Dear Patrons,
Deschutes County is experiencing its driest spring in 129 years. Due to back-to-back years of severe drought, streams and creeks have not produced much natural flow this year. The natural flow usually serves as a natural reservoir to feed streams and rivers throughout the summer.
Along with other Deschutes Basin irrigation districts, Arnold Irrigation District, has requested a drought declaration by Governor Brown.
As of early June, there is no natural flow available to Arnold Irrigation District from the Deschutes River, and we are on complete storage. Unfortunately, our storage supply will only last for a short time before we are forced to shut off by the State of Oregon.
At our June 8th board meeting, we were asked to send a survey asking patrons how they would like us to consider allocating the remaining amount of irrigation water for the season.
Last year we decreased the delivery rate to 4.5 Gallons Per Minute (gpm)/acre and implemented a 4-day rotational schedule on all water deliveries. This year there have been suggestions to run the full allotment at 5.5 gpm/acre, delivering to all our patrons until we run out of water.
In the best interest of our patrons, the Arnold Irrigation District’s board and management are asking patrons to respond to the survey by 1:00 pm on June 11th.