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Stretch of Central Oregon canal is nominated as historic

Neighbors hope to block proposed piping of water

The Columbian
Published: February 23, 2015, 12:00am

BEND, Ore. (AP) — A segment of the Pilot Butte Canal has been recommended for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, a move that could affect a proposed piping project.

The State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation nominated more than a mile of the canal northeast of Bend. The nomination includes 17 acres of surrounding land that would become a historic district if the National Park Service supports the listing.

Neighbors and property owners want the designation to preserve the waterway and surrounding area for a potential trail system extension, The Bulletin newspaper reported. The group has also questioned the need for piping the same section of canal, which has been proposed by the Central Oregon Irrigation District.

The district already pipes part of the canal downstream leading to a hydropower plant at Juniper Ridge. The new section of proposed piping would connect with the other.

A listing to the register would require Deschutes County and the city of Bend to review any land use applications pertaining to the canal’s “demolition, removal, or major exterior alteration,” according to Oregon law.

The Pilot Butte Canal, completed more than a century ago, runs from the Deschutes River in Bend to Terrebonne near the Crooked River. A historic listing would be based on the significance the canal played in bringing water to allow farming, fostering settlements and the incorporation of Bend and Redmond.

Alexander Drake, one of the founders of Bend, named the canal after Pilot Butte, which is now a state park. He founded a company that secured the water rights to divert water from the Deschutes River to ranchers and farmers.

Irrigation district officials have said they agree parts of the canal are historic, but disagree with the process property owners have pursued.

The nomination forwarded to the National Park Service on Thursday encompassed two years of work. Michael Hall, a historic preservation planner, began the process of documenting the canal’s historic significance.

Pat Kliewer also spent a year researching the matter.

“We’re really excited that this particular stretch has gotten to the end of the nomination process because it is so unique and so special,” said Kliewer, a former historic and cultural resources planner for Deschutes County.

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