I recently wrote about Central Oregon Irrigation District’s current attempts to secure funding for piping the Pilot Butte Canal. (Problem with piping the Pilot Butte Main Canal?) In that post I made a statement that in exchange for public funding, COID and North Unit Irrigation District should make a legally binding commitment to returning conserved water permanently to the Deschutes River. Josh Bailey, NUID’s General Manager, called me in response to that post. I suggested that he write up his perspective, which I provide below.

I will say two things as part of this dialogue. First, if I were in charge, all current irrigation water rights would be reassigned based on current economic benefit, which would give most NUID irrigators seniority. I appreciate the work that NUID has done to modernize their on-farm systems and the importance of getting them the water they need. Many NUID irrigators deliver substantial economic value. Second, Josh does not address the core of my argument, which is that under the current administration the Endangered Species Act is under attack and the Deschutes Basin Habitat Conservation Plan is not guaranteed to be enforced, thereby necessitating an additional mechanism for ensuring that conserved water be permanently returned to the Deschutes River in exchange for taxpayer funding of the North Canal piping project.