This winter the following irrigation districts and their crews will begin working on the following modernization projects:
Arnold Irrigation District:
The project will save 11,083 acre-feet of water annually by piping 11.9 miles of open canal and installing SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) in two locations.
North Unit Irrigation District:
Will pipe up to 27.5 miles of open canal and construct four agricultural water retention ponds to reduce operational spills into the Crooked River and Lake Billy Chinook. Piping will save up to 6,089 acre-feet of water annually, improving water conservation,reliability, and drought resilience.
Ochoco Irrigation District:
Will install 7.25 miles of buried pipe, improve 11 miles of canal banks, and install three new pump stations. Additionally, the district will deliver water to farmers who have historically drawn irrigation from McKay Creek, resulting in an improved natural flow for the creek and more reliable water for the farmers.

Click on the link below to view the video
North Unit, Ochoco, Arnold Irrigation Districts Groundbreaking

All the projects received funding from Energy Trust of Oregon for their system improvement plans and from USDA Natural Resource Conservation Services via PL-566 funds for construction. Funding for these projects comes from Energy Trust of Oregon, NRCS, OWRD, OWEB and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
These projects would not have been possible without the contribution of the following stakeholders:
Arnold Irrigation District
North Unit Irrigation District
Ochoco Irrigation District
The Confederated Tribes of Warm SPrings
Jeff Merkley, US Senator
USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service
Deschutes Basin Board of Control
Farmers Conservation Alliance
Deschutes River Conservancy
Energy Trust of Oregon
Oregon Water Resource Department
Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board
US Bureau of Reclamation