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Gold Ray Dam Project:   Removal, Restoration, and Monitoring

Spanning the mainstem of the internationally famous Rogue River at river mile 125.7, Gold Ray Dam was a 38-foot high, 360-foot long, defunct hydroelectric facility. Constructed in 1904, the power house closed permanently in 1972.  Jackson County took ownership of the dam and an adjacent 159.7 acres for the development of a recreational park. The dam was a major liability concern for JacksonCounty and a maintenance burden for JacksonCounty taxpayers.  Besides the annual maintenance costs, the county faced major costs in repairing and reinforcing the aging structure and improving its fish passage facilities.  Gold Ray Dam was identified by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife as fifth in priority for removal and/or fish passage improvement on Oregon’s Statewide Fish Passage Priority List.

As a result of these conditions, the Jackson County Commissioners voted in May 2010 to remove the dam and in August 2010, the dam was removed.  Jackson County received funding from NOAA Coastal and Marine Habitat Restoration Project Grants (ARRA Federal Stimulus funds) and from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) for dam removal and restoration of the adjacent area.


Please visit www.recovery.gov  to track federal  recovery act projects.

 

Project Information (Click on the Links Below)

Removal

Restoration

Monitoring

Project  Contact

Craig Tuss, Rogue Valley Council of Governments, Natural Resources Program Manager, (541) 423-1366 or Craig Tuss

Gold Ray Dam Removal

 

 

Publications, Presentations, and other Project Information  

Click here to view the Gold Ray Dam Project’s  time-lapse camera.

 

New! Article from Earth Island Journal written by Juliet Grable

Project Overview Presentations

Interagency Technical Team Meetings

Project Status Reports / Newsletters

Project  Environmental Assessment / FONSI June 2010 FINAL

Project Environmental Assessment February 2010 DRAFT

Other Technical Reports

Gold Ray Dam Restoration

Gold Ray Dam spanned the mainstem of the Rogue River at river mile 125.7.  The dam was a 38-foot high, 360-foot long, structure, part of a defunct hydroelectric facility.  The dam impounded approximately 1.8 miles of the mainstem Rogue River, two lowland areas known as Kelly Slough and Tolo Slough as well as the lower 1000 feet of Bear Creek.  The dam was constructed in 1904 and rebuilt as a concrete slab facility in 1940.  The power house closed permanently in 1972.  Jackson County took ownership of the dam and an adjacent 159.7 acres for the development of a recreational park.

The site generally occurs at Township 36S, Range 2W, Section 18, latitude: 42.437948 degrees north, and longitude: 122.978972 degrees west.

All the restoration areas are located within the 100-year floodplain of the Rogue River.
The areas are part of an alluvial terrace and former side channel created by the Rogue River. From 1941 to August 2010, the subject areas were inundated by the impoundment. The dam removal created a condition of barren soils, lack of vertical structure, potential for invasive
non-native plant colonization, and absence of small mammal/bird/amphibian nesting habitat.

River Design Group (RDG) and Slayden Construction Group (Slayden) preformed restoration (re-contouring and bank stabilization) actions within four areas (power house, lower Kelly and Tolo Sloughs and the lower 1,000 feet of Bear Creek), previously occupied by the dam and former impoundment.click here  for the River Design Group Restoration Plan

click here for the Bear Creek Restoration Report

These construction activities occurred from September through October 2010.  These areas occur on land owned by Jackson County, except for the Lower Bear Creek site which is privately held.

The Rogue Valley Council of Governments was contracted by Jackson County to assist with some restoration actions associated with the dam removal project. This project was made possible through funding from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board as part of a $1,000,000 grant to remove Gold Ray Dam and conduct restoration activities in the former dam site area (OWEB grant 210-2048); and the FishAmerica Foundation (FAF Grant 10035).  OWEB provided $60,000, FAF provided $67,500.  RVCOG thanks OWEB and FAF for supporting clean up and riparian restoration in the Gold Ray natural area.
click here for the  Final  Restoration  Report  
Additional OWEB funding has been secured to continue the restoration effort in Kelly Slough through 2014.
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