Water Quality

A river isn’t a river without flow; but even when flow is restored, our Central Oregon streams aren’t truly healthy unless they carry cold, clean water.

The Deschutes River Conservancy addresses both needs. We work with many partners, from state and federal agencies to Conservation Districts and Watershed Councils to irrigation districts and landowners, to identify the most strategic approaches to improve water quality throughout the Deschutes Basin. Flow restoration in its own right often helps mitigate much water quality concerns; it buffers the effects of warmer water temperatures, provides deeper pools, supports healthy riparian areas, and maintains the connection to submerged aquatic vegetation and shady reaches for fish and aquatic life to thrive, and helps reduce concentrations of otherwise harmful amounts of nutrients and other pollutants. The Deschutes River Conservancy also improves water quality by facilitating better management practices. Working with our partners and landowners, we enable ranchers and farmers to upgrade to more efficient practices to apply their water, which results in less water and fertilizer use, and reduced runoff that can carry dirt, manure, and other on-field chemicals into our streams.