{"id":73,"date":"2026-06-28T02:47:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T02:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=73"},"modified":"2026-06-28T02:47:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T02:47:43","slug":"oregon-water-law-benefits-wealthy-landowners-at-farmers-expense-propublica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/?p=73","title":{"rendered":"Oregon Water Law Benefits Wealthy Landowners at Farmers\u2019 Expense \u2014 ProPublica"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101-SOCIAL_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=1200\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Oregon Water Law Benefits Wealthy Landowners at Farmers\u2019 Expense \u2014 ProPublica\" title=\"Oregon Water Law Benefits Wealthy Landowners at Farmers\u2019 Expense \u2014 ProPublica\" \/><\/div><p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-reporting-highlights\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reporting Highlights<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Draining the Deschutes:<\/strong> During a historic drought, half of Central Oregon\u2019s lifeblood river was diverted to a wealthy agricultural region that got a lot more water than its plants could drink.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Suffering Farms:<\/strong> These water-rich landowners grew mostly grass and pasture for landscaping and grazing while water-starved farmers downstream fallowed fields of commercial crops.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use It or Lose It<\/strong>: Century-old laws spur people to soak some of the state\u2019s most expensive, least productive farmland \u2014 or risk losing rights to the water.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-propublica-reporting-highlights__disclaimer\">These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Chris Casad awakens each day before dawn on the Central Oregon property he bought nine years ago, the farm where he once grew tons of potatoes before water shortages forced him to fallow fields and take a job feeding someone else\u2019s cattle on someone else\u2019s land.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>At 38, he\u2019s got tractors older than he is. His two kids are under 5. His wife, Cate, has two jobs. They\u2019re staring down a pile of debt from their 85 acres and its unending supply of things in the process of breaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The crisis for their farm started in drought \u2014 three summers during which starving grasshoppers descended on the area\u2019s remaining crops, tepid reservoirs bloomed with toxic algae, nearly 1,000 Oregon wells went dry and the springs feeding the Deschutes River shriveled to their lowest recorded flow.<\/p>\n<p>But the death knell for Casad\u2019s crops was Oregon\u2019s century-old law, which protects some water users at the expense of others.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The couple saw the state cut their community\u2019s share of irrigation water from the Deschutes in the name of that law. Farmers in Jefferson County, where they live, stopped cultivating a third of the county\u2019s irrigated land. \u201cThere were a number of suicides, let alone people who closed up shop, older farmers just not wanting to waste their life\u2019s worth of work and their savings on just trying to keep it going,\u201d Casad said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-large bb--size-medium bb--size-large p-bb--size-medium p-bb--size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"766\" width=\"1149\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=1149\" alt=\"A man and a woman stand together in front of a tractor. Behind them is another tractor, cars, a wide-open landscape and, in the distance, snow-capped mountains.\" class=\"wp-image-82505\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1334 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1067 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1149px) 100vw, 1149px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Chris Casad, left, and Cate Havstad-Casad bought their Madras, Oregon, property in 2017 with hopes of expanding a vegetable growing business.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Leah Nash for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At the same time, a few miles upstream, state law encouraged landowners to soak some of Oregon\u2019s most expensive real estate and least productive farmland, a ProPublica and Oregon Public Broadcasting analysis of water use has found. These water-rich Oregonians live in the Central Oregon Irrigation District, a quasi-municipal corporation \u2014 part public utility, part homeowners association \u2014 that manages and distributes the lion\u2019s share of the Deschutes\u2019 water.<\/p>\n<p>Six irrigation districts together take more than 90% of the river in Bend from May to September. COID is, by far, the most powerful. It has rights to more than half of the volume of the river because when the state was carving up the Deschutes, back in the early 1900s, COID was near the front of the line with a plan to use the water. And in Western water law, that place in line \u2014 senior rights \u2014 guarantees that when drought hits, your share is protected.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-lead-in\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-central-oregon-irrigation-district-diverts-more-water-annually-from-the-deschutes-in-bend-than-all-other-irrigation-districts-combined\"><strong><strong><strong><strong>The Central Oregon Irrigation District Diverts More Water Annually From the Deschutes in Bend Than All Other Irrigation Districts Combined<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure class=\"graphics-embed wp-block-propublica-graphics\">\n<p><!-- Generated by ai2html v0.121.1 - 2026-05-28 14:02 --><br \/>\n<!-- ai file: deschutes-column-chart.ai --><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-deschutes-column-chart-box\" class=\"ai2html\">\n<p>\t<!-- Artboard: mobile --><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-deschutes-column-chart-mobile\" class=\"g-artboard\" style=\"max-width: 599px;max-height: 538px\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.114\" data-min-width=\"0\" data-max-width=\"599\">\n<p>\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" id=\"g-deschutes-column-chart-mobile-img\" class=\"g-deschutes-column-chart-mobile-img g-aiImg\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.propublica.org\/projects\/graphics\/2026-deschutes-river\/deschutes-column-chart-mobile.png\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t<!