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Tracking Change in the Upper Deschutes: What We’re Learning About River Health

News

June 25, 2025

Tracking Change in the Upper Deschutes: What We’re Learning About River Health

The 2024 Upper Deschutes River Mitigation and Enhancement (M&E) Annual Report offers a look at how aquatic ecosystems in the Deschutes River basin are responding to evolving water management practices and restoration efforts.

Three Sisters Irrigation District Completes Final Piping Project— A Major Milestone in the Ongoing Restoration of Whychus Creek

Press Releases

June 18, 2025

Three Sisters Irrigation District Completes Final Piping Project— A Major Milestone in the Ongoing Restoration of Whychus Creek

The final section of canal piping in the Three Sisters Irrigation District (TSID) has been completed, marking a major milestone in streamflow restoration, on-farm efficiency, and renewable energy generation.

Avion Water Customers: Help our Rivers When It Matters Most

June 4, 2025

Avion Water Customers: Help our Rivers When It Matters Most

Blue Water is a monthly donor program that allows Avion Water customers to contribute directly to the DRC’s instream leasing work. These small monthly donations—often less than $2—support the restoration of streamflows in Tumalo Creek and the Deschutes River by compensating landowners who voluntarily leave water in the stream rather than using it for irrigation.

Trout Creek: Supporting Steelhead in the Lower Deschutes

May 24, 2025

Trout Creek: Supporting Steelhead in the Lower Deschutes

Trout Creek is a key tributary to the Deschutes River and supports one of the largest native steelhead runs in the basin.

WATCH | Fish, Flows, and the Future: Conservation and Management in the Deschutes Basin

Videos

April 29, 2025

WATCH | Fish, Flows, and the Future: Conservation and Management in the Deschutes Basin

Join experts Megan Hill, Natural Resources Manager for the Pelton Round Butte Project, and Jason Wilcox, Fisheries Program Manager, as they discuss fish recovery in the Deschutes Basin. Explore how habitat restoration, hydropower management, and strategic partnerships are safeguarding vital fish species like redband trout, steelhead, and salmon amid changing river conditions. Moderated by DRC Program Manager Lisa Seales.

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Water in the Media

The latest water and river news in the Deschutes Basin.

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Bend Bulletin: Increased snowpack, high reservoirs mean higher Deschutes River flows

The amount of water flowing down the river peaked in early June at around 1,770 cubic feet per second, measured at Benham Falls by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. That flow level is higher than at any point during the same month a year ago, when flows at the same location peaked at 1,702 cfs.

Bend Bulletin: Elevated cyanotoxin levels in Lake Billy Chinook prompt health warning

The Oregon Health Authority has issued a health advisory alert for Lake Billy Chinook due to the presence of cyanotoxins above recreational use values for human exposure.

Bend Bulletin: Environment, social justice groups withdraw support for governor’s key groundwater protection bill

Groups that helped champion one of Gov. Tina Kotek’s key groundwater protection bills this session are withdrawing their support and asking the Legislature to let it die for now, following a last-minute amendment they say effectively neutralizes the intent of the legislation.

Bend Bulletin Editorial: Allow a Deschutes Basin water bank

House Bill 3806 would establish a voluntary water bank pilot in the Deschutes Basin to improve water flexibility and access—particularly for junior water rights holders—while requiring annual oversight and reporting by the Deschutes River Conservancy.

Bend Bulletin: Bill in Oregon legislature offers hope for improved water distribution in Deschutes Basin

A bill designed to improve flows in the Deschutes River and increase water availability for junior water rights holders is making its way through the Oregon Legislature and could be passed this summer.