Last month the Oregon Water Resources Commission approved grants collectively worth $12,232,393 to Ochoco, Arnold, North Unit, and Tumalo irrigation districts for canal piping and related projects.  With a total cost of $83,355,578, these efforts will place just under 30 cfs (cubic feet per second) of water back instream.  The environmentalist in me understands the benefits of these projects.  Our local rivers and streams are in terrible shape, impacting fish, wildlife, recreationists, and our local economy.  The taxpayer in me is not enthusiastic about paying an average of $2,785,483 per cfs.

A single cubic foot is 7.48 gallons; imagine two 5-gallon buckets, one full and one half full.  A single cfs is that amount flowing by every second.  This would be a stream so small that you could easily step over it.  It is also about the amount that Tumalo Irrigation District will return at times to Tumalo Creek and at other times to Crescent Creek.

The Arnold and North Unit Irrigation District projects will combine to restore 17.9 cfs to the Upper Deschutes but that water will be diverted at North Canal Dam during irrigation season, providing no benefit to the Middle or Lower Deschutes for 7 months of the year.  Ochoco Irrigation District’s project will stop 11.2 cfs of seasonal diversions from McKay Creek.

More water instream is sorely needed but the $83M total cost is being borne almost entirely by taxpayers.  These are merely the latest in a series of completed, current, and planned water infrastructure projects by Central Oregon irrigation districts which are projected to cost taxpayers billions of dollars more (that’s not a typo).  Of course, we are used to funding expensive projects.  Caldera High School in Bend was completed in 2021 for $140M.  The Highway 97 extension currently under construction on the north end of Bend is projected to be $175M. 

Education and transportation are examples of investments that have broad societal benefits and taxpayers expect to pay for them.  Restoring the environment is a legal requirement and moral imperative with economic benefits as well.  Our strong economy is due to the outdoor lifestyle that attracts so many people and businesses to Central Oregon.

We will all benefit from restoring our rivers, but the way we are paying for it is primarily a subsidy for private interests.  According to the US Department of Agriculture, most irrigators in Central Oregon are hobby farmers having less than $10,000 a year in revenue (not profit) and who often lose money on operations.  This is true in all three Central Oregon counties: Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson.  We are spending, and will continue to spend, massive sums of money mostly to support hobbies. 

Of course, there are solid reasons for subsidizing important elements of our economy including some commercially viable agriculture.  Unfortunately, our current approach makes no distinction between irrigators who use publicly owned water in a manner that is beneficial for us all and those who do not.

There are many solutions that would benefit the environment and continue to grow our economy while reducing the unfair burden on taxpayers, but no leadership has emerged to implement them.  For example, in other states irrigators have been required to upgrade their archaic water distribution systems at their own cost.  Low cost loans, not outright grants, have been provided.  If land is being used for commercially viable agriculture, the business should bear the cost of production and operations.  If the land is not managed for profit, then it is owned by a hobbyist and we taxpayers should have no obligation to pay for modernizing their water delivery system.

There are other solutions that would also be fair to taxpayers and satisfy environmentalists.  Unfortunately, we have no leadership effectively working to address the important issue of water in a timely, affordable, and sustainable manner.