Pipe in ditch will increase stream flows

More water will flow in Squaw Creek in the wake of a $260,000 grant from the Deschutes Basin Resources Conservancy to the Squaw Creek Irrigation District (SCID).

Funds will be used to pipe three miles of the Cloverdale ditch and to increase the flow of water in Squaw Creek.

The district will return to Squaw Creek between three and five cubic feet per second (cfs) of seasonal irrigation diversion. According to conservancy executive director Lisa Nye, the increased stream flows will not take water away from local irrigators.

The amount of water put back in-stream approximately equals that which currently leaks into the ground as it flows through the ditch, Nye explained. The pipe will prevent this indirect water loss.

"The project won't have any impact on district members," she said. "The water that goes back in-stream is water they are saving."

Deschutes Basin Resources Conservancy (DRC) project manager Scott McCaulou said that a little bit of water can make a big difference to the ailing Squaw Creek. Each summer Squaw Creek nearly runs dry as more than 100 cfs is diverted to local farms and ranches.

"Squaw Creek has some problems with low flow between the SCID diversion and the town of Sisters," he said. "This will more than double the flow in that section of river."

According to McCaulou, the grant will fund approximately 15,000 feet of piping from SCID's Watson Reservoir north and east through Aspen Lakes Golf Course.

DRC will then use the Oregon Conserved Water Statute to transfer three cfs, or 50 percent of the conserved water up to five cfs, back into Squaw Creek.

According to SCID manager Marc Thalacker, when the project is completed, the ditch will be covered, reducing maintenance impacts and liability at the golf course.

"We wouldn't be able to bring equipment in and out without damaging the golf course, not to mention the liability of a golfer falling in the ditch," Thalacker said. "(Our) board looked for a solution and got a grant to pipe the canal."

Aspen Lakes co-owner Keith Cyrus said the piping project could "certainly be an advantage" by preventing leaks in the existing canal.

Cyrus, however, has some concerns about the ownership of the ditch and the project's impact on the golf course.

"There are a lot of issues involved yet, but it's something we're analyzing," Cyrus said. "Our architect (originally) incorporated the ditch as a water feature," Cyrus noted. "He's reviewing the impact (the piping project) would have."

Thalacker said that SCID intends to complete the project between the 2000 and 2001 irrigation seasons.

"We will start the project in the fall right after we turn off the water," Thalacker said.

"We're projecting it will take a couple of months."