De-Watered? In Oregon?
The conventional thinking about the Pacific Northwest is that it rains here – and rains a lot. Oregon, for instance, is famously rainy. Its residents are more accustomed to donning rain slickers than sunhats. It is not surprising, then, that many people scratch their head when they hear the Bonneville Environmental Foundation is working to restore de-watered streams in Oregon. How can a stream run dry in Oregon with all that water?
Answers became apparent during a recent BEF trip to the Deschutes Watershed in Central, Oregon. Four BEF employees and a special guest visited the region with the Deschutes River Conservancy, a non-profit partner in BEF’s Model Watershed Program and its Water Restoration Certificate (WRC) program.
As you crest over the pass near Mount Hood, you quickly notice a change in foliage and a drop in humidity. Giant Douglas Firs give way to Pine trees. Lush, green undergrowth changes to scrub brush and brown grasses. The air is dryer, the elevation is higher and the clouds that managed to survive their journey from the Pacific have travelled through the Willamette Valley, up and over the Cascade Range, and en route lost much of their rain-making gusto.
At times, Central Oregon seems a state apart from the Willamette Valley and its large cities and Gore-Tex jackets. Central Oregon is a high desert with an arid climate. And water there is a scarce commodity.
High Demand in the High Dessert
Most of the small towns that sprung up in Central Oregon did so on or around the Deschutes River.
Bend, Oregon – Central Oregon’s largest city at just over 80,000 residents – was named after a bend in the river. And the river runs right through downtown. The Deschutes River Conservancy’s motto, — “It’s why we’re all here.” — is a statement that holds true both historically and in modern times. What once was an attractive outpost for hunters and ranchers has also become a rafting, fishing and golfing paradise.
All of those activities require water, however. And as the region was promoted as an amazing outdoors playground, population exploded, and residents realized that the water supply had become stressed.
As we visited the Deschutes, our trip took on the feel of a sort of Charles Dickens tale about watershed restoration. With stories of the past, present and future health of the river told by our friends at DRC.
The Past
On the Upper Deschutes, home to some great rafting waters, the flow is regulated at its outlet at Wickiup Reservoir. Stream flows are actually higher than normal in the summer due to this management, and this altered stream-flow pattern erodes river banks and stresses riparian ecosystems. But as we navigated some class 3 rapids, including the 3+ Big Eddy, it was easy to imagine this river looking something very close to its natural state.
A massive lava flow runs along one bank, while native pine forests envelop the other. To birds, deer and other wildlife, the river provides valuable habitat. And the only signs of man could be found in raft pullouts and well-worn biking trails along the river’s bank. One can imagine settlers traveling over the desert and gathering along this river to hunt and fish in a once-bountiful wildlife corridor.
The Present
As the river tumbles further toward Bend it eventually slows and widens near the Old Mill shopping district before cascading over a man-made damn near McKay Park. Further downriver, just past popular downtown Drake Park, stands an irrigation diversion that cuts the river’s flow dramatically. What water makes it past the diversion is halved again in another irrigation diversion just upstream from The Riverhouse Hotel.
This section of the Middle Deschutes visually represents how past and present demands for water have stretched the resource thin. Historically this portion of the river would run dry, effectively creating a dry swath in the river between the Upper Deschutes, famous for it’s rafting and recreation, and the Lower Deschutes, home to blue ribbon trout and steelhead fishing.
The Future
As we sat on a deck at the Riverhouse Hotel, overlooking the Middle Deschutes, we watched as two teenaged kids inner-tubed past the big rocks and through pools. It was the end of July, yet the water flowed clear and cold in a stream that had run nearly dry during many previous summers.
About 80 percent of the water in the stream was there because of the efforts of BEF and other’s work through the DRC in building partnerships between several, often competing, interest groups. The Deschutes is one of BEF’s Model Watershed Programs that began in 2006. BEF has pledged to fund $300,000 worth of restoration work in the area over the life of the 10-year project. Through a series of water purchases, water conservation programs, water leasing and participation in BEF’s WRC program, DRC has increased the flow in the Middle Deschutes dramatically, from approximately zero Cubic Feet Per Second (CFS) to 100 cfs. DRCs goal is to eventually reach 250 cfs. And what once seemed an impossible goal, seems attainable today.
Restoration progress on area tributaries is also inspiring. On Whychus Creek, DRC is working with the Deschutes Basin Land Trust, the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council, and many other stakeholders to conserve water by piping large stretches of irrigation canals. These large piping projects help to reduce the approximately 50 percent flow loss that occurs because the water in these canals seeps into the ground through the porous, volcanic soil.
Further downstream, DRC and its partners are also restoring a critical habitat area known as Camp Polk Meadow outside of Sisters, Oregon.
The group is returning a straight, riffled stretch of stream back to its natural winding route and bringing back healthy steelhead and redband trout populations with it.
As with any effective watershed improvement approach, there are many pieces to the Deschutes puzzle. Thankfully, Central Oregon has many hard-working water stewards like the DRC.
Through their efforts, and their partnership with BEF, the Deschutes Watershed will once again be filled with habitat that enriches the lives of all the creatures who call the region home.
