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Oregon
Lakes
Association Annual Meeting
September 12, 2009
Lincoln City
,
Oregon
By
John Stead
This presentation will share some of
Dunes
City
's accomplishments in recognizing and responding to symptoms of water quality degradation rather than reacting to emergencies.
Woahink
Lake
is a cryptodepression surrounded by
Dunes
City
and
Honeyman
State Park
. It is the deepest of the coastal lakes and has issues similar to those being experienced by other lakes
feeling the uncomfortable imprint of man.
Residents of
Dunes
City
, one of two cities in
Oregon
without a municipal water delivery system, rely on individual water systems to divert water for domestic purposes and keep water quality concerns before the public.
Dunes
City
's Comprehensive Plan policies require that regulations involving the city's water resources be based on the long-term
capabilities of natural resource to support economic activity as well as absorb future pollutants.
The city's Water Quality Committee investigates water quality issues and makes recommendations to
the council. A 2004 review of the Siuslaw National Forest's Coastal Lakes Watershed Analysis, indicated that development occurring around Woahink Lake, " ... is the most pressing threat to water quality... and changes in Woahink
Lake are taking place far sooner than would naturally occur." The document also reported on a
Lane
County
survey that 26 percent of all septic tanks within 100 feet of the lake were performing
unsatisfactorily. This information prompted development of the septic system maintenance ordinance. Following four years of experience, procedures and the ordinance are being modified.
A sudden influx of development applications, triggered by the city's
ability to sub-allocate its 1968 water right permit, stimulated the need for ordinances to reduce phosphorus intrusion, control erosion, and manage
stormwater. This resulted in the city's pioneering use of a moratorium ordinance - that new applications must demonstrate phosphorus management - to buy
time while new land use ordinances were being developed.
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