Middle Fork Irrigation District Scoping Meeting for the Clear Branch Dam Rehabilitation Project

Public Scoping Meeting October 4, 2022

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Oregon, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) and the Middle Fork Irrigation District (MFID), is considering alternatives for the rehabilitation of Clear Branch Dam near Parkdale, Oregon.

Parkdale, Ore., (September 15, 2022) – The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Oregon, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) and the Middle Fork Irrigation District (MFID), is considering alternatives for the rehabilitation of Clear Branch Dam near Parkdale, Oregon. NRCS Oregon and project partners are conducting public scoping this October to obtain feedback from the public.

Construction of Clear Branch Dam was authorized in a 1962 Watershed Work Plan for the Middle Fork Hood River; construction was completed in 1969 with assistance from NRCS. The dam is owned and operated by the MFID and is located on the Mt. Hood National Forest near Parkdale, Oregon.

The purpose of the dam and its surrounding infrastructure is to provide a clean, dependable water supply for the Upper Hood River Valley. The reservoir (Laurance Lake) behind Clear Branch Dam provides water to more than 400 users to irrigate over 6,000 acres in the Upper Hood River valley.

Modifications to Clear Branch Dam are necessary to extend its service life and address dam safety and environmental standards. Under a federal environmental planning process that began in 2016, NRCS, Forest Service, and MFID are evaluating alternatives to extend the service life of Clear Branch Dam and continue to provide a clean dependable water supply for the Upper Hood River valley. NRCS is proposing to fund the structural rehabilitation of the dam in a manner that will satisfactorily address flood conveyance, seepage, seismic hazards, fish passage, and water quality standards.

NRCS, with MFID as the project sponsor and the Forest Service as a cooperating federal agency, plan to prepare a Watershed Plan-Environmental Impact Statement (Plan-EIS) to develop and evaluate alternatives that meet the purpose of providing a clean dependable water supply for the Upper Hood River valley. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Council on Environmental Quality’s regulations at 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508 require that federal projects evaluate the potential environmental impacts associated with each alternative with input from the public.

We want to hear from you. You are invited to attend a public scoping meeting on October 4, 2022 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. NRCS and project partners will present the range of resource issues and conceptual alternatives under evaluation. Stakeholders and members of the public are invited to provide input that they believe is relevant to the Plan-EIS process. This meeting will be a hybrid in-person and virtual meeting on Zoom.