The Swalley Irrigation District supplies water to irrigators through a network of pipes and canals fed by the

Deschutes River Deschutes River may refer to: *Deschutes River (Oregon) 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 ...

near Bend in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. The network, begun in 1899, is a closed system with an intake behind North Canal Dam in Bend and a main canal, the Swalley Canal, that runs north from the city for about . The only

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

east of the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

in Oregon crosses the Swalley Canal. The district diverts about 82 CFS from the river during the irrigation season, April through October. Water requirements for Swalley have fallen by about 43 CFS over the years due to major water conservation projects and other efficiency projects and programs. Water savings from conservation projects means that more water stays in the river, where increased flow improves conditions for

redband trout Redband trout are a group of three recognized subspecies of rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss''). They occur in three distinct regions in Pacific basin tributaries and endorheic basins in the western United States. The three subspecies are th ...

and other biological species. The district operates a small in-conduit hydroelectric plant that generates renewable energy from the water it diverts for irrigation purposes.

History

The irrigation district was formed in 1899 as the Deschutes Reclamation and Irrigation Company (DRIC). In 1994, when shareholders in the company decided to incorporate as an irrigation district, they adopted the name Swalley Irrigation District after two resident families named ''Swalley'' who helped form and manage the DRIC. One of the Swalleys became the project leader and helped build the

flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to tr ...

s that carried "Swalley water".

Description

The district is about long and about wide. Its

headworks Headworks is a civil engineering term for any structure at the head or diversion point of a waterway. It is smaller than a barrage and is used to divert water from a river into a canal or from a large canal into a smaller canal. at Web archive An ...

at the North Canal Dam on the Deschutes River in Bend are at above sea level, and the water descends through pipes and open canals to farmland as much as lower. The main canal, the Swalley Canal, and its network of of side canals, deliver water north of the city to about 700 customers. The district lies generally between

U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

on the west and

U.S. Route 97 U.S. Route 97 (US 97) is a major north–south route of the United States Numbered Highway System in the Pacific Northwest region. It runs for approximately through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, primarily serving in ...

on the east. Water enters the system from behind the North Canal Dam on the Deschutes River in Bend. For its first , the water flows through pressurized pipe. In 2010, the district completed the piping and the addition of an in-conduit 0.75-megawatt hydroelectric plant. The plant produces enough electricity to supply about 375 homes and businesses near Bend's Old Mill District. Annual income to the district from selling electricity is estimated between $160,000 and $190,000. Grants from other agencies had covered all but $2 million of the $14.5 million cost to build the plant, which has an expected lifespan of 50 to 100 years. The canal delivers water another beyond the hydroelectric plant but does not discharge to a storage reservoir or any natural water body. It is a closed system with no end-spills or returns to the Deschutes River. Advanced Fish and Debris Screens prevent fish from entering the Main Canal Pipeline at the headworks. The average customer in the district receives enough water to irrigate . The most common crops are grass and

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as w ...

, and some customers use the water for oats, shrubs, pine trees, wine grapes, nursery stock, conservation materials, industrial hemp, schoolground sports fields, parks, and other vegetation.

Conservation

The district began converting open canals to pipelines in the early 21st century to prevent water loss to leaks and evaporation. The 2010 project allowed of water to be subtracted from the Swalley District's allotment, which dropped to . The increased flow along the Middle Deschutes improved conditions for life forms, such as the

, that live in the river. Earlier piping on lateral canals in the Swalley system and the nearby

Central Oregon Irrigation District 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 ...

had already reduced diversions from the river totaling during the irrigation season, April through October. The goal of the Deschutes River Conservancy, which supported the projects, was to increase the minimum flow of the river below Bend from . The piping proceeded despite objections from homeowners who unsuccessfully sued to keep the canal open on grounds that their property values would fall if the surface stream were replaced by a pipe.

Bridge

An unusual

spans the canal about north of Bend. The

Rock O' the Range Bridge The Rock O' the Range Bridge, also called the Swalley Canal Bridge, is a bridge located north of Bend, Oregon, U.S., on a street adjacent to U.S. Route 97. It is the only covered span in the state of Oregon on the east side of the Cascade Rang ...

, the only covered bridge in Oregon that lies east of the

, carries Bowery Lane over the canal. In 1963, a developer had the bridge built to provide access to his property. Land owners in the development pay to maintain the public bridge, one of only a few privately funded covered bridges built in recent decades.

Coordinates

The

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

lists two sets of coordinates for the Swalley Canal. One is at in the Bend quadrant of the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

topographic map. The other is at in the Tumalo quadrant. The coordinates for the head of the Swalley Canal are .Geolocated via

Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

The coordinates for the covered bridge are .

References

External links

{{GeoGroup 1899 establishments in Oregon Buildings and structures in Deschutes County, Oregon Canals in Oregon Irrigation Districts of the United States Geography of Oregon