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The mission of Marion County Community Services is to help our communities flourish by listening to their needs and making meaningful investments in their social and economic health. We have heard consistently that the community of North Santiam Canyon needs more reliable access to Detroit Lake to support the local economy. This project will create multiple benefits for the community, which has been strained by the impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic and wildfires in addition to conditions that shorten the amount of time residents and visitors can access the lake.

This project is one of several Marion County projects underway to support community resiliency. For more information about our other efforts, visit https://www.co.marion.or.us/CS/EconomicDevelopment/Pages/default.aspx

Multiple factors have affected Detroit Lake’s ability to maintain a “full pool” depth during summer, including: 

• Changing weather patterns
• Municipal water needs 
• Fish and wildlife mitigation policies
• Five-foot reduction of “full pool” depth to mitigate seismic hazards at Detroit Dam

Over recent years, the North Santiam Canyon community’s economy has been strained by the impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic, wildfires and conditions that shorten the amount of time residents and visitors can access the lake. The purpose of the Detroit Marinas Excavation and Resiliency Project is to assist Detroit Lake Marina and Kane’s Marina to maintain operations through the summer. This may include strategically excavating sediment beneath the docks so the marinas can operate at lower water levels. This will help maintain an annual summer lake season of May 1 to October 1 and support the local economy.  

This resiliency project is estimated to create: 

• $1.2 million annually in direct and indirect economic activity throughout the region of the North Santiam Canyon. 
• $14.6 million in net economic gain for the region over 20 years. 

The excavation work will remove over 150,000 cubic yards of sediment from beneath the marinas that will need to be relocated. “Beneficial reuse” refers to the use of this sediment to build a land mass that could provide new benefits to the community and environment. For example, the material could be used to construct new parks and trails, habitat for fish and wildlife, or other recreation opportunities.

We will test the sediment before beginning the excavation work. From what we know of local history, we do not anticipate finding harmful contamination buried in the sediment. If we do find contamination, we will develop a plan to address the contaminants safely. 

We do not anticipate this project will create significant environmental impacts. Since this project is partially funded by federal funds, we will complete an environmental review in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act. We will present the findings of the environmental review as part of our community engagement activities. 

We are no longer considering locating the excavated sediment in Idanha. We heard during previous community engagement activities that community members do not want the sediment to be stored on land locally. In response to these comments, we have shifted to consider beneficial reuse alternatives that would keep the sediment in the lake and generate new benefits for the community and environment. For example, the material could be used to construct new parks and trails, habitat for fish and wildlife, or other recreation opportunities.

Marion County has received federal and local economic development funds to design, permit and implement this project.

The cost of each beneficial reuse option will be estimated and discussed during community engagement activities in spring 2023. If revisions to the design result in higher construction costs, Marion County will investigate additional funding opportunities.

As part of the design process, Marion County will present several options for how any material excavated from the marinas might be used to build new benefits for the community. These options will be based on concepts described in the U.S. Forest Service Detroit Lake Restoration and Enhancement Design Booklet. We will collect your feedback on these options to develop a preferred alternative to recommend to the Marion County Board of Commissioners. 

The options we develop will consider several factors, including but not limited to: 

• Public health and safety
• Views and aesthetics
• Environmental and habitat benefits
• Recreational and access benefits
• Lake navigation
• Cost 
• Construction feasibility

Once the Board of Commissioners adopts a preferred alternative, Marion County will develop the engineering designs and seek permits from partner agencies to begin construction. 

The project has three phases. 

Phase 1 / 2023: 

• Develop beneficial reuse options
• Collect community feedback on beneficial reuse options
• Use community feedback to develop a refined preferred alternative

Phase 2 / 2024: 

• Complete engineering for the preferred alternative
• Apply for permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other partner agencies to begin construction

Phase 3 / 2025-2026: 

• Excavate sediment material
• Build beneficial reuse preferred alternative
• Complete construction

Marion County anticipates collaborating with the following agencies and organizations to develop beneficial reuse options that are feasible to permit and construct. 

• Marina owners
• City of Detroit
• U.S. Forest Service
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
• Oregon Department of State Lands
• Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 
• Warm Springs Tribe
• Oregon State Marine Board