Bend Bulletin: Redmond gets state OK to use more water
The city of Redmond has finalized agreements with state regulators to provide the growing metro area with enough water for at least another 15 years. But how they reached a deal required some creative action, because the city is not technically getting more water.
Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch said the key to the agreement was reallocating water normally used in winter to summer.
“Where we run into issues with our water is during the summertime during irrigation season,” said Fitch. “We’re bumping up against the limit of how much water we could use in the summertime. Winter is not an issue.”
Fitch said the final order from the Oregon Water Resources Department gives Redmond more flexibility to use some of the surplus water from the winter and apply it in the summer. While the new action helps Redmond manage its water supply into the 2040s, Fitch says there is work to be done to make water resources more sustainable and long-lasting.
“We’re going to have to exercise more water conservation. Our supply is not getting any greater but our demand is. So we are going to have to do more with less,” said Fitch.
Approval of the application, with the modified conditions, was confirmed earlier this month, said Fitch.
Alyssa Rash, a spokesperson for the Oregon Water Resources Department, confirmed approval of the permit, noting that “with appropriate permit conditions, the proposed use would ensure the preservation of the public welfare, safety and health.”
In addition to shifting some of the winter water to summer, Redmond is looking to take advantage of a 1915 water right for 2 cubic feet of water per second from the Deschutes River. However, due to environmental concerns, the city does not want to take water from the Deschutes River, so it has applied to transfer the Deschutes water right to a groundwater permit for 2 cfs.
Fitch says that while the outlook for Redmond is good until around 2040, work needs to be done to keep the city on track for the second half of the century. That will include xeriscaping in all new neighborhoods and regular community conversations about how to save water.
Assuming these plans come together, Redmond will have enough water to support a population of at least 60,000 people, said Fitch.
“If we get this 2 cfs and we exercise prudence and do additional water conservation I think we will be okay,” he said.
