How Ryan Beckley Killed 550,000 Lamprey During Botched August 2023 Winchester Dam “Repairs”

The Oregon Department of Justice, (DOJ) on behalf of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is suing the Winchester Water Control District (WWCD) and its subcontractors for a record-breaking fish kill of more than half a million Pacific lamprey during Ryan Beckley’s botched “repairs” of the condemned Winchester Dam in August 2023. 

The Pacific lamprey is a wild, migratory fish Native to the Umpqua River.

Beckley, owner of Terra Firma Foundation Repair, is the president of the Board of Directors of the WWCD, an association of homeowners whose properties surround the deadbeat, derelict Winchester Dam on the North Umpqua River, five miles north of Roseburg, Oregon. 

The 136-year-old dam provides no hydroelectricity, irrigation, or flood control. Since 1969, its sole function as a mile and a half mile long, private water ski lake for a few dozen speedboat owning WWCD homeowners at the exclusion of the public.

The Oregon DOJ’s August 20, 2025, lawsuit (case #23CV40835) seeks $27.6 million from defendants WWCD, and its subcontractors, Terra Firma Foundation Repair, and DOWL, an engineering firm based in Delaware.

According to the lawsuit, “The State alleges that Defendants “cut corners,” relied on “inexperienced volunteers,” and had “insufficient” number of personnel available for the fish salvage.

The DOJ’s lawsuit clearly describes the step-by-step process of exactly how Ryan Beckley, apparently single-handedly, managed to perpetrate one of the largest fishkills on an Oregon River in recorded history.

The lawsuit states that, Shortly after midnight , in the early hours of August 7, 2023, Beckley drained (dewatered) the private water ski lake behind the Winchester Dam “when no salvage crew was present.” He “did not “adjust the rate of the drawdown when adequate salvage was not occurring” and “exceed the maximum drawdown rate.”

But the permit he signed specified that it be drained at a rate of two inches per hour. This gradual flow would allow the juvenile Pacific lamprey that spend the first seven year of their life living in the wet mud near the riverbank, to slowly migrate towards receding moisture as the private water ski lake was drained.

But according to an eyewitness, Beckley drained the water about 10 times faster than his permit specified, creating a wave that destroyed downstream aquatic habitat. 

He was apparently unaware that the United States Geological Survey (USGS) maintains a stream gauging station on the Umpqua River, five miles downstream of the dam, and the real-time streamgage data appears on their website.

A screenshot from this USGS station clearly indicates a severe spike which coincides with the excessively fast release of the 391-acre-foot contents of the private water ski lake behind the Winchester Dam. The sudden increase in water volume on August 7, 2023, is visible on the USGS chart monitoring water discharge and the cubic feet per second. It took about 4 hours for the river to go from baseline (750cfs) to the peak of the release (1020cfs). 

This evidence undermines Beckley’s claim that he drained the private water ski lake behind the dam at a rate of two inches per hour, as specified in his permit. 

According to the DOJ’s lawsuit, “WWCD hired [Beckley’s] TerraFirma to conduct the dam repairs following a Request for Proposals issued in April 2023. TerraFirma is a construction company that does construction work relating to building foundations, including foundation, repairs, basement, waterproofing, crawlspace repairs, cracked concrete repairs, and seismic retrofitting. WWCD knew that TerraFirma had no dam building or dam repair work experience or expertise prior to the Winchester Dam repair project [of 2023], and it chose to contract with them despite that knowledge.

“Ryan Beckley is the owner and president of TerraFirma. Ryan Beckley was the president of [WWCD] board during the planning, implementation, and aftermath of the Winchester Dam repair…

“In April 2023, WWCD, through DOWL [Engineering] employee David DeKrey, applied for an RSA [Research Set-Aside] for the Winchester Dam repair project. The department issued an RSA that listed WWCD as the responsible party on July 27, 2023…

“The RSA authorized WWCD to conduct fish rescue and salvage… Providing a limited authorization to violate the prohibitions against taking and handling of wildlife, ORS 498.002 (1) and ORS497.308 (1), respectively, while requiring WWCD to comply with the permit terms and conditions. ORS 498.002 (1) and ORS 497.308 (4).”

This meant that, during the dam “repairs,” ODFW would allow the “take” (killing) of “10 percent of the juvenile lamprey present at the site or a maximum mortality of 30,000 lamprey during the period of authorization,” whichever total was smaller.

“The department specifically advised WWCD that it should be prepared for a significant salvage effort in the entire dewatered area (approximately 1.5 miles upstream on both shorelines) for the entire permitted drawdown period of August 7-28, 2023, because lamprey were expected to emerge throughout the duration of the repair project. In particular, adults were likely to be present at, in, and below the dam fishway, and juveniles were expected to be at the highest concentration above the dam near the north and south shore bends above the dam. WWCD was also advised the juvenile lamprey were most likely to be in the substrate and may not emerge immediately after dewatering. The department estimated that 30,000 to 3.2 million juvenile lamprey would be present at the site.

“WWCD and TerraFirma determined that seeking and coordinating volunteers to conduct the fish salvage rather than seeking a bid from a subcontractor would save the WWCD money. WWCD proceeded to solicit volunteers to salvage fish instead of hiring an outside fish salvage consultant at the beginning.

“WWCD informed its members [approx. 100 homeowners] that fish and lamprey salvage would occur during the Winchester Dam repair project. WWCD asked its members to volunteer to assist in the salvage effort.

“DOWL held a meeting to train fish salvage volunteers on lamprey salvage procedures on August 6, 2023. Volunteers were strongly encouraged to attend, but they were not required to attend. The training was scheduled to last 30 minutes.

