Deschutes County Commission indicates support for hydroelectric project
Project part of larger effort to modernize irrigation system, water district says
The Deschutes County Commission moved toward reversing an earlier decision that denied a proposed hydroelectric project outside of Sisters, a project that was challenged by the environmental group Central Oregon LandWatch.
The project from Three Sisters Irrigation District would build a small, hydroelectric dam in an irrigation pipe that comes off Whychus Creek about 5 miles northeast of Sisters on Simmons Road. It is not built directly in the stream like other dams around the Pacific Northwest.
Marc Thalacker, the manager of the irrigation district, said the district has two other similar hydroelectric facilities, and the project is part of a larger effort to modernize irrigation to make it more efficient.
If this newest hydro project is completed, the combined facilities will produce enough electricity to power about 1,200 homes, he said.
“It’s a win-win for the famers, the fish and community,” Thalacker said Friday.
A public hearings officer had denied the application last fall. Both the irrigation district and Central Oregon LandWatch appealed the decision, but for different reasons.
The hearings officer’s decision was based on two technicalities. One was related to whether a hydroelectric facility could be built on less than 10 acres of land in a zone that usually requires 10 acres for development, and the other based on the fact the irrigation district did not initially show how it complied with an Oregon Administrative Rule that governs how farm and forestland is used, according to Tarik Rawlings, a county planner.
Central Oregon LandWatch appealed the public hearing officer’s decision on different points.
It argued the project should be denied because there isn’t enough acreage of land with the right kind of zoning to permit a project like this, and also that the proposed hydroelectric facility would result in an incentive to divert additional water for hydroelectric revenues.
“The entire month of November and the first week of January, TSID continued to divert water even after their patrons’ water was turned off,” Tod Heisler, the director of Central Oregon LandWatch’s Rivers Conservation Program, wrote in a statement to The Bulletin. “The existing (Three Sisters Irrigation District) hydro facility has created a strong incentive for the district to divert water outside the customary irrigation season and the creek and its fish suffer the consequences.”
On Wednesday, Commissioners Tony DeBone and Phil Chang addressed the appeals by the irrigation district and Central Oregon LandWatch. The commission disagreed with the arguments made by the hearings officer and Central Oregon LandWatch, and appeared to support the hydroelectric project. A formal decision will be voted upon in the next couple of weeks.
Chang said he was looking for a compelling argument from Central Oregon LandWatch that showed how this project would affect the amount or the timing of water being diverted from the creek. He said he could not find one.
“I don’t see impacts beyond the existing or baseline diversions that are already occurring,” Chang said on Wednesday.
Commissioner Patti Adair recused herself from voting on the issue because her property is next door to where the facility would be built, and therefore she has a conflict of interest, she said in a text message.
The commission on Wednesday indicated support for the project despite a possible code violation. The irrigation district has already built the tailrace portion of the project — which is the channel of water that carries water away from the facility — without receiving approval, according to county documents.
Central Oregon LandWatch argued in written testimony previously submitted to the commission that the project should be denied because the irrigation district and the county did not come to an agreement before beginning construction.
The commission opted to not look into whether the act constituted a code violation, and argued even if it was, that it could be “cured” as long as all other county criteria are met for the project.
Chang said he was disappointed the construction went forward before the land use approval was secured by the irrigation district, but that he is overall supportive of the district’s effort to modernize.
“I hope that others out there don’t get the message you can act first and ask for forgiveness later,” Chang said.
The commission also agreed that it is time for the county to review the code surrounding hydroelectric facilities, since when they were written multiple decades ago in-pipe facilities were not considered.
