Surface water in the upper Deschutes Basin is highly regulated.  Municipalities and irrigators store, divert, and consume a majority of the water in the regions streams and rivers.

The City of Bend maintains the only municipal surface water diversion in the upper Deschutes Basin.  Bend diverts approximately 6,250 acre feet of surface water per year from Bridge Creek, a tributary to Tumalo Creek.   Other surface water diversion in the upper Deschutes Basin serve irrigation and hydropower needs.  We estimate that annual diversions for irrigation range from  600,000 - 800,000 acre feet. 

Together, irrigation and muncipal uses consume approximately  312,500 acre-feet annually.  The remainder of the diverted water eventually returns to the lower Deschutes River.