President's Message: A New Age Begins to Dawn in the Deschutes Basin

By Greg McMillanOur favorite river, and its tributaries like the Crooked River, have suffered abuses and hard times for many decades.  The pressures on water quality, availability, and the biology they support have increased.  There are now three aquatic species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act in the Deschutes Basin.  There are species that have already been extirpated from their historic ranges within the Basin.In this post is news of another insult.  Chlorpyrifos pesticide has been detected in the Deschutes River in levels that exceed what the Environmental Protection Agency has set as guidelines to protect aquatic life.But there is more hope for the Deschutes Basin and its aquatic resources today than in a very long time.  It is said (perhaps truthfully so) that the Chinese character for crisis is a combination of the characters for danger and opportunity.  And so it is with the Deschutes River and its tributaries.  We are on the verge of several dangerous opportunities.  It’s taken years of hard work to arrive at this new threshold.The multi-year water quality report recently released by Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation confirms what we here at the DRA have known since 2014.  Having consensus on the scientific issues gives the parties in our lawsuit a common path forward to resolve the Round Butte Dam Selective Water Withdrawal Tower related water quality problems.  It will take time and hard work, but finding consensus is a most important first step.The other large water problem in Central Oregon is related to water allocation for irrigation.  That issue first came to a head with the listing of the Oregon Spotted Frog (OSF) population as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2016.This status of the OSF is due to de-watering of its native habitat in the reaches of the Upper Deschutes River below Wickiup Dam during fall and winter months.  Water is held back for storage for irrigation purposes during those months, leaving the back-channels and marsh habitat of the frog below the dam dry.The irrigators and the City of Prineville have applied to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service for an Incidental Take Permit to allow for the loss of Spotted Frogs, as well as bull trout and steelhead due to water allocation issues.  The permit requires a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) to off-set any losses due to the water withdrawals by the irrigators or City of Prineville.As you read this, many organizations, agencies and individuals will be submitting comments on a draft HCP.  DRA is one of the organizations submitting comments.  It’s our view that the HCP is inadequate to provide adequate protection for the target species.  We will be participating in the HCP process and advocating for changes in water allocation.You can read our comments here.As we move forward this is an opportunity to re-think how water is used in the Deschutes Basin.  The plan, once approved, will be binding for thirty-years.We will be working with other groups and our Oregon legislators to enact a ban on the insecticide chlorpyrifos.These crises are indeed dangerous opportunities.  There is no better time to affect how the future of the Deschutes River and its tributaries will look for the next decades to come.  We have to get it right for the river and for the next generations.  There will be no other time like right now, no other opportunities like those before us to protect our river.Please help us in this time of need and opportunity.  Your donations will help us advocate for the changes that need to be made. There are issues that need to be resolved and with a sense of great urgency. You can donate online here.