-- Artboard: desktop --><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-deschutes-column-chart-desktop\" class=\"g-artboard\" style=\"min-width: 600px;\" data-aspect-ratio=\"1.841\" data-min-width=\"600\">\n<p>\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" id=\"g-deschutes-column-chart-desktop-img\" class=\"g-deschutes-column-chart-desktop-img g-aiImg\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.propublica.org\/projects\/graphics\/2026-deschutes-river\/deschutes-column-chart-desktop.png\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- End ai2html - 2026-05-28 14:02 --><figcaption class=\"attribution\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"attribution__caption\">Note: Estimates are averages during peak irrigation season, May to September, from 2015 to 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>That same law also says COID can keep taking all that water as long as it can prove that landowners in the district are putting it to \u201cbeneficial use.\u201d Waste is forbidden.<\/p>\n<p>But Oregon policymakers have such loose definitions of what\u2019s beneficial and what\u2019s waste that, during the drought, our reporting found, only 1 of every 4 gallons COID took from the river was absorbed by crops.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The news organizations shared our analysis of state-commissioned satellite data with both officials who manage water for Oregon and with COID. While the state did not dispute the numbers, irrigation district leaders said they didn\u2019t trust the state data, which Oregon lawmakers created to study water availability. COID also said that the drought years were anomalous; however, our analysis across wet and dry years showed crops drank a similar share of the diverted water each year.<em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Other records from the district and the state describe how most of the water percolated into the ground, evaporated into hot, dry air, or drained off fields into scrubland and desert. Some fed the aquifer. Some went back into the river downstream, where environmental regulators have found waterways warmed and polluted.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And that one gallon that quenched crops? Almost all of it went to grass and pasture.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cWe\u2019re Just Wasting Water\u201d\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>Casad grew up in Bend, the region\u2019s biggest city, where he watched developers slice farmland into subdivisions. The lumber mill became a shopping mall anchored by an REI. An economy once dependent on timber and agriculture turned instead toward tourism and recreation.<\/p>\n<p>Canals from the Deschutes still wind through Bend\u2019s neighborhoods of single-family homes, and then to the estates, farms, ranches and destination resorts on the city\u2019s outskirts. Among those sits a horse ranch owned by Phil and Penelope Knight of Nike fame, one of the wealthiest families in the world and, our analysis found, one of the largest consumers of COID water. The ranch raises \u201chigh-end\u201d horses and sells hay, its website shows. A manager declined to comment on how it manages water.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Another long, gated driveway leads to an 80-acre property that was once dry scrubland. Cinematographer Byron Garth bought water rights from another landowner through COID a decade ago to irrigate part of the property.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The water helped him transform a rocky hillside into an \u201cexclusive compound paradise,\u201d as an auction listing last year put it, with a 6,300-square-foot mansion with radiant heated floors, three guest houses, a 10,000-square-foot garage and a swimming pool \u2014 all surrounded by a carpet of soft green grass.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For a few years, Garth used his water rights to grow hay for about 15 alpacas and goats, but in the end, he said, \u201cit was cheaper to just mow it.\u201d Garth said he did have reservations about using so much water during the drought, but he reasoned that somebody had to use it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the aesthetic value,\u201d realtor Jen Bowen said about the grass last year, as she gave OPB a tour of the estate shortly before Garth sold it for $4.8 million.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think most of us would agree \u2014 it\u2019s nicer to look out over a lush pasture than it is the high desertscape,\u201d Bowen said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped bb--size-full wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex block-visibility-hide-medium-screen block-visibility-hide-small-screen p-bb--size-full\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"501\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"82511\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"Sprinklers shoot into the air to water a large lawn surrounding a pond and a small windmill. In the background is a house on a hill that overlooks the property.\" class=\"wp-image-82511\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,533 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1066 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"501\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"82512\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"A bright blue swimming pool in the foreground, and behind it a large green lawn, a pond, and in the background, a forest and snow-capped mountains.\" class=\"wp-image-82512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,533 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1066 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><\/figure><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Sprinklers keep the grass green in the landscaping surrounding a pond and a pool at a property previously owned by Byron Garth. The land is in the Central Oregon Irrigation District, and Garth bought the water rights in 2016, as he was building out the multimillion-dollar estate.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Emily Cureton Cook\/OPB<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-1 is-cropped bb--size-large wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex block-visibility-hide-large-screen p-bb--size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"501\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"82511\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"Sprinklers shoot into the air to water a large lawn surrounding a pond and a small windmill. In the background is a house on a hill that overlooks the property.