Predecessor | Pilot Butte Development Company (1902); Deschutes Irrigation and Power Company (1904); and Central Oregon Irrigation Company (1910) |
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Formation | 1918 |
Founder | Alexander M. Drake (Pilot Butte Development Company founder) |
Type | Municipal corporation |
Purpose | Water distribution |
Headquarters | Redmond, Oregon |
Region | Central Oregon |
Methods | Canal system |
Central Oregon Canal Historic District (Ward Road–Gosney Road Segment) | |
Location | Roughly bounded by Somerset Dr., Bear Creek , Gosney & Ward Rds., Bend Vicinity, Oregon |
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NRHP reference No. | 100003461 [1] |
Added to NRHP | March 18, 2019 |
Central Oregon Irrigation District is a municipal corporation to provide irrigation water for Central Oregon, U.S. The canals serve agricultural and industrial users in the arid lands between Alfalfa, Bend, Redmond, Terrebonne, and Powell Butte. Among its 4,000 or so individual customer accounts, it also provides municipal water to the city of Redmond, neighboring subdivisions, and parks and schools in Bend. The district manages more than 700 miles (1,100 km) of canals serving about 70.3 square miles (182 km2) of lands within a rough area of 280 square miles (730 km2). [2]
The Carey Act of 1894 led to the creation of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation which initiated many irrigation projects by authorizing the federal government to contract with the states for arid land reclamation. The State of Oregon authorized entrepreneurs to build and operate canal systems for profit.[ citation needed ] The right of agricultural users to the water were provisional until irrigation actually began producing crops as provided by the Carey Act. On June 30, 1950, the State of Oregon decreed that the Carey Act had provided ample time for interested water users to have staked a water rights claim, and ended the eligibility opt-in period to receive irrigation water. It took until 1958 to finalize Deschutes River water rights for all users.
The Central Oregon Irrigation District was established in 1918 from the merging of water systems near Bend. Among the earliest was Pilot Butte Development Company, established in 1902 [3] by Alexander M. Drake, a capitalist who arrived in the area in spring of 1900 by covered wagon, lured by the possibility of irrigating upper Deschutes County [4] and dry air for health reasons. Drake's company platted Bend and built a lodge for which Drake Park District and Drake Park are named. Before any water flowed, Pilot Butte was sold to Deschutes Irrigation and Power Company. Service began with 40 acres (16 ha) irrigated in 1904. [2]
Two primary canals—Central Oregon Canal and Pilot Butte Canal—were complete by 1907. Pilot Butte Development Company was foreclosed upon, leading to creation of the Central Oregon Irrigation Company in 1910. The North Canal Dam was connected to Pilot Butte Canal in 1912. The company's ownership was given to its users who created the Central Oregon Irrigation District on December 17, 1917, although legal challenges continued until a court resolution emerged July 9, 1921. Systematic promotion (Free land in Oregon, in the richest grain, fruit and stock section in the world!) and immigration of almost 2,000 people to Bend had the system serving 28,500 acres (11,500 ha) by 1924. [2]
The Ward Road–Gosney Road segment was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 18, 2019. [1]
Creating canals through the Central Oregon plain required the most modern technology and engineering in its day. The land contains thick layer of basalt—a dense, abrasive volcanic rock—underlying relatively thin soils with scant organic matter, typical of the Great Basin arid desert. Canal routes were chosen carefully to use gravity (instead of pumps) and minimize the amount of excavation.
Slightly more than half the system is in Deschutes County, a little less than half in Crook County, and roughly 5% in Jefferson County. The source of the entire system is the Deschutes River: The Central Oregon Canal diversion is near the southwestern corner of Bend at 44°01′05″N121°21′00″W / 44.0181°N 121.3501°W . It generally flows eastward about 20 miles (30 km) before turning northward. The Pilot Butte Canal diversion is at the north end of downtown Bend at 44°04′33″N121°18′22″W / 44.0757°N 121.3060°W and generally flows northward, closely following U.S. Highway 97. A 150-foot (46 m) [5] high flume carries Pilot Butte Canal across the Crooked River at 44°21′29″N121°07′07″W / 44.3581°N 121.1185°W .
Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. It was referred to as Hoover Dam after President Herbert Hoover in bills passed by Congress during its construction; it was named Boulder Dam by the Roosevelt administration. The Hoover Dam name was restored by Congress in 1947.
The Deschutes River in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many of the tributaries that descend from the drier, eastern flank of the mountains. The Deschutes provided an important route to and from the Columbia for Native Americans for thousands of years, and then in the 19th century for pioneers on the Oregon Trail. The river flows mostly through rugged and arid country, and its valley provides a cultural heart for central Oregon. Today the river supplies water for irrigation and is popular in the summer for whitewater rafting and fishing.
The Truckee–Carson Irrigation District (TCID) is a political subdivision of the State of Nevada, which operates dams at Lake Tahoe, diversion dams on the Truckee River in Washoe County, and the Lake Lahontan reservoir.
The Salt River Project (SRP) is the umbrella name for two separate entities: the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, an agency of the state of Arizona that serves as an electrical utility for the Phoenix metropolitan area, and the Salt River Valley Water Users' Association, a utility cooperative that serves as the primary water provider for much of central Arizona. It is one of the primary public utility companies in Arizona.
