Redmond Spokesman: Delays loom for plan to increase Deschutes River winter flows
By MICHAEL KOHN For The Spokesman
A plan to increase wintertime flows in the Deschutes River to 300 cubic feet per second by 2028 may need to be pushed back a year due to delays in canal-to-pipe projects that conserve water for farms and habitat.
That’s according to Craig Horrell, the general manager of Central Oregon Irrigation District, who says the delays threaten to push back work on piping sections of the Pilot Butte Canal near Redmond.
What is being threatened is the first target of the Deschutes Basin Habitat Conservation Plan, a 30-year plan that guides flow improvements for the Deschutes River. The plan is designed to protect threatened species while at the same time allowing irrigation districts to operate without threat of legal action against them.
According to the plan, the wintertime flow of the Deschutes should rise to 300 cubic feet of water per second from Wickiup Reservoir by the end of 2028. Taxpayer-funded piping is needed to reach that level within the timeframe.
Administrative delays
But Horrell says administrative delays are slowing down the permitting process to move the project forward. He is waiting for approval of an environmental impact statement to get work started.
The next stage of work on the canal will cost $79 million, Horrell says. That amount should be enough to pipe over 10 miles of open canal in three phases. But nothing happens until the permitting work is complete. Because funding and permitting relies on federal agencies like the Bureau of Reclamation, Horrell warns that delays are inevitable in the current political landscape.
“These projects all depend on an environmental impact statement that (Central Oregon Irrigation District) has been working on for four years,” Horrell said last week at a presentation in Madras.
“We just submitted it to (the Natural Resources Conservation Service) and it’s in a 30-day review. What does that mean with all the federal issues with staff getting buyouts and these different things — 30 days could be more like 180 days,” he said.
Conservation numbers projected
If the project eventually gets the greenlight, Horrell believes these phases plus other projects recently completed by the district will conserve 60 to 80 cubic feet of water per second. Further studies are needed to determine an exact amount, he said.
“Our hope is that we don’t have to ask (to push back the conservation plan target), but we may have to,” Horrell said on the sidelines of the meeting in Madras.
Changing the conservation plan’s targets would require a thumbs up from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which approved the plan four years ago. Horrell said he has not yet discussed the possibility of a delay with the service.
Jodie Delavan, a spokesperson for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said her agency “doesn’t have any new updates on the (conservation plan).”
As for the timing of the next phase of piping, work was originally projected to start this winter. Horrell says one of the main holdups has been with the State Historic Preservation Office, which he said is understaffed. There were also delays with the Bureau of Reclamation.
“It takes a long time to get through this and we are at the final stage. We are at the end of that,” he said.
The review by Natural Resources Conservation Service, currently underway, isn’t the final stage. Also required is a public meeting and comment period, planned for August or September. Once those hurdles have been cleared, Horrell believes work can start next winter.
Is 300 cfs achievable?
As Central Oregon Irrigation District navigates the permitting process and works toward its goal of piping a portion of the Pilot Butte Canal, a lingering question remains: will all the planned piping work and other conservation efforts add up to 300 cfs?
The outflow from Wickiup Reservoir is now around 100 cfs. Central Oregon Irrigation District projects will add 80 cfs in a best case scenario. Other irrigation districts, led by Arnold Irrigation in Bend, could tack on another 35 cfs. That results in around 215 cfs releases in winter.
The remaining 85 cfs would require a fairly large contribution from farm improvements, such as converting flood irrigated properties to water efficient sprinkler systems. This is unlikely, says Jeremy Austin, the Wild Lands and Water program director for Central Oregon LandWatch.
“There is no scenario under which the irrigation district’s current piping efforts will meet the minimum flow requirements under the HCP by 2028 or 2030,” Austin says.
“To meet HCP requirements and address water shortfalls in the Deschutes Basin, districts will need to support market-based incentives in a manner commensurate with piping projects. That is currently not happening,” he said.
Horrell contends that achieving the 300 cfs target is within reach.
Water management programs and water banking will be utilized, he says, along with efficiency programs conducted by North Unit Irrigation District. These conservation efforts will reduce North Unit’s reliance on stored water, allowing the district to make the required releases when they are due.
“The significant amount of piping the districts will implement over the next three years, combined with effective management and collaboration with our partners, will allow us to reach 300 cfs,” Horrell said.
