PressRelease:
Powder Basin Watershed Council
Regular Meeting Minutes
for 10/2/13
Baker School District 5J Building, 2090 4th Street
Voting Members = Eight Per Charter: Quorum for decision-making is five
Facilitator: Steve Edwards

Call to order: Steve called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.

Recognition of Guests: Angela Burright, OWRD; Michael Coda, Baker City; John Dadoly, ODEQ; Shelly Gray, North Powder; Mark Henderson, Eastern Oregon Light & Power, LLC
Karen Leiendecker, OWEB; Elizabeth Moats, ODFW; Vicki Valenzuela, Baker City

Presentation: Mark Henderson of Eastern Oregon Light & Power, LLC gave a presentation on small and medium scale hydropower operation in the Powder Basin. His talk covered the history of the Rock Creek power plant, which was built in 1903 and operated until 1995, the current efforts to re-license the facility, and new innovations in micro-hydroelectric power generation.

Invitation to Fall Tour: Steve invited Council members and guests to attend the Council’s Fall Tour, which will be hosted by Randy and Mary Jane Guyer. The tour will visit the Baldock Slough wetlands restoration project on October 15th.

Update on Current Projects
Kirkway Restoration: A work crew will be removing kochia along the pathway and replacing plants.

Basin-wide Water Quality Monitoring: Aaron reported that he and Johanna met with WWNF, OWEB, and OWRD staff by teleconference to discuss the placement of the Deer Creek Stream Gauge. Two stream gauges will be installed: one at the old site and one at the proposed site. The new equipment will be placed at the new site; OWRD will provide a set of equipment for the old site, which to provide a means of correlating the new flow data with the old flow data. A request for operating the two gauges will be included in the monitoring grant being submitted later in the month. Currently the Council is monitoring water quality at 20 sites, which are now in the sixth month of data collection. Thirty seven volunteers are participating. A few problems have arisen with the equipment. Aaron has been conducting outreach in an effort to expand the program; the value of the match that will be provided by WWNF, ODEQ, and BLM over the next three years is estimated to be worth $93,000. The proposed expansion will bring the number of sites to 78 and the number of volunteers to 67. Baker and Unity High Schools will be participating as well. Suzanne noted that the program helps public land managers better understand current water quality conditions.

Holbrook Spur Bank Stabilization & McMullen Slough Avulsion Protection: The Council has received an award of $6,000 from Patagonia to apply to these projects. River Design Group will be providing fill and removal amounts within the next month so that permitting can be completed. The OWEB Executive Director, Tom Byler, will be visiting the sites when he comes to Baker City later in the month.

OWEB Fall Grant Cycle: The Council staff members are working on three grant applications which will be submitted in October. Karen Leiendecker noted that outreach funding will also be available.

OWEB Small Grant Team: Nancy will represent the Council on the small grant team. Grant applications will be accepted for a two week window closing November 4th; the maximum award amount is $10,000. Council members were encouraged to spread the word regarding the program.

Fall Membership Drive: Steve noted that an organization is only as good as the people who participate and recommended that those who are interested in becoming members speak to Johanna regarding appointment by the County. Marion noted that members’ participation is worth thousands of dollars to others through the projects that the Council implements.

Approval of Minutes: The minutes from September 4th were approved with no amendments.

Comments from the Commissioners: Karen encouraged members to comment on the Columbia Basin Sovereign Review Team, which will give an update and take comments on October 10th in Boise from 1-3 and later in the fall in Portland. The treaty with Canada regarding flood storage along the Columbia has implications for the fishing-based tourism in Richland and Huntington, which Baker County estimates brings in $1.5 million to the community each year.

PBWC Board of Directors Report:
Steve informed Council members that in the future, Johanna will send out Council minutes by .pdf, rather than as Word documents.

Council Facilitator: Karen will facilitate the November meeting.

Treasurer’s Report: Karen reported that the annual budget and profit and loss statement for September were available for members to review. Johanna has been working with Mike Rudi to re-enter the Council’s financial data. The Council is transitioning to a new company file using QuickBooks for non-profits, which will help by allowing data to be classified by project. This will be a big benefit to the organization, allowing the Council to look at financial information both by project and by grant.

Board Update: Steve noted that the work group discussing collaboration between the SWCDs and the Council continues to meet. Board members will be attending a retreat to discuss ways the Board can support completion of the annual work plan. Nancy added that she and Johanna had attended a non-profit board training which provided tools the work group reviewing the Council charter will benefit from.

November Guest Speaker: Whit Deschner will speak about his boating experiences at the November meeting

Reports from Council Members:
Suzanne reported that Whitman College students are returning to the North Fork Burnt River restoration site to create a film about the project. The finished film can go on the WWNF and Council websites. She is also hoping to connect with birders interested in helping monitor the wildlife response to the project.

Suzanne asked the Council to consider pursuing a GIS project that would help identify potential beaver habitat across the basin. This will create a picture of the potential for water storage and locate places where beaver activity could benefit the watershed. Johanna noted that a similar project has been completed for the coast range. Nancy asked if WWNF would be doing the GIS work. Suzanne suggested seeking funds for a contractor. Aaron suggested using the GIS to identify potential restoration sites.

There was no further business.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 pm

Council Attendance: 8 voting members [Quorum = 5]
Shannon Archuleta
Marion Crow
Steve Edwards, Director at Large, Acting Treasurer
Suzanne Fouty
Jerry Gray Nancy Rorick, Co-Chair
Karen Spencer, Co-Chair
Andrew Umpleby
Paul Wares, Director at Large
Jim Young, Vice Chair

Staff Attendance Guests
Johanna Sedell, Executive Director
Aaron Bliesner, Monitoring Coord.
Teresa Uriarte, Water Quality Intern Angela Burright, OWRD
Michael Coda
John Dadoly, ODEQ
Shelly Gray
Mark Henderson, Eastern Oregon Light & Power, LLC
Karen Leiendecker, OWEB
Elizabeth Moats, ODFW
Vicki Valenzuela


Next Meeting – November 6, 2013