What
a difference a month makes!
The
chatter among Mt. Bachelor ski area season pass holders at New Year’s Day celebrations
mostly turned around dodging rocks and bare spots on the few runs that had
opened this season.
Then
came the storms, which on the Northwest’s premier 9,000-foot plus favorite ski destination
dumped more than 70 inches in seven days in a week ending January 13. By
February 4, with periodic light and heavy snowstorms, the mid-mountain base topped 100 inches and the ski area's website noted January had seen the most snow on its slopes in 12 years.
It
wasn’t just the winter outdoor enthusiasts who were enjoying the bonanza.
Deschutes basin irrigators and conservation groups were on board as the promise of a
better snowpack portended an improved outlook for the coming year to improve
reservoir levels for growing crops and stream flows for bull trout, steelhead
trout and the spotted frog, species listed under the federal Endangered Species
Act, or ESA. The potential for sockeye and Chinook salmon to be listed in the future is another factor in the discussion.
On February 4, three largest reservoirs in
the Upper Deschutes River watershed that store water during the winter months
were reporting levels ranging from 52% of capacity in Crescent Lake; 57% Wickiup; and 82%
Crane Prairie.
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| Oregon snowpack as of Feb 5 2020 |
Another
important metric is mountain snowpack and its water content in gauging and
predicting the potential runoff as snows melt to recharge basin reservoir
storage.
As
of February 5 the Natural Resources Conservation Service reported that the
snowpack for Deschutes and connected stream basins ranged from 90%-99% of
normal, and that readings from Snotel sites showed the snow water equivalent at
near 15 inches, nudging the median for 1981 through 2010. And the SWE had
jumped ahead of 2019 by more than four inches.
Habitat Conservation Plan
This
“water year,” which began last fall for the Deschutes and Crooked watersheds, comes
as irrigators are working to gain approval for a “habitat conservation plan,” ir HCP, an
option of the ESA, presented in draft form at a series of public meetings with
a comment period that concluded in early December.
The
HCP and a companion Federal Environmental Impact Statement, as required in the
process, will now be released with any changes as final documents mapping Central
Oregon water use for the next 30 years.
The
HCPs are frequently held out by federal agencies charged with enforcing the ESA
as a way for farmers, utilities, cities,
and other stakeholders to obtain an “incidental take permit,” or ITP, as provided
under the 1973 law.
As an example, an irrigation district might agree to pipe open transmission ditches to conserve water that might be lost through leaking into the ground or evaporation. In return, the conserved water would show enforcement agencies thar the district was making an effort under the HCP to preserve habitat for bull trout , a species listed as threatened in the Deschutes and Crooked basins.
The
timing and volume of water releases from basin dams, in particular Wickiup Dam
on the Upper Deschutes, would reflect needs of the spotted frog. Studies have
shown the species requires less water to be released earlier in the growing
season to protect eggs, and a steadier flow during other times of the water
year.
Also
among options to address ESA requirements is the removal of acreage from
irrigation, which under laws in Oregon and other states would make that “trust”
water available instream for listed species. In most cases a farmer or irrigation
district could recover the water in a later year if needed, and would not lose
the water right.
Irrigation for 244 square miles
Irrigation for 244 square miles
The
regional effort to address ESA and water issues has coalesced through the
Deschutes Basin Board of Control a coalition of eight irrigation districts,
which together provide water to a total of just under 156,000 acres, an area equal
to 244 square miles. Also participating is the City of Prineville, which relies
groundwater withdrawal and surface diversions and treated effluent discharge
involving the Crooked River basin.
An irony of the regional water situation is that the North Unit Irrigation District which potentially provides the resource for 59,000 acres and has the highest value of crops in Central Oregon holds "junior" water rights. As such other smaller districts including Central Oregon Irrigation District have "senior" rights and therefore first claim on all water in the basin in the "first in time, first in line" concept of centuries old western water law based on the "prior appropriation" doctriine.
