Jan 20, 2019 - Bend Bulletin - Lucky weather has led to strong snowpack despite climate change
The annual snowpack in the Oregon Cascades has been remarkably resilient in the face of climate change over the past several decades.
The annual snowpack in the Oregon Cascades has been remarkably resilient in the face of climate change over the past several decades.
The Bulletin’s Dec. 27 footbridge editorial missed the point of Mary Orton’s report to Bend Park & Recreation District. At their Dec. 18 board meeting, she challenged Bend parks to include the many and varied voices working to preserve the wild and scenic character of the Upper Deschutes River, in balance with recreation. Can Bend parks embrace both points of view?
It won’t happen this year or next, but the Tumalo Irrigation District is well on its way to having all its canals, large and small, converted to buried pipe. When the task is complete, the district’s water users, wildlife and Tumalo and Crescent creeks, the sources of its water, will all be better off.
Led by the owners of riverside homes and abetted by a pair of local Republican legislators, those who oppose the construction of a pedestrian and bike bridge over the Deschutes River have, if nothing else, succeeded in generating controversy. What they’ve failed to do is translate that controversy into a bridge ban. And without that, the passage of time will work steadily in the bridge’s favor.
A section of the Deschutes River Trail on the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District will remain closed between Dillon Falls Boat Ramp and Slough Camp for the winter, Deschutes National Forest officials said Friday.
An article in the Nov. 9 Bulletin reported that due to low water reserves, the Bureau of Reclamation that controls water release from Prineville Reservoir might limit flows in the Crooked River to preserve water for irrigators to the detriment of fish and the Crooked River’s aquatic ecosystem.
Based on my knowledge of rivers, I believe Mirror Pond should not be dredged again — even if costs can be totally funded from private sources. From an ecological perspective, the most logical and practical solution to what will be a continuing pond dilemma is to return this reach of the river to its natural hydrology. By nature, the flow of rivers constantly transports sediment and organic matter downstream until particles drop out in areas where the current declines — such as in an artificially excavated pond. This fundamental fact means that deposition of sediment and the subsequent natural wetlands transition process, called eutrophication, will recur each time Mirror Pond is dredged.
Amid massive thirst from its Central Oregon data centers, and other strains on regional water supplies, Apple said Wednesday it will spend $8.7 million to help the city of Prineville build an underground water storage facility.
After years of contentious discussions about a proposed footbridge across the Deschutes River created deep divides on both sides of the issue, the Bend Park & Recreation District may face a long, arduous path toward spanning that divide.
As this paper pointed out in a recent article, our iconic Deschutes River will be recognized on a U.S. Postal Stamp in 2019. This recognition honors the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act passed 50 years ago by Congress. The federal act provides protections for a river’s “Outstanding Remarkable Values,” of which the Deschutes River has many. From unique species of flora and fauna, to endangered wildlife, it provides a unique access to solitude for those that recreate along its banks.
Dredging Mirror Pond was again at the center of Tuesday night's Parks and Recreation District Board meeting in Bend.
In addition to bringing longer wildfire seasons and warmer winters to Central Oregon, climate change stands to fundamentally alter the lifeblood of many of the region’s communities: its rivers.
Pacific Power & Light pledged Friday to contribute $300,000 to dredging Mirror Pond, but whether the project will move forward depends on support from the Bend City Council.
A controversial plan to fund the removal of sediment from Mirror Pond passed a key hurdle on Tuesday, as the Bend Park & Recreation District’s board of directors expressed support for the project.
Plans to modernize Swalley Irrigation District’s aging irrigation infrastructure by piping more than 16 miles of open canals have been approved to move forward into construction, officials said Monday.
Workers began removing a troublesome berm along the banks of the Deschutes River on Thursday, the most visible step yet in an eight-year process to reunite a disconnected floodplain with the river. The change would help attract some plants and animals that left because of poor habitat conditions, including the Oregon spotted frog, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Central Oregon’s current drought conditions, coupled with a lower-than-average snowpack forecast this winter, has understandably fueled concerns for those of us who value the rivers and streams of the Deschutes Basin.
Once upon a time there, were lots of salmon, steelhead and trout in the Deschutes River system. What happened?
BEND, Ore. - The Deschutes National Forest plans to start a project to restore the Ryan Ranch floodplain near Dillon Falls next Tuesday, if conditions remain favorable.
The Oregon Water Resources Commission has approved $5.3 million in grant funding for conservation projects across the state, including a Tumalo Irrigation District canal-piping project.