In the Media

Water operations for North Unit Irrigation District have been made on a day-to-day basis due to the current drought

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, there was little change in the number of people who came to recreate on the Deschutes River this year compared to last summer, according to a recently released report from the Bend Park & Recreation District.

The Opal Springs Volitional Fish Passage project was honored Tuesday with a State Land Board Award, recognizing a longtime collaborative effort to eliminate a major fish migration barrier in the Crooked River watershed.

Opponents of replacing open canals with pipelines in Central Oregon’s Tumalo Irrigation District have asked a federal judge for a temporary restraining order to halt the project.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to deny a fish passage waiver for Bowman Dam in a split 5-1 vote at their meeting Friday, after testimony from 28 people both for and against the project.

The dust is the result of persistent drought afflicting all of Central Oregon — drought that prevents farmers from planting crops on all their land, leaving wide swaths of it exposed to the elements.

During Friday’s meeting, the Commission will consider a fish passage waiver requested by the Ochoco Irrigation District at its proposed hydroelectric project to be located on Bowman Dam (near Prineville on the Crooked River).

The debate over dredging Mirror Pond is it at another crossroads: Some members of the Bend Park and Recreation District board say it’s time to open up the doors for another public process to decide the fate of the pond. Others argue that many major decisions—including public funding for dredging the pond—were made in the past. No further discussion needed. Bust out the excavator.

With most of the Grande Ronde and Imnaha steelhead now past the Bonneville Dam, an estimated 2,550 will make it past the eighth and final dam and on to home waters to spawn.