SCID hopes to pipe ditch

Several property owners have petitioned the Squaw Creek Irrigation District to form a "subdistrict" for the purpose of piping the Fryrear irrigation ditch to prevent water loss.

In a split decision, the three-member SCID board voted to approve formation of the subdistrict at its January 15 annual meeting. Lee Christensen and Glenn Cooper voted in favor. David Keith was opposed.

Keith wanted to get water users who opposed piping the ditch "to the table to talk about it" before forming the district.

Christensen and Cooper said that concerns about the piping project would be discussed at a hearing to be held February 6 at 5:30 p.m.

Notification of the public hearing went out to 11 affected landowners on January 16, according to SCID General Manager Marc Thalacker.

The piping project is expected to cost about $275,000, according to the 2002 reimbursement budget.

The goal is to pipe four miles of the Fryrear ditch and save approximately 3 cubic feet of water per second, according to Thalacker.

Water rights on the Fryrear ditch total about 9.5 cfs, and water loss is estimated to be about 55 percent on average, Thalacker said.

Of the 3 cfs saved by piping, 1.5 cfs would go back to Squaw Creek and 1.5 cfs would be available to users in SCID, according to Thalacker.

To pay for the project, Thalacker said SCID will receive $125,000 from Deschutes Resource Conservancy, $120,000 from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and $25,000 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

A subdistrict may be formed if owners of more than half the properties request it.

There are 10 water users on the ditch, according to Thalacker, with 474.6 acre-feet of water right.

Those served by the Fryrear ditch requesting the subdistrict include Eric Vetterline of Desert Springs Ranch with 162.5 acre-feet of water right, Larry Sharpf of the Black Diamond Ranch with 114.1 acre-feet, Gene and Julie Kolbe with 15 acre-feet and Janet Herring with 65 acre-feet.

Gene Kolbe said at the annual meeting that the goal of forming a subdistrict is to expedite piping the ditch and saving water.

Those who have signed the agreement to pipe the ditch also include Denny McCarthy, owner of the KOA with 10 acre-feet, SCID board member David Keith with 16.5 acre-feet, and James and Barbara Kimberly with 12 acre-feet.

Opposing the project are Dan and Patty Little with 25 acre-feet, Jerry and Nancy Buell with 14 acre-feet, and David Abbajay with 40.5 acre-feet, according to Thalacker.

The Fryrear ditch carries water along Highway 20 east, crossing the highway for the last time to the north near Cloverdale Road.

Patty Little said she and her husband Dan decided not to sign the piping agreement on the counsel of advisors who cautioned them that there were "too many things in the agreement undisclosed to us."

As an example, she cited a clause that appeared to make it Fryrear user's financial responsibility if the project hit rock.

Little also said the Fryrear ditch had created an environment over the last 100 years, and that putting the water in a pipe would "change that environment" with a negative impact on trees and deer.

There will be an unofficial meeting on Tuesday, January 29 at 7 p.m. with individuals concerned about the project, prior to the February 6 public hearing.