In Oregon, farmers are revamping century-old irrigation canals to stem water loss
In the desert of central Oregon, east of the Cascade mountains, farmers have been working the arid soil for more than a hundred years. They were lured to the area by turn-of-the-century infrastructure projects — a network of open-air canals carved into the landscape that would carry water from the Deschutes River to their fields for irrigation.
But as the Western megadrought sucks more and more water out of these channels, farmers and water managers across this part of Oregon are struggling. Though still effective at delivering water, these century-old systems are highly inefficient. Central Oregon’s soil is sandy and porous. For every gallon of water diverted, upwards of 50 percent can seep into the ground or else evaporate into a sky made increasingly thirsty by rising global temperatures.
“You more or less have to double the amount of water …