m sure that most of you know by now to turn off the faucet while you have your toothbrush in your mouth. Conserve it as much as possible. And, fix your leaks, your faucets and toilets. The water cooperative has at times seen a household’s water usage jump from under 5000 gallons of water in a month, to over 50,000 gallons the next (that is a lot of water), just from a malfunctioning toilet. That is not just a waste of good water, it’s also costly.
I think that most people understand how water is the life blood of the place we live. Without water, civilizations, societies, do not exist. Every major city in the world is constructed on, around, or near the water, providing for life, transportation, and commerce. Those civilizations that lost their access to water, either through natural or man-made occurrences, have ceased to be viable on the world stage. Some collapses were unavoidable, such as those brought on by the gradual drying of the Sahara region after a tilt in the Earth’s axis caused a slight change in our planet’s orbit, which changed the amount of sunlight hitting the Earth. It is very hard to continue a vibrant civilization in the desert. Some collapses are tremendously avoidable, such as the mid-20th century rechanneling of the rivers that fed the Aral Sea in what was then the Soviet Union (now Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan), causing what was at the time the world’s fourth largest lake, at over 26,000 square miles and supporting a large fishing industry and communities involved in trade, to shrink to fewer than 5,000 square miles, with salinity and pollution levels that killed most of the fish, and left communities tens to hundreds of miles from the sea’s edge, effectively creating ghost towns within a short few years. It is considered to be the largest man-made environmental disaster, ever.
We must do now what we can to prevent the preventable. Water is a finite resource. All the water that is on the earth, is all the water we have. You can break it down into its base elements, and reconstruct it, but short of going through the expensive process of finding hydrogen and oxygen in outer space, and somehow getting it home, you cannot add to the supply. We need to treat it well, and protect it, even as we use it.
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