ROGUE RIVER — About 2,400 Grants Pass Irrigation District patrons along the north side of the Rogue River will get no water for the rest of the season because of a major breakdown to a Savage Rapids Dam turbine needed to pump their water.

District officials believe the turbine that feeds water to the Tokay and Evans canals began failing after a large mat of debris floated down the Rogue River and crashed into the 84-year-old dam June 20, breaking the turbine’s fish screens.

After the screens were repaired and the pumps re-started a week later, one of the Tokay’s turbine bearings began to run hot and smoke — likely because of friction from fish-screen debris, according to a GPID report.

The extent of the turbine’s damage was discovered Friday, halting water deliveries to Rogue River and north Grants Pass patrons, GPID Assistant Manager Julie Webster said.

Oregon State Police are investigating the debris’ source, and the illegal dumper could face possible pollution charges and civil liabilities as well, authorities said.

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"Damage from the broken fish screens seems like the likely culprit, but we don’t have any hard evidence of it — yet," Webster said.

A similar, but less severe, breakdown of the Highline Canal turbine in 2000 took 45 days to repair and cost the district about $300,000.

In this case, "too much has to be fabricated to be done before the irrigation season is over" Sept. 15, Webster said. "We can’t just pull it off the shelf, so the whole north side of the river is gone."

No estimate was available for repair costs to the newly broken turbine, and the district is considering options ranging from loans, cash reserves and liquidating some real estate to cover the costs, Webster said.

The loss of water and threats of crop failures have commercial irrigators scrambling.

John Thorne, horse breeder and rancher along East Evans Creek Road, said he faces large cost overruns to buy hay to replace grass from his flood-irrigated pasture. Thorne also fears the loss of an established five-acre apple orchard needed to supplement income off his 36 acres.

"If I lose my pasture, I can always replant it next year," said Thorne, who still has to pay his GPID bills, which he said cost him about $2,400 a year. "But if I lose my orchard, it’s gone forever."

Vineyard owner Nancy Tappan, who uses sprinklers fed by a canal-filled pond, may buy hauled water to recharge her pond.

Tappan, who is a GPID board member, said she estimates that her 15 acres of grapes will need 60,000 to 100,000 gallons of water to finish the growing season. She has yet to get bids on the cost.

"We’re exploring ways to help people limp along, especially those with commercial crops at stake," Tappan said. "We’re open to any ideas we can get."

Many of the patrons who lost water have access to municipal drinking water. "I know that can be expensive," Webster said, "but they can keep things alive."

Those who have lost water still will get their regular GPID bills because the money collected is to operate and maintain the district, not for delivered water, Webster said.

If the turbine is replaced, it might be used only through the 2007 irrigation season. Under an agreement with the federal Bureau of Reclamation, the dam is scheduled to be replaced with a series of more fish-friendly irrigation pumps that would start operation in 2008.

To pay for the repairs, the district will consider selling some of its real estate, including its offices along Fruitdale Avenue in Grants Pass, Webster said. The district also owns several scattered parcels, many of which were the results of foreclosures over the past several decades, she said.

GPID also holds 11 acres off Rogue River Highway where workers once mined clay to line canals. Webster said that land was valued at $120,000 in an appraisal earlier this year.

One unlikely source for relief is to step up placement of the new pumps.

Bob Hamilton, the bureau’s activity manager on the Savage Rapids Dam project, said the pumping system is still in the design phase and there is "physically no way" the design and bids could be accomplished to move construction up in time for use in 2006.

This year’s in-stream work period for the Rogue near the dam closes Aug. 31 for fisheries protection and does not re-open until June 15. Extensions, however, can be granted.

Meanwhile, OSP Trooper Janelle McFarland said she still has an open case file for the original dump truck-sized raft of organic debris that broke the fish screens.

"These people have to understand they can’t just throw their material in the river," McFarland said Tuesday. "They can be liable for the damage."

Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail mfreeman@mailtribune.com.