\" class=\"wp-image-82511\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,533 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6817_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1066 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"501\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"82512\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"A bright blue swimming pool in the foreground, and behind it a large green lawn, a pond, and in the background, a forest and snow-capped mountains.\" class=\"wp-image-82512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,533 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YZ3A6785_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1066 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><\/figure><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Sprinklers keep the grass green in the landscaping surrounding a pond and a pool at a property previously owned by Byron Garth. The land is in the Central Oregon Irrigation District, and Garth bought the water rights in 2016, as he was building out the multimillion-dollar estate.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Emily Cureton Cook\/OPB<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>One of the district\u2019s thirstiest developments is Ranch at the Canyons, a gated subdivision of dozens of multimillion-dollar Tuscan-style mansions whose residents mutually own an equestrian center, a luxury wedding venue, a winery and a nonprofit farm run by \u201cdedicated ranch management and local farmers.\u201d A development manager did not respond to a request for comment. Its website promises homeowners \u201cthe peaceful rhythm of agricultural life \u2014 without the work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ybellranch.com\/\">A similar property<\/a> listed for $15 million invites its future owners to imagine more than a residence or a cattle ranch, but \u201ca Playground for Ambitions, for Imagination, for Dreamers, and for Doers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Our analysis of the most recently available state data, covering 2015 to 2022, found that more than 9 out of every 10 acres in the district were growing grass \u2014 pasture and hay fields for livestock as well as landscaping.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Casad started his life as a farmer in the district, but he was not one of those grass growers. He began leasing land near his hometown in 2010, and within a matter of years was turning a profit, annually growing thousands of tons of organic potatoes, pulling them from the earth with a gargantuan harvester he called \u201cthe white whale.\u201d He liked the idea of farming in a region that once sold 1 of every 4 bags of potatoes in the state. He leased more land, sold out at farmers\u2019 markets, supplied a local brewery with spuds for its fries, and welcomed school field trips, \u201cjust to show kids what a working farm is, where their food comes from.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"502\" width=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"A young boy sits in the driver\u2019s seat of a red truck, holding the steering wheel and smiling. He is framed by the open car door.\" class=\"wp-image-82513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1334 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_034_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1067 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Chris Casad and Cate Havstad-Casad\u2019s oldest son, Hesston, 4<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Leah Nash for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"502\" width=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"A woman in a denim shirt with a bandana tying her hair back holds a small child.\" class=\"wp-image-82525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1334 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_087_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1067 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Cate Havstad-Casad holds her youngest son, Crosby, 2<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Leah Nash for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>COID\u2019s water was a boon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was just always on,\u201d Casad said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But the glut of water became a problem. He couldn\u2019t just cut off the flow without risking his landlord\u2019s water rights. So he did what others in the district do: figure out a way to use the \u201coverabundance\u201d or capture it in ponds. When one pond was full, Casad started digging a second one so the excess water wouldn\u2019t inundate his neighbor\u2019s property.<\/p>\n<p>On more than a third of COID\u2019s acreage, landowners irrigate their crops by intentionally flooding the fields. Water flows directly from ditches across the land \u2014 saturating plants, pooling and running off as it evaporates or seeps into the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Water experts are quick to point out that water running off fields or leaking out of canals filters into aquifers or drains back to the river. That is not waste, they say, because it recirculates in the river basin.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This recycling takes time, while the consequences on the Deschutes are immediate. Farmers are drying up acreage and, for about 40 miles downstream of Bend, fish habitats suffer, state scientists told us. Once irrigation districts take their 90% of the river during the growing season, average remaining flows over the last decade have been about half what the ecosystem needs, according to stream gauges and state conservation targets. \u201cThe river always loses,\u201d former state biologist Brett Hodgson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The fact that much of the irrigation water is, in some form or fashion, recycled elsewhere doesn\u2019t put COID landowners like David Fisher at ease either. Fisher said he flood irrigates about 60 acres of his property to grow hay and pasture for cattle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re just wasting water. Really. We are,\u201d remarked the 72-year-old butcher shop owner. \u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m not a tree hugger or one of those people that think that we should stop this for the frogs or the fish. But there\u2019s got to be a middle of the road.