Burrowing rockchucks breach COID canal near Redmond; flooding stopped, repairs begin
(Update: Adding video, comments from COID)
About 20 residents get emergency alerts; 10 properties report damage
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A 30-foot hole is what's left after burrowing rodents -- rockchucks, to be specific -- caused a breach in an irrigation canal south of Redmond Wednesday night that sent floodwaters across fields, closed Young Avenue, and prompted emergency alerts and sandbagging efforts to protect some properties, officials said.
The Pilot Butte Canal conveys water to 17,338 acres along 25 miles between the north end of Bend, through Redmond to Terrebonne.
Deschutes County sheriff’s Sgt. Kyle Kalmbach said a few people were sandbagging around their homes after about 20 residents in the area near Young Avenue between Canal Boulevard and 61st Street were sent an emergency phone network alert of the canal breach and “they might want to take proper measures” to protect their property from floodwaters.
There were no evacuations reported. though the water was several feet deep in some areas, Kalmbach said.
Sgt. Nathan Garibay, the county's emergency manager, said early Thursday afternoon that Young Avenue was expected to be closed through the day. He said deputies were on scene to assist until about 2 a.m.
"Most of the water covered open areas or agricultural lands," he said. "A couple properties had some water impacts to structures," but Garibay was not aware of anyone being displaced from their homes.
The break in the Central Oregon Irrigation District's Pilot Butte Canal between Bend and Redmond was reported around 9 p.m. Wednesday, at a time the water was flowing at 250 cubic feet per second.
It took four hours to stop the flow, flooding the road and fields. Crews kept working all day Thursday, unloading a mix of clay and sand to fill the gap.
COID typically checks canals for burrowing animals during stock runs. Craig Horrell, managing director for COID, says the lack of water this year has limited that process.
"Because we have had such drought, we haven't had stock runs this year, so bringing in water was a little different this year than past years," Horrell said.
Canal breaches are gaps created in canal banks due to the breaking up of the banks.
"The breach is believed to have been caused by burrowing rodents," a COID news release said. "The extent of the breach is unclear."
But Horrell told NewsChannel 21 Thursday morning it was, indeed, rockchucks, a rare but not unprecedented occurrence on area irrigation canals. He also said 10 properties in the area reported damage from the floodwaters.
Flooding is a pretty rare occurrence on the High Desert, but Horrell says the incident has little impact on the drought-limited water supply.
"This is live flow that we pick up. This is not stored water from one of the reservoirs, so we haven't lost storage," Horrell said. "This is water that's been coming from snowmelt, which we've been getting a lot of -- it will not affect our patrons or North Unit (Irrigation District) patrons at this time."
"This water will be put in the middle Deschutes River while we're not taking it. The middle Deschutes is getting the water right now," Horrell added.
Burrowing animals have been an ongoing challenge for irrigators, as they have damaged canals all over the Western United States.
"Canal breaches around expanding urbanized areas can have devastating results," COID stated.
Horrell says it'll take about two days to repair the breach, but COID is still investigating the amount of damage, and the cost.
The recent snow and rain has eased the drought picture at present, though years of drier conditions will still have an impact
SNOTEL automated measurements as of Thursday show the Upper Deschutes-Crooked River Basin snowpack is now just 10% below normal for this point in the year and the snow-water equivalent is up to 97% of the median.
