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

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Recovering Deschutes Basin Steelhead — Part 2

In less than a century, the impacts of irrigation, hydropower projects, and other human activities throughout the Deschutes Basin have disrupted the natural water systems and environmental conditions that sustained abundant steelhead populations for millennia.

In order to take steps toward habitat recovery, it is important to understand how we’ve fundamentally changed these waterways.

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Water, Steelhead Alex Hardison Water, Steelhead Alex Hardison

Recovering Deschutes Basin Steelhead — Part 1

The steelhead trout is one of the Pacific Northwest’s most iconic species of fish.

In this series, we’re exploring the history of steelhead in the Deschutes Basin, the impacts irrigation and development have had on this species and their habitat, the actions water managers and regulators are proposing to address threats to this species, and whether they go far enough to restore the critical habitat this iconic species needs and deserves.

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Planning For More Than Piping

Addressing water shortages in the Deschutes Basin requires a comprehensive Water Management Plan that integrates infrastructure improvements and market-based incentives to efficiently allocate water for both agricultural and environmental needs.

The Deschutes Basin Water Collaborative, through the state’s Place-Based Planning process, is developing this plan to ensure balanced water distribution and overcome existing systemic issues, emphasizing the need for immediate and coordinated action.

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Addressing water waste in Central Oregon

It’s clear there is an appetite amongst irrigators for solutions to wasteful irrigation practices, improved irrigation infrastructure, and policy reform to allow easier reallocation of water to those who need it the most.

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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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