Annual Water Leasing Program - 2007

Do you have water rights that you are not using or are thinking about not using?   Would you like to protect your water right, help restore the Deschutes River and be compensated?     

The Deschutes River Conservancy and Tumalo Irrigation District are partnering to offer their annual water leasing program again in 2007.  Under the program, water right holders are paid $7/acre-foot (about $23 per acre) to leave their water rights in the river.  Each year of a lease counts as a year of beneficial use, thereby preserving the validity of your water right.  You may lease all or part of your irrigation rights.  In 2006, the Tumalo Irrigation District and its patrons contributed 459 acres or 6.13 cfs instream. 6,800 acres were leased basin wide, resulting in additional flows to Whychus Creek, Tumalo Creek, the Crooked River, and the doubling of flows in the middle Deschutes. 

The options available to you include:

For more information or to sign up, contact Gen Hubert at the Deschutes River Conservancy (541-382-4077, ext. 16) or Cindy at TID (541-382-3053) before March 9, 2007.  Earlier notification is strongly encouraged to allow time to prepare the documents.  Please note: You are still responsible for your assessment, which must be paid in full before your lease can be approved.   

Farm Deferral

Instream leasing is a beneficial use that protects your water right from forfeiture and allows for compensation for this instream use, but please note that it does not automatically protect against loss of farm use special assessment. Exclusive Farm Use (EFU) zoned lands may still require at least minimal use with the intent to make a profit if fallowed for more than one year.

Weeds

The DRC assumes participants in the Leasing Program will continue to exercise agricultural best management practices on lands enrolled in the Program, particularly with respect to the control of noxious and/or nuisance weeds.  Failure to control weeds on leased acres may result in exclusion from the Program.

About the Deschutes River Conservancy

The Deschutes River Conservancy implements voluntary, market based approaches to water management.  It is a non-profit organization that facilitates a wide range of transactions and discussions between agriculture, industry and municipal interests to increase streamflow and water quality in the Deschutes Basin. 

For additional information contact Gen Hubert at 541-382-4077, ext. 16 or gen@deschutesrc.org.

More information on the Deschutes River Conservancy is available at:  www.deschutesriver.org