News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
As early as next summer, Squaw Creek may flow through Sisters with enough water to support healthy fish populations.
A combination of irrigation piping projects and a program to exchange well water for creek water is about to push the creek over the 20-cubic-feet-per-second (CFS) threshold scientists deem necessary to create good fish habitat.
“It hasn’t seen that kind of stream-flow in a hundred-odd years,” said Todd Heisler of the Deschutes River Conservancy (DRC).
Heisler has been working with the Three Sisters Irrigation District (TSID) and local farmers on a number of projects designed to leave more water in the creek while still keeping farmers supplied with water.
Next summer DRC will launch a pilot project pumping well water into the irrigation system to substitute for water traditionally taken out of the creek.
Through the “TSID Surface to Groundwater Exchange,” Heisler said, “we’ll just supply the farmers with ground water and we’ll supply it through their normal conveyance system.”
The exchange is expected to leave about 10 CFS in the creek. In combination with piping projects and donations of water rights on several properties back into the creek, that should put Squaw Creek over the 20 CFS year-round threshold.
The idea of pumping irrigation water out of the ground and leaving a like amount in the creek seems like a simple enough solution and Heisler said it had been broached before. But it wasn’t until the Cyrus family raised the issue during the controversy over piping canals in McKenzie Canyon that the project got a serious look.
The hitch has always been in deciding who pays for power to operate the well pumps.
“If (the pilot project) works, the idea would be to raise an endowment to pay for the power costs,” Heisler said.
Heisler believes that support will be readily available from the agencies involved in the Pelton-Round Butte Dam re-licensing project.
With millions invested in finding ways to restore salmon and steelhead runs, Heisler thinks its logical that the players in that project would look favorably on funding the cost of pumping well water.
“Given that investment, I’d think they’d be very interested in this project as well,” he said. “It could be a model project.”
Matt Cyrus says the well exchange is a win-win for environmentalists, government agencies and farmers.
“It’s a cost-effective way of putting water in the creek and there’s no losers,” he said.
Cyrus particularly likes the fact that the well exchange program does not require deeding back any percentage of water rights, which is necessary in piping projects.
In fact, Cyrus thinks a well exchange “could easily do the whole 15 CFS that they’re looking for to get 20 CFS in the creek.”
Enthusiastic as he is about the project, Heisler is a little more cautious and doesn’t want to put all his eggs in one basket.
He believes multiple types of projects are necessary to optimize the use of the water system, to mitigate risks and to keep costs down.
“There’s no project that’s a panacea,” he said. “We really need a portfolio approach.”
The well exchange program will start with irrigation season next summer.
After the stream flow is restored “we’ll see what kind of habitat we’ve got,” Heisler said.
Fish biologists hope to preserve redband trout habitat and restore steelhead runs in Squaw Creek.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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