Central Oregon Irrigation District
Pilot Butte Canal north of Bend, Oregon
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Oregon counties served by the district
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| Predecessor | Pilot Butte Development Company (1902); Deschutes Irrigation and Power Company (1904); and Central Oregon Irrigation Company (1910) |
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| Formation | 1918 |
| Founder | Alexander M. Drake (Pilot Butte Development Company founder) |
| Type | Municipal corporation |
| Purpose | Water distribution |
| Headquarters | Redmond, Oregon |
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Region
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Central Oregon |
| Methods | Canal system |
Central Oregon Irrigation District is a municipal corporation to provide irrigation water for Central Oregon, U.S. The canals serve agricultural and industrial users in the arid lands between Alfalfa, Bend, Redmond, Terrebonne, and Powell Butte. Among its 4,000 or so individual customer accounts, it also provides municipal water to the city of Redmond, neighboring subdivisions, and parks and schools in Bend. The district manages more than 700 miles (1,100 km) of canals serving about 70.3 square miles (182 km2) of lands within a rough area of 280 square miles (730 km2).
The Carey Act of 1894 led to the creation of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation which initiated many irrigation projects by authorizing the federal government to contract with the states for arid land reclamation. The State of Oregon authorized entrepreneurs to build and operate canal systems for profit. The right of agricultural users to the water were provisional until irrigation actually began producing crops as provided by the Carey Act. On June 30, 1950, the State of Oregon decreed that the Carey Act had provided ample time for interested water users to have staked a water rights claim, and ended the eligibility opt-in period to receive irrigation water. It took until 1958 to finalize Deschutes River water rights for all users.
The Central Oregon Irrigation District was established in 1918 from the merging of water systems near Bend. Among the earliest was Pilot Butte Development Company, established in 1902 by Alexander M. Drake, a capitalist who arrived in the area in spring of 1900 by covered wagon, lured by the possibility of irrigating upper Deschutes County and dry air for health reasons. Drake's company platted Bend and built a lodge for which Drake Park District and Drake Park are named. Before any water flowed, Pilot Butte was sold to Deschutes Irrigation and Power Company. Service began with 40 acres (16 ha) irrigated in 1904.
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Wikipedia