Irrigators to help restore groundwater

Local farmers and ranchers are putting Squaw Creek water into the ground to recharge the underground aquifer this winter.

The Squaw Creek Irrigation District (SCID) is participating in a regional effort to recharge the groundwater beneath the area's porous volcanic surface. According to SCID manager Marc Thalacker, the district will divert between 15 and 20 cubic feet per second (cfs) from Squaw Creek throughout the winter.

"The water will flow through the main canal and into Watson Reservoir," Thalacker said. "But none of it will leave Watson (Reservoir)."

He said the district is working with the Oregon Water Resources Department in the Deschutes Basin groundwater recharge program. According to Thalacker, no new permits for groundwater wells for irrigation will be issued in the Deschutes Basin until the region's water supply is better understood.

"The seepage will put water back in the aquifer to be used (in municipal water supplies) by the cities of Redmond and Bend," Thalacker said.

According to Thalacker, no permits for groundwater wells for irrigation will be issued in the Deschutes Basin until the region's water supply is better understood. The district aims to provide an additional source of groundwater recharge through its canal and reservoir.

Chair-elect Bob Bridgeford of the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council said that SCID is just one of the agencies involved in a regional "groundwater mitigation group" that seeks to better understand the relationship between Central Oregon's surface water and the enigmatic aquifer underground.

"About one-and-one-half years ago, people began to realize that (our) groundwater and surface water are very interdependent," Bridgeford said. "The mitigation process involves the realization that water drawn from wells upstream affects flows downstream."

According to the Sisters/Why-chus Watershed Analysis, published by the Sisters Ranger District, Deschutes National Forest, in fall 1998, "Groundwater from (the Squaw Creek) watershed is a major contributor to the Deschutes River."

"About 600 cfs ... flows through the highly permeable and porous underground of fractured lava flows, cinders and volcanic ash," the study states. "Ultimately, this groundwater discharges into the Deschutes River at springs."

Bridgeford said that recent surveys completed by the United States Geological Survey will contribute to better understanding of hydrology in the Upper Deschutes Basin and will aid the Oregon state Governor's Watershed Enhancement Board in implementing future groundwater and surface water policies in the region.