Bend Bulletin
A large-scale canal piping and on-farm efficiency project planned by Central Oregon Irrigation District has received a $25 million federal funding grant.
The grant will go toward piping a section of Pilot Butte Canal near Redmond, according to a joint statement by Oregon senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, both Democrats. Funds will also be used to pipe private laterals and improve irrigation technologies in the district.
Conserved water will be redirected to North Unit Irrigation District, a junior water rights holder. In exchange, North Unit will release an equivalent amount of water into the Deschutes River in winter to help area irrigation districts comply with the Deschutes Basin Habitat Conservation Plan, designed to improve habitat for the Oregon spotted frog and other threatened species.
The $25 million grant is part of a larger $95.7 million federal investment into conservation projects in Central, Eastern and Southern Oregon. The funds will be sourced from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and issued to the Deschutes River Conservancy, an environmental non-profit that facilitates water conservation projects in the Deschutes Basin.
Conservation numbers
The Central Oregon Irrigation District project will conserve 3,900 acre-feet of water annually and increase the winter flow in the Deschutes River by 12 cubic feet of water per second.
The funds will be used to pipe the King Way section of the 22-mile-long Pilot Butte Canal. This section of the canal is adjacent to a 7.9-mile stretch of the canal that was piped two years ago.
Marisa Hossick, a spokesperson for the Deschutes River Conservancy, said the project will cost more than $31 million so additional funding is needed once the federal government’s $25 million is issued.
As the project moves ahead, farms next to the canal will be incentivized to upgrade their water delivery systems as pressurized water will be available once the pipe is in place.
The piping project will help “restore the river’s natural hydrograph while benefiting the Endangered Species Act listed Oregon spotted frog, native redband trout and other species,” said Lisa Seales, programs manager for the Deschutes River Conservancy.
“The same amount of water will also be passed to North Unit Irrigation District in the summer months, to help address water scarcity for the farming community around Madras,” she said.
North Unit’s general manager Josh Bailey says conserved water comes to North Unit from other districts in the Deschutes Basin after piping projects are completed. North Unit, which controls Wickiup Dam, can then release more water in the winter months.
“The more pipe that can go into the ground on COID’s Pilot Butte Canal, the more conserved water is generated and that is going to help us meet our (Habitat Conservation Plan) requirements,” said Bailey. “We are happy about that for sure.”
Pending the completion of the federal permitting process, the project is expected to break ground next winter. Construction will be completed in one season, allowing water deliveries in the spring of 2026, said Hossick.
The Pilot Butte Canal extends from Bend to rural land past Redmond, delivering water to 17,338 acres of land in Central Oregon. Due to its porous bottom, the canal experiences around 150 cubic feet of water per second of losses, equivalent to roughly 50,000 acre-feet of water per year.
The Redmond to Smith Rock piped section of the canal reduced water losses by 30 cfs, or 9,392 acre-feet annually.
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