KWSO News 4/9/19

Consecutive days of rain was causing some worry about flooding on the reservation. The Tribes’ Emergency Manager Dan Martinez addressed some of those concerns on Monday. He discussed some areas near creeks and rivers that had caused concerned. This morning, According to the USGS Water Watch site, Shitike Creek, Beaver Creek and the Warm Springs River have all peaked and are going down in flow.

Rising water around Warm Springs and Central Oregon has raised concern over the last several days. On Monday, Warm Springs Power and Water Enterprise said the Deschutes River was flowing at 9,750 cubic feet per/second. The project operations center was working with the upper basin managers, namely Wickiup reservoir, to see what they would release. If they stay under 1,000 cubic feet per second of discharge, that would hopefully hold the river right at or near 10,000 cubic feet per second. To compare, in the flooding of 1996, they had to release 19,000 cubic feet per second at the reregulating dam. Power and Water Enterprise said yesterday that they were at only a “guarded level” but would make notifications if a higher flow event occurred.

Deschutes and Jefferson counties will receive millions from Oregon Housing and Community Services to build homes. The awards, announced Monday, are part of a $34.9 million program that focuses on building homes in rural communities and for minority populations. Housing Works will receive $6.6 million to build 23 apartments in Madras and 67 in Redmond through a partnership with the Latino Community Association. All units will be reserved for families making between 30% and 60% of the area median income — which is between $15,840 and $31,680 in Madras. The apartments are scheduled to open in the fall of 2020.