Judge Orders Winchester Dam Owners to Build $70 million Fish Ladder by 2028

Last week, Oregon Administrative Law Judge Bradley J. Schmidt ruled that the owners of the condemned and derelict Winchester Dam, must comply with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (ODFW) September 2024 order to demolish the antiquated and crumbling 80-year-old fish ladder on the north side of the North Umpqua River, at the dam site, and install legally compliant fish passage on the south side near the mainstream.

On September 17, 2024, ODFW served Ryan Beckley, president of the Winchester Water Control District (WWCD), owners of the 135-year-old Winchester Dam, with a Notice of Noncompliance pertaining to a litany of permit violations committed during August 2023 repairs of the dam. These repairs resulted in an unprecedented fish kill of more than 550,000 Pacific lamprey and a $27.5 million lawsuit brought against the WWCD by ODFW and the Oregon Department of Justice.

This notice included a detailed 48-month schedule for the construction of a new state-of-the-art fish ladder at Winchester Dam, to be completed by 2028 (see detailed schedule below).

A new fish ladder will cost upwards of $70 million, considerably more than the WWCD has spent in total on dam maintenance since it acquired the derelict and crumbling dam 56 years ago. But in an ongoing pattern of “sue rather than comply,” WWCD attorney Dominic Carolo responded to ODFW’s Notice of Noncompliance with yet another lawsuit. 

But Judge Schmidt ruled against the dam owners, upholding ODFW’s order to build a new fish ladder.

In 2019, ODFW ranked Winchester Dam as its second highest priority for fish passage improvement among all privately owned dams in the state. The Pomeroy Dam on the Illinois River in Cave Junction was then ranked as their highest priority—what they called the worst manmade obstacle to wild migratory native fish on an Oregon River.

When Pomeroy Dam was removed in November 2024, many people assumed Winchester Dam became ODFW’s highest priority for fish passage improvement among all privately owned dams in Oregon. But on ODFW’s recently published 2025 Statewide Priority Fish Passage Barrier List, Winchester Dam inexplicably doesn’t even make the top ten.

ODFW claims its mission is “To protect and enhance Oregon’s fish and wildlife and their habitats for use and enjoyment by present and future generations.”

But for decades, the state agency has participated in an ongoing pattern of apparent collusion with the owners of the Winchester Dam. Some have suggested that this re-prioritization of the dam on the 2025 Statewide Priority Fish Passage Barrier List is evidence of this collusion.

Condemned in 1976, the 450-foot Winchester Dam, provides no hydroelectricity, no irrigation, and no flood control. Its sole function is as a mile-and-a-half long private waterski lake used exclusively by the WWCD, an association of 100 privileged homeowners whose properties surround the dam. 

Although tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars have been spent on habitat restoration for wild migratory native fish on the North Umpqua River, Winchester Dam and its worst-in-the-state fish ladder impedes access to 160 miles of high-quality habitat upstream for coho, spring Chinook, fall Chinook, summer steelhead, winter steelhead, cutthroat trout, and Pacific lamprey. As the mainstream of the river flows 400 feet away from the fish ladder, few wild migratory native fish are successful in their attempt to locate it.

The dam’s inadequate fish passage is exacerbated by the hundreds of leaks in the 450-foot face of what is believed to be the last pressure treated and creosote treated wood dam in the country. Each leak serves as a false attractant that fools fish into believing they have located the mainstream of the river. 

[FROM THE NOTICE OF NONCOMPLIANCE:]

I. ODFW PROPOSED ORDER FOR WWCD FISH PASSAGE COMPLIANCE

Based upon the Findings of Fact contained herein and consistent with the Conclusions of Law set forth above, the Department proposes to issue the following order: Pursuant to ORS 509.625(3)(b)(A), WWCD must install fish passage at Winchester dam consistent with the following timeline and applicable criteria set forth in OAR 635-412-0035(1), (2), (7), and (10) to accommodate passage of the NMF and their corresponding migratory timing identified in Exhibit F (List of Native Migratory Species), except as amended by prior written authorization of ODFW:

1. January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025 (12 months)

1. List

a. Project Engineering Design Plans Development and Completion:

i. Upstream passage requirements:

1. vertical slot (possible dual slot) fishway configuration,15

2. 6” pool to pool Water Surface Elevation (WSE) differential,

3. provide provisions to ensure adequate lamprey passage as well as all other native migratory fish,

4. screened auxiliary water system (AWS),

5. provide criteria attraction flow,

6. develop detailed construction sequencing and other plans consistent with requirements set forth below; and, as necessary to monitor effectiveness of the fish passage facility,

7. fish counting window and facility,

8. pit tag arrays at the fishway entrance(s), midpoint, and exit(s), and

ii. Downstream passage requirements:

1. modify spillway to maintain regulated WSE above the dam,

a. modeled flows and design to compliment passage at fishway,

b. screen fishway AWS designed to current NMFS guidelines,

iii. Detailed de-watering, work area isolation, and fish rescue and salvage plans;

iv. Design related to the permanent abandonment of the North Bank Fishway;

b. Interagency Coordination:

i. Frequent check-ins with ODFW: kickoff, preliminary, 30%, 60%, 90% and 100% final design intervals;

ii. Include local, county, state and federal regulatory agencies in design development and review;

c. Final Engineering Design Plans and Specifications:

i. 100% engineered stamped design plan set & specifications.

2. January 1, 2026, to June 30, 2026 (6 months)

a. Permit Submission and Acquisition:

i. ODFW Fish Passage Plan Authorization, including approval of plan for

work area isolation,

ii. Fish Rescue & Salvage Permit(s);

iii. Oregon Water Resources Department confirmation of valid water right(s) or authorization(s), as applicable;

iv. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Oregon Department of State Lands Joint Fill-Removal Permit;

v. NOAA Fisheries ESA Consultation;

vi. Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Clean Water Act, Section

401 Certification;

vii. National Historic Preservation Act (Section 106) Authorization;

viii. Local and County Permit(s);

1. FEMA Floodway Permit,

ix. Any other applicable federal or state permit(s) required.

3. July 1, 2026, to December 31, 2028 (29 months)

a. Project Implementation/Construction:16

i. Appropriate agency notification in advance of project commencement,

ii. Frequent coordination, site inspections and schedule updates,

iii. In-water work shall be complete during ODFW approved in-water work periods,

iv. Isolate work site as required for anticipated high water events during multi- year construction phases,

v. Maintain temporary fish passage,

vi. Detailed fish rescue and salvage plan based on regulatory agency input and approval, including

1. adequately staffed and managed fish salvage and relocation operations, and

2. use of temporary water management and work area isolation to avoid harm to applicable species,

vii. Construct new fishway and AWS (2026 -2027 in-water work windows),

viii. Permanently abandon existing North Bank Fishway and related infrastructure (2028 in-water work window);

ix. Project completion December 31, 2028.

4.January 1, 2029, to December 31, 2039 (10 years or to be determined)

a. Post Project Installation Certification and Long-term Monitor & Reporting.