This article was published on: 03/20/12 12:00 AM
David Nogueras | Bend, OR
Deschutes Brewery is joining forces with a Central Oregon non-profit to keep a billion gallons of water each year in the river from which the brewery takes its name.
That river, of course, is the Deschutes. And for nearly a decade the Deschutes River Conservancy has been running a program that works with Central Oregon irrigation districts to provide a financial incentive to conserve water. DRC’s water leasing system essentially pays landowners to keep that water in-stream.
Deschutes Brewery’s investment works out to about $25 thousand a year and will provide ongoing support for the program. Gary Fish is the brewery’s president and found
Fish explained, “It’s good for the river. It’s good for the land owners that hold the rights to the water. It’s good for fish. It’s good for all of us.”
Fish says the brewery’s support will be used to lease water rights for about a billion gallons of water each year.
According to Fish, that’s about 14 times what the brewery and all of its suppliers use in that same period.