Willamette Valley Vineyard Reservoir

The Willamette Valley Vineyards Reservoir is located approximately 1.6 miles northeast of Gaston, Oregon and is west of the intersection of SW Vandehey & SW Spring Hill Road. The reservoir stores 6.2 acre-feet of water for the purpose of irrigation, aesthetics, fire prevention, recreation and wildlife. The footprint of the reservoir at normal pool is approximately 0.9 acres. The earthen dam is trapezoidal in shape with three sides as earthen embankment and the one side as a cut into a rolling hill. The dam embankment is approximately 13’ tall, 650’ long, and 16’ wide. The reservoir is lined with plastic and is filled by collecting runoff from precipitation. A 0.7 acre plastic-lined ‘rain collection area’ adjacent to the reservoir collects precipitation and conveys it by gravity to the reservoir.

Construction of the reservoir commenced in early September and was completed mid-October, 2017 by Parker Pacific Development, LLC under the company’s excavation division. Approximately 19,000 cubic yards of earthwork was required to construct the earthen embankment, core trench, and emergency overflow spillway. Wetland Solutions Northwest, LLC. completed wetland delineation, reporting, permitting, and mitigation design. GEO Consultants Northwest, Inc. completed geological review and analysis of soils prior to and during construction.

Permitting required to construct the reservoir includes a Washington County Grading Permit and Land Use Compatibility Statement, a Department of Environmental Quality 1200-C permit, and a U.S. Army corps of Engineers wetland fill permit. This reservoir did not require review by Dam Safety because it stores less than 9.2 acre-feet of water. This reservoir is unique since it did not require any Oregon Water Resource Department water right permits because all collected and stored water is on an impervious surface (plastic).