Dirty Tap Water Plagues Flood-Weary Ashland Sewage Treatment Plant Also Hit Hard; Phones, Roads Still Out In Oregon

Water - or rather, the lack thereof - is on the minds of Ashland residents as they clean up, borrow a shower and wait for water and sewer service to be restored.

“We think we have everything under control and we think we know where all the other problems are,” said city administrator Brian Almquist. “People are just amazing. They have been very tolerant, very supportive.”

The water treatment plant, knocked out Wednesday by flooding, is back at 100 percent capacity. But it will be some time before people can depend on clean water coming out of their taps, Almquist said.

The city still expects to have water restored so classes can resume next Monday at local schools and Southern Oregon State College, Almquist said.

The sewage treatment plant, also out since Wednesday, is functioning at about a third of capacity, he said.

Smith’s Plum Valley Water Co. has been busy connecting restaurants in Ashland and Talent, Ore., with 1,300-gallon tanks so they can get back in business while city water is turned off - and to give its own employees some work.

Meanwhile, along the Tualatin River southwest of Portland, most of the 50 homes and apartments that were flooded are drying out, but property owners are being advised to hang on to their sandbags.

“Everybody’s in the recovery phase; some folks who weren’t hit real hard, they’re done,” said Karen Eubanks of Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue. “Others who were completely inundated, they’re obviously still quite busy trying to get their homes back in order.”

In northeastern Oregon, a portion of Imnaha Canyon and its residents remain cut off from the world. Road crews are building temporary roads, and a U.S. Army National Guard helicopter dropped off more clean water and supplies on Monday.

Electricity has been restored to most of the 250 residents, but about 50 Portland General Electric Co. customers still lack phone service.

In Klamath County, floodwaters continued to recede Monday on the Williamson and Sprague rivers, which went over their banks Saturday and Sunday.

“It gives us a little more respect for Mother Nature,” said Ray Nelson, who had moved cattle to higher ground as the Williamson sent water up to his front porch and flooded hay barns.

About 75 people sandbagged through the weekend to save the Water Wheel Campground in Chiloquin, Ore.

“We believe many more homes would have been flooded had not everyone come together in a very short period of time,” said Bill Thompson, manager of Klamath County Emergency Services.

Jackson County firefighter Doug Nagg said several firefighters have suffered rashes after working in the mire left at Jackson Hot Springs after Bear Creek poured through.

Outside Grants Pass, Ore., floodwaters from the Applegate River cut new channels through the Applegate Golf Course and dumped tons of sand and gravel from a gravel pit upstream.

John Briggs spent 10 years building the nine-hole course and had just celebrated its second anniversary on Thanksgiving Day.

“I was just getting to the point where I could pay on some debts, and this happens,” Briggs said. “I just hope it doesn’t take another 10 years” to rebuild.

A sign on the clubhouse wall offers tongue-in-cheek rates: “$800 for 9 holes; $1,300 for 18 holes. Play at your own risk.”

One piece of good news for some golfers: An old oak tree that had stopped many balls headed for a green didn’t survive the flood.