The North Unit water rights are for storage in Wickiup Reservoir while COID's come from Crane Prairie upstream on the Deschutes. Nevertheless all water on the Deschutes including for districts with rights in other reservoirs must flow thorugh Wickiup. The result is a balancing act by dam managers for the districts and Bureau of Reclamation to insure, for example, that COID gets its water, initially held in Crane Prairie, out of Wickiup before North Unit, which suffers in low snowpack and storage years.
By comparison as of Feb 10, Crane Prairie was 82% full, compared with Wickiup at 59%, putting the district in a much better position that the North Unit.
Even with the improved snowpack in January and early February this year, North Unit water managers and farmers and ranchers in the district are already concerned at the low Wickiup storage. Several years of up and down runoff that have made it difficult to recharge the reservoir the following water year.
An irony of the regional water situation is that the North Unit Irrigation District which potentially provides the resource for 59,000 acres and has the highest value of crops in Central Oregon holds "junior" water rights. As such other smaller districts including Central Oregon Irrigation District have "senior" rights and therefore first claim on all water in the basin in the "first in time, first in line" concept of centuries old western water law based on the "prior appropriation" doctriine.
The North Unit water rights are for storage in Wickiup Reservoir while COID's come from Crane Prairie upstream on the Deschutes. Nevertheless all water on the Deschutes including for districts with rights in other reservoirs must flow thorugh Wickiup. The result is a balancing act by dam managers for the districts and Bureau of Reclamation to insure, for example, that COID gets its water, initially held in Crane Prairie, out of Wickiup before North Unit, which suffers in low snowpack and storage years.
By comparison as of Feb 10, Crane Prairie was 82% full, compared with Wickiup at 59%, putting the district in a much better position that the North Unit.
Even with the improved snowpack in January and early February this year, North Unit water managers and farmers and ranchers in the district are already concerned at the low Wickiup storage. Several years of up and down runoff that have made it difficult to recharge the reservoir the following water year.
Other
entities involved in the ESA process, but not directly with the incidental take permit,
have included the Confederate Tribes of Warm Springs, Trout Unlimited, the
Deschutes River Conservancy and WaterWatch among others.
Key
federal agencies which must ultimately sign off on an HCP are the US Department
of Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries Service. USFWS is
responsible for actions involving the spotted frog and bull trout while NMFS
directs efforts that would affect the ocean migrating steelhead trout.
Section
7 ESA provisions provide that the federal agencies charged with species
decision consult on strategies and actions affecting listed species. In the case
of the Deschutes Basin, the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which operates
Wickiup Dam, is also required to be a part of the process.
In
the final draft, the HCP and companion FEIS compare four options, one of those
taking no action, which has been discounted.
Among
the other three options all would involve increasing fall and winter stream
flows on the Deschutes. On the Crooked River the three choices would all boost
water releases from Prineville Reservoir storage at increasing levels, similar
to the Deschutes options.
Other
measures in the options would establish conservation funds and modify operation
and maintenance of all “water facilities” involving flows into the Deschutes
and Crooked basins.
At
the heart of the HCP process is regulation of releases from Wickiup, the region’s
largest reservoir, through which stored water from Crane Prairie and Crescent
reservoirs also flow.
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| Draft EIS/HCP water flow alternatives |
The
“proposed action” as outlined in Alternative 2 would set a target of 100 cfs
(cubic foot per second) minimum
fall/winter releases in years 1-5 of the plan; 200 cfs in years 6-10; 300 cfs
in years 11-20 and 400 cfs in years 21-30.
Each
cfs equals roughly 7.5 gallons a second; 450 gallons a minute and 27,000 gallons
an hour. Extending that calculation, in 12 hours that flow rate would amount to
one acre foot of water, or the amount to cover an acre of land with a foot of
water.
Useful links
for water and endangered species issues
Fact Sheet
of Draft EIS for the Deschutes Basin HCP
Complete
DRAFT HCP as of August 2019
A Timeline
of the Spotted Frog ESA listing in the Deschutes Basin
