Commissioner Patti Adair Stands with Salem and Marion County to Protect Regional Drinking Water

SISTERS, OR- Today, Deschutes County Commissioner and Republican nominee for Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, Patti Adair, announced her support of the lawsuits filed by Marion County and the city of Salem against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the agency’s planned drawdown of Detroit Reservoir. Commissioner Adair stated the following: 

“I stand with Marion County and the city of Salem as they fight to protect their communities' drinking water supply. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is federally required to complete a turbidity study before drawing down Detroit Reservoir. That study is now more than six months overdue. The lawsuits filed by Marion County and the city of Salem call for a federal court to pause the drawdown until that study has been completed. This drawdown could threaten the water supply of everyone downstream because of the heavy mud, silt, and clay that will flow down the Santiam River. Cities like Stayton, Gates, and Salem all rely on slow sand filtration systems. These filtration systems will fail if turbidity levels exceed 20 Nephelometric Turbidity Units. This means that 220,000 residents will not have safe and reliable drinking water. This will impact schools, hospitals, public safety, and will have devastating economic consequences. Repairing water filtration systems can take months and cost millions of dollars. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs to do the right thing and postpone this drawdown until the turbidity study is completed. They need to develop a plan that protects the drinking water and cities' sand filtration systems. While Janelle Bynum is too afraid to publicly support Marion County and the city of Salem's lawsuits, I am not. Once again, it’s another classic example of Janelle picking partisanship and special interests over the interests of her constituents. As your Congresswoman, I will never jeopardize public health in the name of politics.”

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