Cyrus may oppose creek water right

The Keith Cyrus family is likely to oppose the return of conserved irrigation water to Squaw Creek.

The water is being saved by putting the Cloverdale Irrigation canal into a pipe, according to Marc Thalacker, manager of the Squaw Creek Irrigation District.

The pipe was purchased with $260,000 in grants from the Deschutes Resources Conservancy (DRC) and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. In return for their contribution, three cubic feet per second was to be returned to the creek under an "instream water right."

SCID provided about $400,000 in labor to install the pipe.

Keith Cyrus confirmed on May 28 his intent to oppose the application.

Cyrus said one of his concerns is that it is unknown how much water will actually be saved.

"The measuring (of water loss) wasn't done ahead of time. The engineering was done with the help of the pipe supplier," Cyrus said.

Thalacker disagrees. He said that SCID has in fact measured the water going into the Cloverdale Ditch and then subtracted what they delivered to users.

"The difference is the ditch loss. It has ranged over the years from 45 to 55 percent. That is not uncommon for Central Oregon. With 15 to 20 cfs in canal, (we estimated loss to be) 45 to 55 percent of that," or seven to 10 cfs.

Matt Cyrus said that the original estimate of six cfs in savings was based on piping the whole ditch, which the district will no longer be able to accomplish.

The Cyruses have prevented the piping of that portion of the ditch that runs through their property, which includes Aspen Lakes Golf Course.

However, the pipe that was to be used on the Cyrus property has been installed on a notoriously leaky section just off Holmes Road, according to Thalacker. The savings are expected to be comparable.

Under the agreement with the DRC, water saved in excess of six cfs would be split between farmers and the stream, according to Thalacker.

Gail Achterman, Executive Director of the DRC, said that no application for instream water right was being filed this year just so that accurate measurements could be taken on the amount of water saved.

"We want to make sure there isn't any injury to other parties before we make the application," Achterman said.

"We want to do everything we can to get the facts established beforehand. We want to give the Cyruses an opportunity to have their own experts participate," Achterman said.

Keith Cyrus said that dedicating three cfs to Squaw Creek for fish recovery could have a detrimental effect on farmers, especially in years of low flow -- as this year is likely to be -- even though the three cfs is supposed to result from water saved.

"SCID would have been far better off in using their own money and buying their own pipe and saving that water for the (irrigation) users," Cyrus said. He made that suggestion to the SCID board at a meeting last year. He feels SCID's "first obligation is to water users."

Thalacker acknowledged that, under Cyrus' plan, all the saved water would "be distributed among users, but that would disadvantage the stream. The purpose of the grant was for a win/win for everyone, more water for the stream and more water for the farmers."

Lee Christianson, Chair of the SCID board, said that SCID "is absolutely dedicated to returning that water to the creek."

Keith Cyrus said he has already been affected by the piping of the Cloverdale Ditch.

"We have lost the year-round watering seep where our livestock could water for 42 years. It (the seep) is dry this year, I assume because of the piping," Cyrus said. The "seep" was located near the gravel pit near Jordan Road between Cyrus property and the Lazy Z, one of the first places that water was put in the pipe.

Thalacker said SCID should be able to keep some water in Squaw Creek this summer.