COID canal piping boosts Madras-area farm deliveries, Crooked River flows
iStock/Deschutes River Conservancy
Section of the Crooked River that will benefit from COID canal piping project
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) The Central Oregon Irrigation District said Friday it has received final approval from the Oregon Water Resources Department for the West-F project that piped 2,210 feet of a leaky lateral canal north of Redmond.
As a result, the 1,602 acre-feet of water saved by COID have been transferred to about 649 acres of farmland in the North Unit Irrigation District near Madras, the area’s most junior water users. The equivalent amount of water was then transferred from NUID into the Crooked River.
As farmers across Central Oregon face a third straight year of drought, and wildlife in this regionâs rivers teeter on the brink of extinction, those who control the flow of water are primed to pump millions of dollars into infrastructure in a last-ditch effort to help both people and wildlife.
Central Oregon Irrigation District, the largest district in Central Oregon in terms of patrons, is at the vanguard of this effort and expects to pour $100 million over the next decade to pipe a significant portion of its open canals and ditches, said Craig Horrell, the districtâs general manager. Tens of millions more will be spent by other irrigation districts in the area.