It appears that yesterday was the first day of this year’s irrigation season in Central Oregon. Once again, local irrigators showed their disregard for the Deschutes River, dropping the river below Bend from 470 CFS to 107 CFS in 10 hours. Such a rapid, deep decline in flows strands and kills fish along with the aquatic insects the fish feed on. Of course, this has been going on for over 100 years and is why the Middle Deschutes is in such terrible shape. It also shows, once again, that without the threat of a lawsuit, the irrigators will not change their behavior. (Irrigation season is somewhat variable but partial deliveries start in early April and ramp up through mid May with full deliveries.)