U.S. Water News Online
SALEM, Ore. -- Central Oregon is a playground for Hollywood personalities and NFL quarterbacks. Drew Bledsoe has plied the greens at Pronghorn resort golf course and A-list celebrities like Brad Pitt and Demi Moore routinely comb the countryside for luxury estates.
The nexus of that attraction lies in the carefully manicured golf courses and mountainous views offered by Oregon's destination resorts -- an industry that is increasingly shaping the state's economic and natural landscapes.
But two newly proposed resorts in Jefferson County are facing increasing criticism from environmentalists and some lawmakers who say they pose a threat to one of the state's most cherished natural spots, the Metolius River Basin.
The river starts with a bang -- water gushes from the ground at the headwaters, fed by a series of natural springs. The basin is sacred for local American Indians and fishermen -- it's one of the few places in the U.S. where it's OK to fish for threatened bull trout.
A bill to prohibit development within three miles of the basin has already passed in the Senate on a straight party line vote but could face stiff opposition in the House. Shading the largely partisan debate is the involvement of one of the measure's most vocal supporters, state Sen. Betsy Johnson, whose family maintains a 160-acre retreat in the area.
The Scappoose Democrat says there is no self-interest at play -- her primary concern is to preserve a delicate ecosystem.
"This is a tradition of stewardship," said Johnson, whose family has owned the property since 1904. "This is a wonderful place but we need to love it lightly."
Supporters of the measure say the two resorts, which could combine for 2,500 homesites and two golf courses located within a few miles of the headwaters, threaten one of Oregon's most fragile and breathtaking natural wonders.
But opponents say lawmakers are trying to hijack the state's land-use planning system, intervening on a local issue that should be decided by the counties impacted by an influx of people and money and a well-established process.
"It usurps the state's land use authority," said Hasina Squires, a lobbyist for Dutch Pacific Resources, a development group hoping to construct an environmentally friendly resort near the Metolius headwaters. "This state has always prided itself on having a very strong land-use authority with stringent guidelines about what you can and cannot do and not enacting site specific legislation."
And county commissioners stand behind their decision.
"Jefferson County has an interest in attracting this type of development," officials wrote in a letter to Sen. Ben Westlund, D-Bend, a chief proponent of the legislation to block the resorts.
Destination resorts are potentially huge windfalls for local economies. Deschutes County has the state's highest concentration of destination resorts with five -- three more are in the works -- and earned nearly $26 million in property taxes from residents of the top four developments last year.
"It's a huge economic engine for communities without the negative externalities of pollution and the necessity for increased services," said Linda Swearingen. The former Deschutes County commissioner represents the Colson family, majority owners of the Ponderosa Land & Cattle Co., that is hoping to build the larger of the two destination resorts near the Metolius.
But not everyone is sold.
The state's Land Use Board of Appeals is currently weighing in on 16 appeals from a variety of groups -- including Johnson -- who say the county didn't properly follow the state's strict land use planning regulations when it identified the Metolius basin area as a prime place for development.
"For Oregon's land use laws to work we need responsible partners at the local level," said Westlund. "To say that Jefferson County's process was comprehensive stretches credibility."
Westlund said the county used outdated studies and failed to capture the water-use impacts the two properties could have on the unique hydrological features of the spring.
The Ponderosa development has applied for a preliminary permit to use 6.8 million gallons of water per day, although Swearingen said actual use could be less. According to Westlund that amount is more than the average daily water usage for the city of Redmond.
A letter from the U.S. Geological Survey indicated drawing groundwater from the basin area would likely result in diminished headwaters.
The two resorts are vastly different in size, scope and demographic appeal and proponents say they would have little impact on the headwaters.
Dutch Pacific Resources hopes to build what it calls an eco-resort -- "meaning no golf course," -- said Squires, with 250 homes and 150 overnight accommodations within the basin area.
Plans for solar panels, a high-efficiency stormwater drainage system and a ban on noisy, polluting all-terrain-vehicles along with well-maintained hiking trails, would increase the appeal for a well-heeled, environmentally conscious demographic.
"There's a huge market out there for the REI-crowd," said Squires. "This is not a McMansion in the wilderness."
The Ponderosa project would dwarf its potential neighbor with as many as 2,350 homesites, 150 overnight accommodations and two golf courses.
But Swearingen said the "environmental benefits that have been offered are greater than any destination resort in Oregon has ever offered." As part of the deal the company would donate 1,400 acres for conservation.
At the heart of the debate though, is water use, and how the two developments could impact a complex hydrological system that is unique and cherished by many Oregonians. "We're talking about a river that literally springs from the Earth, one of the most pristine, ecologically sensitive places in the state," said Westlund.
And even if the Legislature puts the brakes on the proposed Metolius resorts, the debate is likely to be the first in protracted discussions over the changing face of destination resorts. A change in state law in 2003 allowed developers to build more homes and fewer overnight accommodations to meet demand for real estate.
"What we are talking about is building cities," said Erik Kancler, executive director of Central Oregon LandWatch, a group that opposes development near the Metolius.
But since most destination resorts are located outside of municipal boundaries they aren't subject to the same environmental checks and balances of Oregon's strict urban growth rules in neighboring towns and cities, advocates like Kancler say.
"These sorts of massive 'sagebrush subdivisions' are relegated to county lands not really because it's easier to develop them there but because it's possible to develop them there," said Kancler.
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