Water permit denied for mine near Rogue

GRANTS PASS, Ore. – The state of Oregon has denied a water permit for a mining company that wants to develop a gravel pit along a tributary of the Rogue River.

The Oregon Department of Water Resources said there is already too much water being taken out of Grave Creek, which flows into the Rogue at the start of the section that is one of Oregon’s most popular whitewater runs.

Water rights program manager Tim Wallin said Grave Creek ranks high on a list of waterways needing more water for salmon, and unless Havilah Resources LLC of Grants Pass can secure some other water right to restore water into the river, it cannot take out what it needs for mining.

The proposed gravel pit would excavate 126 acres about 12 miles upstream of the mouth of Grave Creek.

Havilah proposed drilling 11 wells and pumping 8.5 cubic feet per second of the groundwater that feeds the creek. Grave Creek runs from a high of 120 cubic feet per second in February to a low of 3.6 cubic feet per second in September. After being used in mining operations, water would go through a filtration process and return to the creek.

The application denied Oct. 11 was for a temporary permit to allow operations to start prior to securing a permanent permit, Wallin said. The decision on the permanent permit is still pending, but denial of the temporary permit does not bode well for the company, he said.