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Irrigated field near Sisters. |
Deschutes County has an area of 3,055 square miles, or 1.96 million acres.
Over 77 percent of the county is publicly owned. The 461 thousand acres of
private land includes 92,000 ac. forest and 240,000 ac of range. Pasture and hay
is grown on most of the 38,000 ac. of irrigated land. Livestock production is a
large portion of the agricultural industry. The local food movement is strong
here with a growing number of community supported and organic farms. The NRCS
office, located in Redmond, offers voluntary technical and financial assistance
to private landowners interested in natural resource conservation improvements.
Lately the NRCS has focused mostly on irrigation improvements for water
conservation.
NRCS Local Conservation Activities and Strategies
The priority major resource concerns identified by the local conservation
partnership include:
- Water Quality/Quantity, More efficient use of irrigation water to
improve flows in the Deschutes River
- Forest Stand Health on Private Land to reduce risk of catastrophic
wildfire, especially near the Wildland/Urban interfaces
- Threatened and Endangered Fish and Wildlife Species,
- Noxious and invasive plants, especially on rangeland where they can
increase erosion potential, limit wildlife habitat and weaken native plant
communities.
NRCS Programs Available
Additional Conservation Resources Available
Conservation agencies in the region are very cooperative and routinely work
together with private landowners to accomplish resource enhancement projects.
The following agencies provide assistance in planning, funding or implementing
conservation and restoration projects:
- Deschutes County Soil and Water Conservation District
- Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Deschutes County Weed Control District
- Oregon Watershed Enhancement board
- Bureau of Land Management
- Oregon State University-Extension
- Upper Deschutes Watershed Council
- Oregon Department of Forestry
- Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Deschutes River Conservancy
Local Work Group Updates
The Deschutes Local Work Group meets to discuss natural resource priorities
and provide input to NRCS on conservation programs. If you are interested in
participating, please contact the NRCS District Conservationist listed below.
For meeting information, please
click here.
Success Stories
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Sarahlee Lawrence deftly peels back the white drape of row cover from
an interplanted row of organically-grown produce and flowers, inspecting
for damage from the prior night’s frigid temperatures. “Oh look, a
melon!” she says with triumph in her voice. The small green-striped orb
is partially hidden by leafy chard and yellow calendulas and it appears
unscathed by the early frost. The 28-year-old farmer is pioneering
organic production in the high desert of Central Oregon, where the
growing season is short but the potential for market success is long.
More (HTML)...
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461KB)
Key Words:
Organic EQIP, AWEP, organic improvement, irrigation management,
Deschutes Basin |
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McKenzie Canyon farmers Kathy and Steve Simpson will be sleeping a
lot better this summer. A newly-completed irrigation pipeline to their
farm will eliminate the need for round-the-clock checks of their
irrigation pond level. The Simpsons and 30 other landowners are
benefiting from a USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP) project that replaces open
irrigation canals and ditches with 10.3 miles of 36” High-density
Polyethlene (HDPE) pressurized pipeline, and provides turnouts and
lateral pipeline connections on 1,976 acres of Central Oregon farmland.
More (HTML)...
Download a printable copy (PDF 981KB)
Key Words:
AWEP, irrigation water management,
Deschutes Basin |
Clickable Map of SNOTEL Sites
For Additional Assistance Contact
Redmond Service Center
625 SE Salmon Avenue, Suite 4
Redmond, Oregon 97756-9580
NRCS District Conservationist: Tom Bennett, (541) 923-4358 ext. 123
Deschutes County SWCD, (541) 923-4358
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