Piping will leave 'water feature'

The "water feature" at Little Bridge on the Peterson Ridge Trail has been successfully piped, and water should be flowing again in the next month according to Sisters' director of public works, Paul Bertagna.

Piping of the 3.8-mile Uncle John ditch south of Sisters by the Three Sisters Irrigation District (TSID) is almost complete. It promises to bring pressurized water service to the five landowners on the ditch, including the City of Sisters. The 22 percent of the ditch flow that had been lost to seepage and evaporation (2.6 cubic feet per second) will be returned to Whychus Creek to enhance restoration of the steelhead and bull trout runs.

In addition to pressurized water, the city is gaining 600 feet of mainline pipe to service city property, all at no dollar cost to the city or the other property owners. The $1,302,471 funding for the Uncle John piping project has been covered by a variety of water-resource-related agencies, with TSID contributing $442,272.

The water feature is considered an important aspect of the Peterson Ridge Trail.

FivePine developer Bill Willitts said during last July's hearings, the loss of flowing water on the Peterson Ridge Trail, "...is a catastrophic loss to tourism on some levels, certainly it was emotionally to me and to a lot of other people in this community. The Peterson Ridge Trail is probably becoming the number-one draw to this community."

In response to this concern, the city and TSID left the ditch bed and the vegetation at Little Bridge intact, burying the pipe alongside the ditch bed in that area. A valve was installed that will flow water into the ditch bed for a few hundred feet.

TSID will help shape the stream bed and pipe in the water. The city will be working with local conservation groups and individuals to model the stream bed into pools and falls, and to optimize the riparian landscape.