The Horizon

All the latest updates on our work defending rural lands, creating livable cities and towns and preserving wild lands and water throughout Central Oregon

Water CO LandWatch Water CO LandWatch

Modernizing Irrigation Infrastructure in Central Oregon

Responses to our joint survey of Central Oregon Irrigation District patrons clearly show that local irrigators are eager to improve irrigation system efficiencies and reduce water waste.

As climate change and drought continue to place pressure on water resources in Central Oregon, an integrated approach to solving water scarcity issues is needed; a concerted effort to pipe private laterals must be part of the solution. 

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Wildlife Habitat, Rivers & Springs CO LandWatch Wildlife Habitat, Rivers & Springs CO LandWatch

COID requests $42 million in taxpayer dollars to pipe 7.9 miles of canals

Central Oregon Irrigation District’s (COID) latest watershed plan would pipe only 7.9 miles of the more than 400 miles of its canals and cost a whopping $568,000 per irrigator. The cost would be more than four times the price of conserved water generated by other similar piping projects in COID in recent years.

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Rivers & Springs, Wildlife Habitat CO LandWatch Rivers & Springs, Wildlife Habitat CO LandWatch

The Future of the Deschutes River Basin is at Stake

The biggest decision-point in our lifetimes for the future of the Deschutes River Basin was triggered last week when irrigation districts submitted a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Suffice to say, the plan put forth by the irrigation districts does not sufficiently address the scale of the River’s problem.

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