Bend Bulletin: Small irrigation district completes $19M piping project, tests water savings

Photo: Ted Netter digs into a field where he farms to show the depth of irrigation from using his pivot system on Friday in Terrebonne. (JOE KLINE/The Bulletin)

By Michael Kohn

A small Central Oregon irrigation district has completed a $19 million overhaul of its water delivery system, replacing miles of open canals with pipes in a bid to conserve water and modernize aging infrastructure.

The Lone Pine Irrigation District, which serves about 20 patrons northeast of Bend, finished piping roughly 15 miles of canals over the past four years. The system now delivers water through pipes to about 2,369 acres, eliminating seepage and evaporation losses common in open ditches.

Lone Pine board president Dan Flitner said the project, funded through a mix of federal and state grants along with some borrowing, is intended to improve efficiency while contributing conserved water to regional environmental efforts.

“This is the first year we’ve operated fully piped,” Flitner said.

That makes the 2026 irrigation season a key test. As part of the region’s Habitat Conservation Plan, the district has committed to returning about seven cubic feet per second of water savings to the broader system—water that would otherwise have been lost in canals.

Whether those savings materialize as expected remains to be seen.

“We’re going to find out this year,” Flitner said. “I believe the savings are there, but this will be the first time operating without that water.”

State water officials say the project is part of a broader, coordinated effort across the Deschutes Basin. Lone Pine is one of eight irrigation districts that make up the Deschutes Basin Board of Control, a group formed in 2002 to manage water deliveries and resources collectively. All member districts are working to meet the plan’s requirements, which aims to restore streamflows and improve conditions for fish and the Oregon spotted frog.

Carolyn Sufit, Central Region manager for the Oregon Water Resources Department, said that while Lone Pine is one of the region’s smallest districts, its conservation work remains significant as water supplies tighten.

“Increasing water scarcity in Central Oregon means every conservation project is meaningful,” Sufit said.

She said piping projects play a key role in meeting the conservation plan’s goals by reducing losses from open canals and allowing conserved water to be redirected, often to instream flows.

“It’s important to note that piping does not create new water,” Sufit said. “It enables water previously allocated for irrigation to be conserved and put to other uses.”

The modernization effort marks a major milestone for the district, but it also highlights the challenges of a highly interconnected system.

Lone Pine receives its water from the Central Oregon Irrigation District, which has yet to complete its own piping upgrades through Redmond. As a result, Lone Pine must continue pumping water through its new system, limiting some of the cost and efficiency benefits the project was designed to achieve.

Flitner said the district’s long-term success depends in part on COID securing funding to finish its portion of the work.

“It’s all tied together,” he said. “When they get piped, that’s when this system really becomes what it’s supposed to be.”

Even with the new infrastructure in place, water supply remains a concern.

A dry winter and low snowpack could lead to an abbreviated irrigation season, Flitner said, with the district potentially running out of water weeks earlier than in the past — possibly by mid-August or sooner.

In previous years, stored water supplies helped extend the season, but Lone Pine has already committed significant volumes of water to regional conservation efforts, reducing that buffer.

Sufit said Lone Pine’s project also reflects a broader trend of irrigation districts successfully competing for state and federal grants to modernize infrastructure, bringing millions of dollars into the region over the past two decades.

“Lone Pine’s success shows that smaller districts can compete with larger districts in securing the funding necessary to do these important projects,” she said.

Still, Flitner said the district moved forward knowing the project would reduce water losses and shift more of its allocation to instream needs.

“This is our contribution,” he said. “Now we’ll see how it performs.”