The commissioners work will not be complete with an Upper Rogue water district that does not address the problems of all those in the county in the vicinity of Shady Cove, and within a practical service distance from any currently proposed water district.

Up here in the upper Rogue area there is a serious water problem for some residents. There are residents outside the city as well as in the city of Shady Cove that are in desperate need of dependable water. There are those in the vicinity of Shady Cove, who in good faith obtained building permits for their property from the County, having had good wells as a source of water then, but now having their wells going dry. Also within the city of Shady Cove the problem comes in two forms. People within Shady Cove that need / want water and will pay for a solution, and those that have water and see an additional living expense prohibitive.

Whether the water source is the Rogue River, as the city backed proposed district appears today, or, the water source is from the mountain springs that the Upper Rogue Water and Power group is pursuing. It is up to the Jackson County Commissioners to help in the solution of all citizens having obtained development permits from Jackson County and developed property but now find themselves in a quandary over a diminishing or negligible water supply.

The Upper Rogue Water and Power group is pursuing a source of water from under ground that would save on filtering and would need far less chemicals added to meet state standards. An engineer from SOU who has checked that source feels the water to be so abundant that Sam’s Valley could also be served, further testing continues. With a elevation drop of 1000 feet from the source, hydro-electric power can be generated the value of which could very well be enough to pay down the bonds without a property tax increase.

Let’s have a water district formed up here in the Upper Rogue that Jackson County can be proud of and target water to all our citizens in need.

Victor A. Corchero, representing "Upper Rogue Water and Power"

May 31,2001
For more information about FEMA and NFIP http:www.fema.gov/nfiip, 1-800-427-4661

Note:   The people of Shady Cove are in a continual fight over water.  Ms. Smurzynski, appointed by the mayor is spearheading a bloated “water” plan which was rejected by the voters.  But  they are charging ahead with the proposal anyway.  She is obviously in favor of government by the bureaucrats, for the bureaucrats.  The people are closed out of meetings and now the city government is leading the way for FEMA to encroach further on property rights.  One elderly couple was told they would have to completely remodel their home…INSIDE… to comply with FEMA.
Submitted by Billie Nix....Central Point, Oregon

April 19, 2001

Dear Editor,

It was reported in the Upper Rogue Independent that a nine member committee chaired by Arthur Smith is currently working out details to put together a Shady Cove water district.  Cleverly the committee has determine a method to eliminate a significant "no" vote in the community of Shady Cove by excluding the five Shady Cove mobile home parks from the new plan for a water district.  The reason given for exclusion of the parks is that previous votes have shown strong opposition from park owners and their tenants.  (It is my belief that the strong opposition is due to the financial burden that the tenants would be required to assume.)

There are others in Shady Cove, outside the mobile home parks (several here on Old Ferry Road), who had strong opposition and voted against the last proposed city water plan.  Our reasons included the excessive cost of that plan.  Perhaps we, like the mobile home parks could be excluded from the new water district also.  We would willingly give up any claim to the water, usage fees, bond debt, and increased property taxes.

Assuming that the new water district and plan will not allow for the exculsion of those homes where there is strong opposition, does the proposed plan result in a significantly higher cost to all of us not in the mobile home parks?  Fewer residents assuming the financial burden of the community water system becomes prohibitive for those of us who didn't have the foresight to move into one of the mobile home parks.

It appears that the committee has discovered a sneaky way to monipulate the vote in Shady Cove to attain their goals.  I hope that they will redirect their efforts and research some economical alternatives for a community water system. 

Ellie Peckett

How is your water? rogueforum.com/watercompare.htm various samples in the area are compared

Good chart!  Leisure Days water looks really out of line. Got any suspicions? Daryl Hawkins

Vic Corchero wrote: Oh Dear, here goes a wild guess. Since the total alkalinity is very different, 230 to 50, even though the well is less than 200 ft from the river, the river water does not seem to be an influence. On both samples the pH is high and close, 8.+ but the sources are not the same.. Both are far an away from being acid where it would pick up minerals, and it is quite alkaline where it would tend to be scale forming, ie. deposit minerals. In the process to get to the well some minerals are released making it as soft as it is. The high total alkalinity number is the propensity of the water to leave a scale, but with the hardness being so very low it implies there are very few minerals to deposit. Our impression here is that the water is very soft, a bar of soap lasts months. The beauty of it all is that there are no 2 water samples the same around here, so it seems? Quein Sabe~~~~~~

Interesting analysis.  We also have very soft water.  A little soap goes a long way.  Daryl Hawkins