“One member of the WWCD board was responsible for coordinating the volunteer salvage effort. Another member of the WWCD board was also involved in coordinating fish salvage. WWCD planned for its volunteers to salvage lamprey in the dewatered area, but it did not have enough volunteers to cover the entire dewatered area during the period. The reservoir was dewatered and throughout the duration of the project.

“TerraFirma began the drawdown around 12:00 am on August 7, 2023. By 8:34 am, approximately 10 people were salvaging fish. Fish were stranded in the exposed sediment and by 8:55 am, there were already stranded and dead fish below the fish ladder. ODFW employees advised the Defendants that their salvage efforts were inadequate by 11:57 am.

“On August 8th, approximately 25 contract and volunteer crew were observed salvaging fish. However, there were still large portions of the dewatered area that were not being salvaged. The ODFW employees demanded an immediate response from the Defendants [Beckley and WWCD] by email at 11:30 am. By that time, there were already thousands of dead fish observable throughout the Project area.”

Ryan Beckley elected to conduct the “repairs” of the Winchester Dam during the sweltering summer heat. Through the week of August 6, 2023, when it was over 100º, reaching a scorching 109º at Winchester Dam on Wednesday, August 9.

According to the DOJ’s lawsuit, “By August 9th, ODFW employees determined that an emergency salvage operation was necessary because Defendants’ inadequate efforts had resulted in an unacceptably high fish mortality rate. ODFW employees were recruited from around the west side of the state, from Tillamook to Gold Beach, to assist with the salvage efforts. Volunteers also came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians.

“Over the course of the repair project, ODFW employees observed daily that salvage efforts were insufficient to adequately cover the extent of the dewatered area. Defendants [Beckley and WWCD] focused most of their salvage efforts on the fish ladder and below the dam, leaving the dewatered area above the dam largely unsalvaged…

“The failure of the Defendants to institute an adequate salvage program directly resulted in the loss of more than 550,000 lamprey during the repair project, which exceeded the allowable take specified in the permit…

“These are textbook negligence allegations that relate to the reasonableness of Defendants’ conduct…”

“Pursuant to ORS 496-705, the Department may institute suit for the recovery of damages for the unlawful, taking or killing of wildlife, which our property of the state, except when the taking or killing of wildlife is an unintentional taking or killing of wildlife incident to an otherwise lawful activity. The holding of wildlife is not a lawful activity if that holding of wildlife is not conducted in accordance with the RSA terms and conditions.

“Lamprey are protected species under the wildlife laws. OAR 635–0 44–0430 (1)(c)(O)-(U)…

“TerraFirma’s Ryan Beckley was identified as a Co-Investigator in the RSA and, as such, was familiar with the RSA’s terms and conditions, outlining salvage, handling, and release of lamprey and other indigenous species. TerraFirma was required to comply with the RSA terms and conditions. TerraFirma opened the dam flood gates, but failed to ensure the water drawdown was time to allow for the maximum effort to salvage fish as required by the RSA.

“DOWL’s David DeKrey was identified as the Principal Investigator in the RSA, and as such was familiar with the RSA’s terms and conditions on salvage, handling, and release of lamprey and other indigenous species. DOWL was required to comply with the RSA terms and conditions. DOWL was responsible for developing a fish salvage plan, but it failed to ensure the plan complied with the terms and conditions of the RSA.

“WWCD, TerraFirma, and DOWL’s killing of more than 550,000 lamprey was not an unintentional taking or killing pursuant to an otherwise lawful activity.

The lawsuit asserts that Beckley “sought a permit that authorized them to hold and transport lamprey, but “chose to cut costs by not hiring consultants to conduct an adequate salvage effort and instead of relying on inexperienced volunteers to salvage lamprey.”

“Defendants knew that approximately 3 million lamprey were expected to need to be salvaged. Defendants knew that they did not have sufficient volunteers to adequately salvage the lamprey above the dam where large numbers of lamprey were expected, but they chose to commence the draw down without seeking additional salvage support.“

Crucially, the lawsuit claims, “When the Department notified Defendants that their salvage efforts were inadequate, Defendants did not respond.”

On the second day, Beckley added about 15 people to the salvage crew, bringing the total to 25—exponentially two few individuals to rescue hundreds of thousands of stranded, migratory fish during the hottest week of the year, across an area a mile and a half in length.

“Even with the increase in the number of people salvaging. Defendants did not have enough individuals salvaging to cover the entire dewatered area where Lamprey were present.“

But although he was required to do so in his permit, Beckley “failed to set up sprinklers prior to the drawdown and didn’t install them “until the fourth day,” August 9, when temperatures reached 109º. But “the sprinklers did not cover the entire dewatered area.”

“Defendants focused, their fish salvage efforts below the dam, and in the fish ladder, and they ignored large areas of sediment above the dam where the lamp we were present.”

The DOJ’s lawsuit clearly states that “Each Defendant knew or should have known:”

• That the RSA required the[d]rawdown must be timed to allow for maximum effort to salvage fish.

• That failure to take the prescribed, reasonable salvage actions could result in severe losses to the lamprey population.

• That their actions created a foreseeable risk of harm to lamprey when they unreasonably failed to comply with the RSA salvage, handling and the release requirements.”

According to the lawsuit, “WWCD, TerraFirma, and DOWL, violated the terms and conditions of the RSA.” Additionally, Beckley “conducted the drawdown at a rate that exceeded the maximum allowed rate and was too fast to allow for adequate salvage.”

“Pursuant to ORS 496.705 (2)(a)(S), the department may seek recovery of $50 for “[e]ach specimen of any wildlife species otherwise protected by the wildlife laws or laws of the United States, but not otherwise referred to in this subsection.” The more than 550,000 lamprey killed his generated approximately $27,500,000.00 of damages to the state.

This lawsuit goes to trial in 2027.