Central Oregon is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Oregon and is traditionally considered to be made up of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. Other definitions include larger areas, often encompassing areas to the north towards the Columbia River, eastward towards Burns, or south towards Klamath Falls. These three counties have a combined population of 200,431 as of the 2010 census, with Deschutes the largest of the three counties, having approximately four times the population of the other two counties combined. As of 2015, the most populous city in the region is Bend, with an estimated 87,014 residents. As defined by the three county definition, Central Oregon covers 7,833 square miles (20,290 km2) of land. Central Oregon has had 3 record tourism years beginning in 2012. Over 2.2 million people visited Central Oregon in 2012 and again in 2013.
Kachess Lake is a lake and reservoir along the course of the Kachess River in Washington state, US. The upper part of the lake, north of a narrows, is called Little Kachess Lake. The Kachess River flows into the lake from the north, and out from the south. Kachess Lake is the middle of the three large lakes which straddle Interstate 90 north of the Yakima River in the Cascade Range. The other two are Cle Elum Lake, the easternmost which is also north of I-90 and Keechelus Lake, the westernmost, which is south of I-90.
The Crooked River is a tributary, 125 miles (201 km) long, of the Deschutes River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The river begins at the confluence of the South Fork Crooked River and Beaver Creek. Of the two tributaries, the South Fork Crooked River is the larger and is sometimes considered part of the Crooked River proper. A variant name of the South Fork Crooked River is simply "Crooked River". The Deschutes River flows north into the Columbia River.
Milner Dam is a rockfill dam near Burley in south central Idaho. It impounds the Snake River in a reservoir named Milner Lake. The dam spans the river across two islands, with three embankments.
The Granite Reef Diversion Dam is a concrete diversion dam located 22 miles (35 km) Northeast of Phoenix, Arizona. It impounds the Salt River for irrigation purposes.
The Central Utah Project is a US federal water project that was authorized for construction under the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April 11, 1956, as a participating project. In general, the Central Utah Project develops a portion of Utah's share of the yield of the Colorado River, as set out in the Colorado River Compact of 1922.
The Carlsbad Irrigation District, also known as Carlsbad Reclamation Project or Irrigation system of the Pecos Irrigation and Improvement Company, is a major early water reclamation project located near Carlsbad in southeastern New Mexico. Begun in the 1880s, it is now managed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation, and provides irrigation water to a large area around Carlsbad, diverted from the Pecos River and the Black River. The late 19th and early 20th-century elements of the project were designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1964.
Arrowrock Dam is a concrete arch dam in the western United States, on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, east of Boise. Opened 107 years ago in 1915, it is located on the border of Boise and Elmore counties, upstream of the Lucky Peak Dam and reservoir. The spillway elevation for Arrowrock is 3,219 feet (981 m) above sea level and its primary purpose is to provide irrigation water for agriculture.
Tieton Dam is an earth and concrete type dam on the Tieton River in Yakima County, in the U.S. state of Washington. The dam began operation in 1925. Its reservoir, Rimrock Lake, has a total capacity of 203,600 acre-feet (0.2511 km3) with a normal operating capacity of 198,000 acre-feet (0.244 km3) to provides water for agricultural irrigation. This dam is a component of the Yakima Project. Tieton Dam also produces electricity for Burbank Water and Power and Glendale Water and Power, near Los Angeles. The Southern California Public Power Agency installed two 7 megawatt generators in a project started in 2010. The power is transmitted over the DC Intertie that runs from Celilo, Oregon to Sylmar, California. Upstream from the dam, the river is impounded by Clear Creek Dam, another element of the Yakima Project. About 8 miles (13 km) downstream from the dam, the Tieton River is tapped for the Tieton Main Canal.
The Rio Grande Project is a United States Bureau of Reclamation irrigation, hydroelectricity, flood control, and interbasin water transfer project serving the upper Rio Grande basin in the southwestern United States. The project irrigates 193,000 acres (780 km2) along the river in the states of New Mexico and Texas. Approximately 60 percent of this land is in New Mexico. Some water is also allotted to Mexico to irrigate some 25,000 acres (100 km2) on the south side of the river. The project was authorized in 1905, but its final features were not implemented until the early 1950s.
Guernsey Dam is an earthfill dam on the North Platte River in Platte County in the U.S. State of Wyoming. The dam creates Guernsey Reservoir, the last of the 5 major reservoirs on the North Platte River in Wyoming. The dam contains a hydroelectric plant capable of 6.4 megawatts of electricity. The total capacity of the reservoir is 71,040 acre-feet (87,630,000 m3) of water which is used mainly for irrigation. Morrison-Knudsen and Utah Construction Company constructed Guernsey Dam and the hydroelectric plant as part of the North Platte Project to provide irrigation to eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska. Guernsey helps control the river flow and stores water released from the project's primary storage upstream at Pathfinder Reservoir. About 8 miles (13 km) downstream of the dam the Whalen Diversion Dam diverts water into the Fort Laramie and Interstate Canals that service farms in Wyoming and Nebraska.
Alexander McClurg Drake was a Minnesota investor and Oregon pioneer. He was the founder of Bend, Oregon.
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