Category Archives: Meeting Reports

The Devils Lake Water Improvement District Board meeting was on Valentine’s Day Thursday February 14th at 6:00pm and was held in the City Hall Council Chambers located on the third floor of City Hall. The full meeting is now available online at this streaming video link.

Total Maximum Daily Load: Kevin Brannan from Oregon Department of Environmental Quality presented an overview of the TMDL process for the Mid Coast Watershed. He described how the DEQ details of the TMDL process suggesting there is a lot of data available including 165 sample stations with a 12 year history. Generally, they will identify sources, quantify bacterial levels and develop a plan for improvement where required. The plan will then be implemented, monitored, they will learn during the process, then they will improve the plan. In fresh water they are specifically concerned with eColi.

Agricultural Water Quality Plan and Rules Overview: Kevin Fenn from the Oregon Department of Agriculture provided a brief overview of the existing rules and water quality plans that govern agricultural in Oregon. He explained that they monitor agricultural activities near water. This is mainly related to erosion caused by farming, grazing and manure management.

Public Comment: There were 6 interested parties in attendance. A presentation was made by the Tigersharks Surf Club which is trying to help local kids learn water safety and how to surf. He explained they spend a great deal of time on the lake for training. He was looking for donations to supplement the tution for kids who cannot afford to participate. Another person suggested the District promote the Great Backyard Bird Count which is Feb 15th to18th.

Septic Ordinance: There was a report given on the Septic Tank Revitalization Program. City staff is at the point where they are ready to put together details to the program and suggested that a meeting be scheduled as early as March, it could be a City Council or a speci workshop. Details are still being worked out.

Save Our Shoreline: There was a brief discussion on the need to do a second round of maintenance at the raingardens and replant as required. The District has organized a fall and spring landscaping training course. The District decided to host the training this spring, and open it up to the public as a free course. Continue reading →

The Devils Lake Water Improvement District Board meeting was on Thursday December 13th at 6:00pm and was held in the City Hall Council Chambers located on the third floor of City Hall. The full meeting is now available online at this streaming video link.

Public Comment: There was 1 interested party in attendance. He described his efforts to bring a jet ski race to Devils Lake that Northwest Jet Sports, an affiliate of the National Jet Ski Association, has agreed to coordinate. He stated, that Chinook Winds agreed to sponsor the insurance for the event at a cost of about $1,800. They want a letter of support from the Devils Lake Water Improvement Board and Manager, which was agreed to later in the meeting.

Septic Ordinance: There was a report given on the Septic Tank Revitalization Program.  Several issues have been resolved; to date a septic ordinance is yet to be drafted.  The board was asked to permit the District to comment on a petition from La Pine to DEQ related to septic systems that staff felt didn’t make sense.  The board approved by 5-0 to write a letter to the DEQ opposing the petition.

Save Our Shoreline: There was nothing to report on this program.

Vegetation Management: The District’s contractor Max Depths has completed another draft of the document to be sent to the Wildlife Integrity Review Board.  Staff had reported that they had reviewed the document and had only minor suggestions.

Sewer: Brian Green reported that in the past month, the city staff and he agreed on a timeline for the presentation of the project to the City Council. It was agreed that this would occur in a series of three City Council meetings in order to comply with the City’s LID ordinance.

Communications: The District recently announced that their regularly scheduled Board meetings will now be available for viewing live over the internet. To view this meeting online, visit LincolnCity.org or follow this link.  The video of the meeting will be available, for on demand viewing at anytime in the future.

MidCoastTMDL: The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) continues the planning process for developing a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for 303(d) listed waterbodies in the Oregon Mid-Coast Basin. The District participates in the Bacteria Technical Working Group.

East Devils Lake Road: Lincoln County has completed their report on East Devils Lake Road.  A copy of this was placed on District’s project web page at this link.   The initial study estimated repairs that ranged from $13 to $30 million.

Lake Level Monitoring: Staff made an extensive presentation on their study that occurred this summer.  The study performed by DLWID staff was designed to assess the impacts of lower lake levels during the 2012 summer season. You can view the entire presentation in the streaming video of the meeting.  We have created an article on each of the five topical areas including the Introduction, Boat Dock Survey, Fish and Wildlife, Septic Systems, Water Quality and Vegetation.

