Kerby water not a pipe dream
A remnant of the Kerby Ditch system
Kerby Water District (KWD) is two steps closer to delivering H2O, after approval of an engineering contract and an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGO) with Josephine County.
Approval for the deals was given 2-0 by Josephine County commissioners during their Wednesday, May 30 meeting in Grants Pass. Commissioner Jim Raffenburg is on vacation.
A $1.7 million Community Development Block Grant has been issued for KWD’s distribution system, said Rosemary Padgett, the county’s chief financial officer.
Steve Rich, the county’s legal counsel, recommended that the IGO be implemented, Padgett said.
The IGO already has been signed by KWD’s board of directors, but the grant requires that the county co-own the distribution system project until it is completed. Padgett said that ownership of the system will be transferred to KWD once the total project is finished, which should take approximately five years.
However, delivery of water could begin as early as spring 2008.
A $314,000 engineering contract with Coos Bay-based HBH Consulting Engineers Inc. also was approved by county commissioners. The contract is for the drinking water distribution system portion of the project.
KWD was formed in 2003 by residents who for years have been concerned about the quality of their well water. The shallow wells were bolstered by water from Illinois River that ran into the Kerby Ditch. It ran across the east side of Redwood Hwy. until it was abandoned several years ago, although portions of its distribution system still can be seen on either side of the highway.
Residents still are using wells.
During 2005, Kerby residents approved a $450,000 bond measure to help pay for the water distribution system project costs. The block grant was awarded by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture that year.
Once the distribution system is complete, KWD members will be supplied by the city of Cave Junction, which gets its water from the Illinois River East Fork.
However, during the May 30 meeting, Hugo resident and land-use activist Holger Sommer expressed doubt that the city would be able to provide water to Kerby residents.
“Cave Junction already has problems supplying water capacity to its new developments,” Sommer said.
KWD Board Chairman John Plute said the city is “well within the capacity of its master plan.” He added that the district could be getting its water supply from the city as early as next spring.
