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THE CORVALLIS MILL RACE
An Urban Orphan?
Phillip Sollins, College of Forestry, Oregon State UniversityProfessor of Forest Ecology and Soils, Emeritus
June 15, 2015
1981 City Plan for Realignment of Mill RaceNew Crystal Lake Dr. built in part atop old Mill Race channel
Mill Race inlet under railroad spur in 1997 Installed 1960s when channel relocated - ~20 inch diameter
CONCLUSIONS
• Multiple alterations - Mill Race “watershed” has been altered many times for over 200 years to meet changing needs.
• Unintended consequences - Many of these changes have had unanticipated and undesirable consequences.
• Lost history - We had lost the history of these changes and have not dealt adequately with the problems caused by them.
• Marys River flooding impact - Mill Race capacity is adequate except when Marys River overflows its banks at golf course and possibly at Mill Race inlet.
• Willamette flooding impact - No alterations to the Mill Race will eliminate the periodic flooding of South Corvallis by the Willamette.
CONCLUSIONS
• Summer flow source – Summer source is mostly groundwater from the most industrialized part of Corvallis
• Marys River - No practical way to increase summer flow w/o also increasing flooding from Marys R. overflow.
CONCLUSIONS
• Storm water runoff - Winter water quality is poor because it’s almost entirely runoff from paved areas, roofs and Marysville Golf Course.
• Bioswales - Water quality can and should be improved by installing bioswales throughout the watershed.
CONCLUSIONS
Acknowledgements
Doug Sackinger, Joe Mardis, Jason Hotchkiss (Benton County)Linda Stevens, Kevin Loso, Clay Brooks, and Matt Gressel (City of Corvallis); Mary Gallagher (Benton County Historical Museum)Dave Eckert (Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, Water Action Team)Bill Gellatly (Marys River Watershed Council)Charles Newlin (long-time Allen Street resident)Meghna Babbar-Sebens (OSU College of Engineering) Anita Ragan (H&V)Bill Pepper (Pepper Construction) OSU LibraryU of O Aerial Photo Library
Literature Cited
Christy JA, Alverson ER (2011) Historical vegetation of the Willamette Valley, Oregon, circa 1850. Northwest Science, 85, 93–107.