water conservancy
Posted inNews

River Democracy

How 4,700 miles of Oregon waterways got nominated for Wild and Scenic River designation
Avatar photo by K.M. Collins

Rivers are a big economic engine that float our entire state. During the last session of Congress, more of Oregon’s rivers were given Wild and Scenic designation—meaning more protection for these precious waterways. Riding that tide, now Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is going to bat to further increase protected mileage with the River Democracy Act—and […]

Posted inNews

Dam Drought

The Deschutes Basin Habitat Conservation Plan was approved in December with the goal of increasing instream flows in the river. Then another drought year happened.
Avatar photo by Jack Harvel

Last summer the Wickiup Reservoir dried to just 1% of its capacity, the lowest it has been since it was built in 1949. In an average year the reservoir, which stores Deschutes River water, would be at about 25% of its capacity at the end of irrigation season, with just over 63,000 acre-feet. Last year’s […]

Sign up for newsletters

Get the best of The Source - Bend, Oregon directly in your email inbox.

Sending to:

Gift this article