By Whitney Woodworth
Salem Statesman Journal

Marion County, along with a collection of Santiam Canyon cities and agencies, submitted a formal letter June 22 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers urging it to cancel any deep drawdown of Detroit Reservoir in 2026 and reevaluate future draining plans.

The letter, which cites serious risks to downstream drinking water systems, local recreation and fish populations, was submitted on behalf of a community coalition that includes Stayton, Sublimity, Mill City, Detroit Lake Foundation, Detroit Lake Marina, Woodburn Area Chamber of Commerce and North Marion Tourism Collaborative.

The city of Salem also sent a letter in early 2026 urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take more steps to protect the city’s drinking water. It was not one of the cities that signed the June 22 letter.

“Our residents depend on clean, reliable drinking water,” Marion County Commissioner Kevin Cameron said. “The Army Corps should complete the analysis required by law before taking on any risks that could harm that supply.”

Commissioner Colm Willis said the Corps’ own analysis acknowledges the drawdown’s adverse risk to drinking water and recreation.

“The risks to our communities strongly outweigh any perceived, hypothetical benefits from this drawdown,” Willis said.

The drawdown is meant to save endangered salmon, but that could impact water quality for 210,000 and harm the economy of the Santiam Canyon. It has been the source of disagreement between the county and federal agency since news of it was first reported by the Statesman Journal in January 2025.

The move spurred alarm bells in Salem and Marion County over concern the drawdown would flush muddy water into the drinking water facilities for Stayton and Salem.

Salem City Council voted to declare a state of emergency in July 2025. The declaration allowed the city to take immediate action to prepare for the impacts of the drawdown, including constructing new groundwater wells at the Geren Island Water Treatment Plant and adding a new pump station connection with Keizer.

The letter comes after Marion County filed a lawsuit in May against the Corps asking a federal court to pause efforts to drain the lake until the Corps completes a federally required turbidity request.

Marion County also sent letters in December 2025 and in January 2026 asking for a halt to the drawdown. The county also requested a more formal review, pointing to the 2023 Green Peter Reservoir drawdown, “which caused significant damage to downstream water filtration systems and killed hundreds of thousands of kokanee salmon.”

County leaders said despite these warnings, the Corps published its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement in May without completing the required turbidity study.

The joint letter sent on June 22 asks the Corps to refrain from authorizing any deep drawdown in 2026 and to satisfy five conditions before revisiting a draining plan: completing the turbidity report; establishing enforceable triggers for termination if the drawdown impacts water quality, recreation and fisheries; demonstrating that prior drawdowns produced improvements in fish passage; consult directly with downstream water providers and governments for coordination and emergency response; and identify and commit in advance to funding for impacts to water systems and local businesses.

“Any changes to Detroit Lake’s water level must be grounded in data-backed science with meaningful protections in place for our downstream communities,” Commissioner Danielle Bethell said. “We will continue working to ensure that decisions made at the federal level align with the needs of local communities.”

Statesman Journal reporter Zach Urness also contributed to this report.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The city of Pasadena, California, and the Rose Bowl Operating Company have sued UCLA for allegedly trying to move its college football games from one of the sport’s most iconic stadiums to the much newer SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

According to the Times, the suit accuses UCLA of “profoundly” betraying its trust by attempting to relocate its home games from the facility the Bruins have called home for 43 years to the home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers.

UCLA’s current lease runs through 2044. But the stadium is 26 miles from campus, and the Bruins (3-5, 3-2 Big Ten) have struggled with attendance in recent years. This season, UCLA’s average attendance for its four home games is roughly 35,000.

SoFi Stadium opened in September 2020, is about 12 miles from UCLA’s campus and has a capacity of 70,240.

“This lawsuit arises in an era when money too often eclipses meaning and the pursuit of profit threatens to erase the very traditions that breathe life into institutions,” the suit claims. “Some commitments are too fundamental to be traded away.”

UCLA has undergone several major changes over the past two seasons. It joined Southern California, Washington and Oregon in leaving their longtime conference home, the Pac-12, for the Big Ten in 2024.

Earlier this season, the Bruins fired second-year coach DeShaun Foster and replaced him with interim coach Tim Skipper. They’ve also changed offensive and defensive coordinators this season.

The Times reported UCLA’s outside counsel, David L. Scrader, sent a letter to Pasadena attorney Nima Mohebbi in March, saying the school’s efforts to conduct “preliminary discussions” about relocating games did not constitute a “material breach” of its contract.

But Pasadena officials and stadium representatives claim a potential move could cost Pasadena and its residents more than $1 billion in damages. City officials said in the suit that taxpayers have funded more than $150 million in renovations with an additional $130 million in bonds that were recently refinanced for additional upgrades.

The Rose Bowl, a designated National Historic Landmark, is best known for hosting the “grandaddy” of college football’s bowl games since 1922 and has a seating capacity of about 89,000. The Bruins have called the Rose Bowl home since leaving the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1982.

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