Do you feel a kindredness with our rivers and creeks? Do you feel calm, find peace, clarity, hope or renewal among the various banks and curves of the big river flowing down the mountains across the desert? If you do,...
DRC News & Resources
Call for volunteers to help this Saturday to relocate stranded fish as flows in the river drop for storage season. Recall that with the wind-down of the growing-season, the irrigation districts of Central Oregon reduce the river flow in the...
In this lecture, Emma Marris, a Klamath Falls-based environmental author, and journalist will tell the story of Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River, a water system set to see big changes in the coming decades including dam removal, climate...
The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service have released the Draft Deschutes Basin Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) and associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and they are now available for public comment. The Plan was developed...
Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate’s Agriculture Appropriations Committee, has been working hard to secure funding for Central Oregon. A bill that includes a $25 million increase for the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations was just unanimously...
Project Update: Kelsey, our Project Coordinator, spent a couple days collecting macroinvertebrates in McKay Creek before the McKay Creek Switch Project goes into construction. This data collection will occur before and after the Switch to help us determine how increased flows have...
Every month millions of people take at least a one day hike into the wilderness either using a national hiking trail or a local park trail. There are significant physical and emotional benefits of getting out into nature and going...
It’s dawn. You rhythmically dip your paddle, pull, then glide east across the surface of Wickiup Reservoir. You’re alone in your canoe and for all you can tell you’re the first human to ever cross this stretch of water. You...
Things have been heating up in Bend and the summer tourist season seems to be in full swing. Last weekend, I decided to head up to Wickiup Reservoir to get away from the crowds and cool down with a swim...
Project Update: Kelsey, our Project Coordinator, spent a couple days collecting macroinvertebrates in McKay Creek before the McKay Creek Switch Project goes into construction. This data collection will occur before and after the Switch to help us determine how increased flows have...
Restoring Flows Since the early 1900s, Whychus Creek ran dry in two out of every three years due to irrigation diversions. Through a combination of water conservation (i.e. piping) and both permanent and temporary water transfers, the creek is now...
McKay Creek flows 37 miles from its headwaters in the Ochoco National Forest through private agricultural lands and joins the Crooked River just northwest of the City of Prineville in Crook County. Due in part to irrigation diversions, streamflows are...
The Upper Deschutes River Basin Study, a 3-year study focused on meeting water needs in our basin, will be complete in September 2018. The study identifies water needs for rivers, agriculture and growing communities in Central Oregon, and evaluates tools...
How it all started Over 100 years ago, federal and state policies encouraged the settlement of the high desert by facilitating access to land and irrigation water. In many cases, the state gave out more water rights than existed in...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contacts: Mike Relf, Bureau of Reclamation, bor-pnr-udbasinstudy@usbr.gov, 208-378-5175 Craig Horrell, Deschutes Basin Board of Control, chorrell@coid.org, 541-548-6047 Kate Fitzpatrick, Deschutes River Conservancy, kate@deschutesriver.org, 541-382-4077 Open Houses for Upper Deschutes River Basin Study Study focuses...
Whychus Creek is coming back to life after a 9 phase piping project that has modernized Three Sisters Irrigation District and restored year-round flows in the iconic creek that runs through Sisters, Oregon.
The Deschutes is a natural jewel in the heart of our community. But many of us are unaware that the river upstream of Bend is in big trouble. Its ecology is at a tipping point and showing steep declines in...
The Deschutes River runs through the heart of Central Oregon. For the past century, the river has been managed to serve irrigation needs. This has had a negative impact on flows and the health of the river. Together with our...
Aug 2 – Be a part of “Homewaters”, a book about the past, present, and future of the Deschutes Basin
August 2 - The Deschutes River Conservancy to Publish a Coffee Table Style Book Telling the Story of the Deschutes Basin’s Past, Present, and Future Through Photography and Written Word The Deschutes River Conservancy is hosting an event at Dudley’s...
The Deschutes River Joins a List of U.S. Rivers to Receive Funding through Intel’s Commitment to Restore 100% of Global Water Use by 2025 The Deschutes River Conservancy’s (DRC) Water Leasing Program has just secured funding from Intel Corporation that...
Brooks Resources proudly presents the 12th Annual RiverFeast Dinner & Auction to benefit the Deschutes River Conservancy on Saturday, May 11th at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Oregon’s beautiful event space. The company is celebrating its 50th anniversary this...
Includes the 2017 Flow Restoration Report, Project Updates on the Basin Study and McKay Creek, A Ten-Year Look at Restoration in Whychus Creek, and the Introduction or the DRC's New Blog Series. View the 2017 Annual Report
View the 2018 Winter DRC RiverVoice (PDF)
Includes the 2016 Flow Restoration Report, Tools to Create A Healthy Deschutes, McKay Creek's Missing Link, and a Message from DRC Executive Director, Tod Heisler. View the 2016 Annual Report