SCID pitches piping project

A packed house learned about the McKenzie Canyon Irrigation Project on Tuesday, March 2. photo by Jeff McCaulou

Squaw Creek Irrigation District wants to pipe another of its irrigation ditches in an effort to conserve water.

SCID hosted a meeting March 2 that sparked debate and questions over the project to pipe irrigation water from Squaw Creek. A small room at Sisters District Ranger Station was packed with landowners, farmers, and water experts.

Marc Thalacker, manager of Squaw Creek Irrigation District and Mike Riehle, fish biologist for the U.S. Forest Service, gave the main body of the presentation.

The proposed project lies off Lower Bridge Road, north of Highway 126.

The goal of the McKenzie Canyon irrigation project is to conserve water and improve fish habitat in Squaw Creek while improving the economic viability of agriculture in the canyon. This plan is supposed to help the agricultural community meet requirements under the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Currently, 50 percent of irrigation water is lost to seepage in the canals and other inefficient methods of transporting water to the irrigation sites.

Often, Squaw Creek runs dry during the summer. It is forecast that piping the irrigation water will add another six cubic feet per second to the creek during these low periods.

Some 1,300 of the 2,000 affected landowners have consented to a pilot program.

Much of the debate on Tuesday centered on who was going to benefit from replacing open irrigation delivery canals and ditches with high density polyethyene pressurized pipelines.

Thalacker addressed the concerns of the audience; "What it comes down to, when you look yourself in the mirror, would you rather see your water in a canal or in the stream? Congress says streams and they don't care what you think."

The total installation costs would be $6,652,000.