SHORT HISTORY OF CENTRAL OREGON IRRIGATION

Today’s system of irrigation canals and ditches including how water is managed and allotted was begun in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The purpose of this system was to promote homesteading and agriculture in desert lands. Irrigation became key to the success in settling the region.

Central Oregon hosts eight irrigation districts:

Arnold, Central Oregon, Lone Pine, North Unit, Ochoco, Squaw Creek, Swalley, and Tumalo Irrigation Districts. The two largest districts, Ochoco and North Unit, are in Crook and Jefferson Counties respectively and were built by the Bureau of Reclamation. The remaining six irrigation districts are in Deschutes County and were built privately and remain privately owned.

The Bureau of Reclamation built or rehabilitated five dams/reservoirs used for storing irrigation water in central Oregon. These dams/reservoirs include: Crane Prairie, Haystack, Prineville, Ochoco, and Wickiup reservoirs. The Bureau conducts operations of the dams/reservoirs by contracting with the irrigation districts holding the right to store water in the reservoir.

Arnold, Central Oregon and Lone Pine Irrigation Districts hold the water right certificates for Crane Prairie Reservoir. The Crane Prairie Reservoir was built around 1922 and rehabilitated by the Bureau in 1940 and has a capacity of 55,300 acre-feet of water.

Wickiup Reservoir was built over ten years (1939-1949) as the storage for North Unit Irrigation District. It has a capacity of 200,000 acre-feet of water.

Haystack Dam and Reservoir, built in 1956-57 by North Unit Irrigation District, as a reregulating reservoir for releases made from Wickiup Reservoir. Haystack has a capacity of 5600 acre-feet of water.

Ochoco Dam, privately built in 1920 and repaired and reconstructed by the Bureau in 1950, has a capacity of 39,000 acre-feet of water. Bowman Dam, which creates the Prineville Reservoir, was built in 1961 and has a capacity of 149,000 acre-feet of water.

Each irrigation district has a priority date for water right (Table 1). Priority dates reflect the concept of first in time and first in right. In other words, the older the water right, the more secure the right.

Six of the eight irrigation districts have water rights to the Deschutes River: Swalley has the oldest with a priority date of 1899. This right means Swalley water allotment must be filled before any other districts receive their water. North Unit Irrigation District has the youngest water rights established in 1913. In general, North Unit is able to draw from live river flows in the spring, thereby saving stored water for use later in the season when the Deschutes River is running lower.

In years when the natural river flow is low, the irrigation district with the oldest water rights receives water first, second oldest next and so on. In 2003 when live stream flow was low, North Unit was the first district to be cut in allotment. In order to deliver water North Unit drew water from Wickiup Reservoir.

Table 1. Major Irrigation Districts in Central Oregon.

Irrigation District	Stream	Priority Date	Acres Served	Diversion^1	Cost	Allotment Acre feet/acre/season
Squaw Creek Irrigation District	Squaw Creek	1895	7570	153 cfs	$250 annual fee + $7.50/acre	No season of use
Swalley Irrigation District	Deschutes River	1899	4540	125 cfs	$307 annual fee + $17/acre	9.58^6
Central Oregon Irrigation District	Deschutes River	1900	44,780	985 cfs	$275 annual fee + $24/acre	9.91^4
Lone Pine Irrigation District	Deschutes River	1900	2369	29.1 cfs	$10.50/acre	4.2
Tumalo Irrigation District	Tumalo Creek	1900	5010	72 cfs	$350 annual fee + $32/acre	1.8
	Deschutes River	1905	supplemental	9.5 cfs
Arnold Irrigation District	Deschutes River	1905	4,380	150 cfs^2	$386 annual fee	15.42^3
North Unit Irrigation District	Deschutes River	1913	49,900	1101 cfs	$42/acre	5.25^5
	Crooked River	1955 1966	supplemental 8900	200 cfs 200 cfs	$29/acre	2.0
Ochoco Irrigation District	Ochoco Creek	1914	18,200	208 cfs	$108/acre	4.0
	Crooked River	1914	940	49 cfs	$108/acre	4.0

¹Diversion is the maximum amount of water that the district is allowed to divert from the river at any one point in time.

²One cubic foot per second (cfs) is the rate of water flow, which will supply one cubic foot of water in one second; it is equivalent to 646,272 gallons per day or 1.98 acre-feet (acft) per day.

³15.42 acft includes a transmission loss of 65%, effectively making the deliverable amount 5.4 acft/ac.

⁴COID has a transmission loss of 45%, reducing the delivery per acre to 5.4 acft/ac.

⁵NUID’s transmission loss is 26%, Deschutes acres can receive a maximum of 4 acft/ac.

⁶Swalley Irrigation District has a transmission loss of 43%, delivering a maximum of 5.4 acft/ac.

Deliver water to their users, NUID had to start drawing from stored water in Wickiup Reservoir.