Vegetation Survey: Also presented at the meeting was the Aquatic Plant Survey of Devils Lake performed by the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs at Portland State University. Key findings in the report include:

1. 20 species of plants (4 non-natives)
2. No Eurasian water milfoil found
3. No Brazilian Elodea found
4. Lake is largely devoid of macrophytes

Creation of 2013 Goals: The board discussed prospective goals of the District for the coming year for final prioritization in the January meeting.  The existing 2012 goals are as follows:

1. Develop and implement a strategy for the aquatic vegetation management and control.
2. Finish the septic tank revitalization program creating an ordinance which will provide the data necessary to complete the septic systems database. Use that database to estimate septic tank loading as part of the total watershed nutrient load.
3. Increase District’s time spent on the lake to promote communication to property owners, while conducting a lakeshore photographic survey. Also re-evaluate the cyanobacteria postings from the District.
4. Determine the source of E. coli on Thompson Creek.
5. Determine the methods we can use and those to collaborate with to sewer the rest of the watershed.

Water Right Siletz Point of Diversion:  The Oregon Water Board requires annual reporting of water usage; the report for water use at the golf is now available and was discussed. The water rights are cumulatively for approximately 2.5 cubic feet per second (CFS).  The City and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians made a successful application to Oregon Water Resources Department to create a second point of Diversion for a small portion of one of these water rights, specifically 75 acre feet (AF) of water.  Total water use by the golf course was approximately 14 acre feet, far from the maximum allowed use of 75 acre feet.

Non Agenda Items:  There were none.

The meeting adjourned at 08:45 pm.

The Devils Lake Water Improvement District Board held its Goal Setting Workshop on Saturday October 13th at 10:00am in the City Hall Council Chambers located on the third floor of City Hall.

Informational Presentation: Lake Manager Paul Robertson gave a presentation on the current goals of the District.  You can download the presentation with this link.  The presentation walked the board through the components of the Devils Lake Plan, including the top five priorities.  These priorities include aquatic vegetation management, septic tank revitalization, communications, bacteria source tracking, and developing strategies for sewering the lake.

Lake Survey: The results of the recent survey published by the District were presented after the informational presentation; it can be found at the end of the downloadable presentation. In total they received 190 responses with 71 coming from the senior fair. The results were presented separating those which came online from those that came in paper form primarily from the fair.  Some of the most popular positive responses pegged septic inspection, sewers, invasive species and grass carp as priorities.  The balance of the responses were less clear cut but informing nonetheless.

Public Comment: There were 4 interested parties in attendance. One person commented sharing a concern that the past year it has been difficult between the public and the Board with tough issues like lake level on the table. The Board was encouraged not to misinterpret the presence of lakefront property owners.   The board was asked to consider that more often than not their decisions significantly impact lakefront residents as evidenced by the lake level decision, as well as septic inspection, sewering, planting guides, etc. It was further explained that the District has many positive things going including the septic inspection program as long as water shut off is removed.  The SOS program was given as another positive and it was suggested that it could be expanded to include planting in the lake to help alleviate erosion issues in certain locations. Concerns were expressed with any plans the District might make that would see it be actively involved in drafting ordinances.  Rather it was suggested they should limit their activities to advocating to State, County and City legislative efforts where appropriate.

Board Comments: The Board carried on a discussion on a variety of topics. There was a mix of opinions on the CAFÉ on whether it should be in the current plan or just have the priority lowered.  Some questioned the activities in the get the lead out program. There was some mention that with the increase in stand up paddle board use there may be more interest in a lake clean-up event as you can see the trash at the lake bottom from this activity.  Some felt that the D-River should be dredged to reduce e-coli levels created by seagulls and make navigation possible. There was a suggestion by a board member that all of the items in the plan were great but lack of funds would hamper their enactment suggesting an increase in the tax base.  Some talk surrounded the topic of phosphorus and nitrogen in soap and fertilizers and what the District might do to lower their use. There was a lengthy discussion on the potential of moving forward with a dual path on the septic inspection ordinance with both the City and the County instead of concentration solely on the City ordinance.  This may alleviate the need for water shut off as an enforcement tool.  It was stated that in the past the County was less willing to participate then the City.  It was felt however that since the process began there may have been a change in the situation.  There was some discussion on ideas of activities that could occur on the lake that the District could promote such as a jet ski race or SUP and/or kayak event, etc.  Finally, it was suggested that the District needs to establish criterion for success, so each project can be judged for impact.

