Three Sisters Irrigation District marks climate achievement that’s a first for C.O. after 26 years, $50 million

SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ)-- The Three Sisters Irrigation District has become the first of Central Oregon's eight irrigation districts to achieve drought and climate resiliency. The district has installed $50 million worth of infrastructure over the last 26 years.

 District Manager Marc Thalacker said the modernization of piping canals has reduced energy demand, conserved more water and helped steelhead to return to the area for the first time in over a century.

"We've built everything ourselves, which has allowed us to keep costs down, and also do it at a much faster pace than we would if we were contracting it out." Thalacker said.

 The Three Sisters Irrigation District On-Farm and Renewable Energy project is funded through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. The partnership project brings together the irrigation district, the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service in Oregon, the Deschutes Soil and Water Conservation District, Deschutes River Conservancy, private landowners and numerous other partners to conserve water and reduce energy demand.

The On-Farm and Renewable energy project will allow farmers to apply for access to water from the district's pipelines.

Tom Bennett, conservation technician with the soil and water district, said, "There's a combination of benefits to a project like this that involve, for one thing, delivering the farmers the water that they need in order to be productive in a water short situation there. They're limited on what kinds of crops they can grow and what kinds of yields they can get from the crops that they're growing."

Thalacker added, "The community is better for having water in-stream and having steelhead and salmon return."