A reservoir expansion project in Oregon’s Hood River County has obtained $3 million as part of a bevy of water supply proposals recently funded by state regulators.
The money will cover roughly 70 percent of the cost of raising the Upper Kingsley Dam by nine feet, increasing its capacity by 50 percent, and replacing about two miles of leaky irrigation pipeline, which will reduce water losses by 15 percent.
The project is one of nine proposals to receive $8.9 million in grants from the state’s water supply development fund, which was created by lawmakers three years ago.
The Oregon Water Resources Commission signed off on the funding at its May 19 meeting, marking the first time that cash from the $14 million fund has been committed to projects.
Funding for the Kinglsey reservoir’s expansion was the largest investment made in the initial round of grant awards and represents the only project to create new water storage.
To receive the money, the project must release 25 percent of the newly stored water to increase streamflows and is subject to a “seasonally varying flow” analysis that may restrict its operations.
Most of the funding focuses on water conservation:
• $1.5 million to convert about 1,000 acres in Wallowa County from flood irrigation to sprinkler irrigation through the installation of center pivots, pumps and other equipment.
• $2.36 million to replace 12.5 miles of open canals with irrigation pipelines and make other improvements as part of three separate projects in the Tumalo, East Fork and Vale irrigation districts.
• $900,000 to install two deep water wells, pipelines and pumps in Wasco County.
• $600,000 to pay for fish passage and flow restoration modifications to the La Grande Reservoir in Union County.
• $250,000 to buy water rights and dedicate them to instream flows in Sun Creek to improve native fish habitat in Klamath County.
• $270,000 for equipment that would allow about 16,200 acre feet of drainage water to be recycled for irrigation in Klamath County.
Before the commission voted to approve the grants, the Middle Fork Irrigation District asked for its rejected application to be reconsidered.
The project, which would upgrade facilities to allow sediment-rich water to be used for irrigation, was ranked 10th in a list of 37 grant proposals, received many letters of support and had a significant amount of matching funds, said Craig DeHart, the district’s general manager.
“Our project was just as strong as other projects that were recommended for funding,” DeHart said.
The request sparked a discussion among commission members about how much money should be dispensed for projects, since $5.1 million was left in the fund for a second round of funding in 2017.
Commissioner Jeanne Lejeune questioned whether the remaining funds will hinder new appropriations from lawmakers.
“The legislature could say, ‘We gave you money, you had good applications, you didn’t spend all of it, and now you want more,” Lejeune said.
The Oregon Water Resources Congress, which represents irrigation districts, urged the commission to fund as many projects as possible during the first round.
The money will allow these projects to seek matching funds from other sources, said Lauren Smith, the group’s policy coordinator. “It gives them that leverage to go after those other funding programs.”
However, the commission ultimately rejected the idea of funding additional projects and voted to approve the nine proposals recommended by the Oregon Water Resources Department, which regulates state water.