Next Steps:  The meeting was summarized and staff was asked to create a report to be presented to the Board in the December meeting.  Goals will be developed and prioritized after that presentation.

The Devils Lake Water Improvement District Board meeting was on Thursday October 11th at 6:00pm and was held in the City Hall Council Chambers located on the third floor of City Hall.

Informational Presentation: Randy Trox, Onsite Program Coordinator from the DEQ’s Eugene Office gave a presentation about how the DEQ’s onsite program (septics) has been working to update their rules and assure compliance with the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments (CZARA). The State is responding to a Federal lawsuit won by the EPA contending that the State did not meet the requirements of CZARA. The draft rules will required a extensive septic tank inspection at the time of transfer including production of maintainence records, pumping, exposing of system components, inspection and evaluation.  The DEQ will provide certification of the system.  Failing systems will not prevent transfer of the property but repairs on the system will be required.

Public Comment: There were 5 interested parties in attendance. Most commentary centered on the current condition of the lake; both its low level and high algae content. Several expressed extreme frustration with the smell and inability to enter the water.  Some shared examples of how they were unable to moor their boat due to low lake levels. Evidence was presented suggesting that lower lake levels did indeed led to warmer lake temperatures and higher algae levels.  Pictures were presented to document areas where sea walls have been jeopardized due to lake levels below their foundations.  The board was asked to take action to ensure this would not occur in the 2013 season.

Septic Ordinance: There was an attempt to express that the ordinance that the District seeks to work with DEQ to ensure that the inspection criterion match making it possible use a DEQ inspection to meet the local requirement and visa-versa.

Save Our Shoreline: The District authorized $2,200 to replace some plants and weed the two SOS projects at the boat ramps.  The work will be performed by a local contractor.  A discussion occurred related to the progress on the SOS video to be used to promote the program which took a back seat to the Revival this month.

Vegetation Management: The District’s contractor Max Depths is still in the process of creating a application to allow the placement of additional grass carp when required.  The Board has yet to receive a document to review.   The project’s time line will need to be extended.

Aquatic Plant Survey: Second phase of the survey was completed between September 17-19. A full report of their findings is to be available in November.

Sewer: Brian Green reported that consideration by the City has been delayed until December.

Communications: The District has circulated a lake survey in advance of the October 13^th planning conference.  They received 120 surveys prior to the meeting.

MidCoastTMDL: The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) continues the planning process for developing a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for 303(d) listed waterbodies in the Oregon Mid-Coast Basin. There was a meeting in August that provided worked though the categorization of various bacteria in mid-coast lake bodies.  More information about the Districts role can be found at http://www.dlwid.org/Projects.html#TMDL.

Summer Intern: Alyssa Clayton gave a report on how she has I have continued weeding and watering weekly at East Devils Lake State Park and Regatta Grounds. She has finished creating a digital archive of the Audits and the majority of the Budgets. The next step is putting them online, so that they can be easily accessible by the public. She has made a series of demonstration videos, meant to teach future interns how to carryvout the sampling and laboratory techniques for DNA analysis. She also worked at the Chinook Winds Casino Senior Fair.

Water Quality:  Water quality monitoring ended Labor Day.

Lake Level Monitoring:  The District has been conducting some lake level investigation for potential impacts to recreational users and properties. They have been collecting on boat docks, stating that they have visited over ¾ of the sites thus far. They also intend to include a photographic vegetation survey as well as compiling septic tank data and information that may be applicable. They will be documenting fish passage on the D-River. It is the expectation that a report will be given in the November meeting.

East Devils Lake Road: Lincoln County is in the process of drafting a report that details the background, issues, and most functional design alternative for East Devils Lake Road. The Salmon Drift Creek Watershed Council will share the report, upon completion, with the District.

Additional Board Comment: Brian Green commented that he felt the comments provided related to the lake condition were valuable.  He said that when the Board said they would collect information about the impact on the lake and he felt the comments and material represented just that.  He stated that the material should be taken into account.  Noel Walker noted that he deals with boaters and has heard nothing but negitive comments this past summer.  He also stated that this was not the time to make that decsion but he also appreciated the information.

The meeting adjourned at 08:20 pm.