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-propublica-lead-in\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-only-a-quarter-of-the-water-the-central-oregon-irrigation-district-diverted-from-the-deschutes-river-was-consumed-by-crops\"><strong><strong>Only a Quarter of the Water the Central Oregon Irrigation District Diverted From The Deschutes River Was Consumed by Crops<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Most of it leaked from open canals, percolated into the ground or ran off fields before returning to aquifers or to the river downstream.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"graphics-embed wp-block-propublica-graphics\">\n<p><!-- Generated by ai2html v0.121.1 - 2026-05-27 16:20 --><br \/>\n<!-- ai file: deschutes-sankey.ai --><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-deschutes-sankey-box\" class=\"ai2html\">\n<p>\t<!-- Artboard: mobile --><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-deschutes-sankey-mobile\" class=\"g-artboard\" style=\"max-width: 619px;max-height: 1049px\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.59\" data-min-width=\"0\" data-max-width=\"619\">\n<p>\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" id=\"g-deschutes-sankey-mobile-img\" class=\"g-deschutes-sankey-mobile-img g-aiImg\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.propublica.org\/projects\/graphics\/2026-deschutes-river\/deschutes-sankey-mobile.png\"\/><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-ai0-2\" class=\"g-chart-labels g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:27.473%;left:64.0543%;margin-left:-20.5714%;width:41.1429%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle0\">About half of the diverted water reached landowners<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai0-3\" class=\"g-chart-labels g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:85.1158%;left:19.4028%;margin-left:-17.5714%;width:35.1429%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle1\">45%<\/p>\n<p class=\"g-pstyle2\">leaked or evaporated from canals before it reached landowners<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai0-4\" class=\"g-chart-labels g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:85.1158%;left:57.8673%;margin-left:-17.1429%;width:34.2857%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle1\">29%<\/p>\n<p class=\"g-pstyle2\">percolated into aquifers, ran off or evaporated after being delivered to landowners<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai0-5\" class=\"g-chart-labels g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:85.1158%;left:87.8314%;margin-left:-11.7143%;width:23.4286%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle3\">26%<\/p>\n<p class=\"g-pstyle4\">was consumed by crops (mostly grass and pasture)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t<!-- Artboard: desktop --><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-deschutes-sankey-desktop\" class=\"g-artboard\" style=\"min-width: 620px;\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.724\" data-min-width=\"620\">\n<p>\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" id=\"g-deschutes-sankey-desktop-img\" class=\"g-deschutes-sankey-desktop-img g-aiImg\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.propublica.org\/projects\/graphics\/2026-deschutes-river\/deschutes-sankey-desktop.png\"\/><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-ai1-2\" class=\"g-chart-labels g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:34.1941%;left:65.4378%;margin-left:-15.2419%;width:30.4839%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle0\">About half of the diverted water reached landowners<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai1-3\" class=\"g-chart-labels g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:87.7609%;left:18.1684%;margin-left:-14.1935%;width:28.3871%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle1\">45%<\/p>\n<p class=\"g-pstyle2\">leaked or evaporated from canals before it reached landowners<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai1-4\" class=\"g-chart-labels g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:87.7609%;left:56.8704%;margin-left:-10.9677%;width:21.9355%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle1\">29%<\/p>\n<p class=\"g-pstyle2\">percolated into aquifers, ran off or evaporated after being delivered to landowners<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"g-ai1-5\" class=\"g-chart-labels g-aiAbs\" style=\"top:87.7609%;left:87.7755%;margin-left:-10.6452%;width:21.2903%;\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle3\">26%<\/p>\n<p class=\"g-pstyle4\">was consumed by crops (mostly grass and pasture)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- End ai2html - 2026-05-27 16:20 --><figcaption class=\"attribution\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"attribution__caption\">Note: Estimates are averages for irrigation season, May to September, from data covering 2015 to 2022.\u00a0<br \/>Sources: Data for how much water is lost on the way to landowners or after reaching them comes from Central Oregon Irrigation District estimates provided to the Oregon Water Resources Department. Data regarding how much water is consumed by plants comes from the Desert Research Institute and the Oregon Water Resources Department.<br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"attribution__credit\">Lucas Waldron\/ProPublica<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cWaste Is Like Pornography\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>Both how much water the district uses and what its landowners are growing have the state\u2019s blessing. Oregon, like other Western states, says that as long as irrigation is put to \u201cbeneficial use without waste,\u201d no one can take your water rights.<\/p>\n<p>But growing anything is considered a beneficial use as long as it\u2019s planted, irrigated and not a native species or noxious weed. Policymakers and courts have labeled so few uses as waste that one of the most well-known legal precedents was set 90 years ago by a California court, said Colorado-based water law attorney Sarah Klahn. The case forbade the use of irrigation water to drown gophers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Water rights are a form of property rights, Oregon-based water law attorney Karen Russell said, and although the law is designed to adapt to changing times, the courts have typically allowed past practices to dictate how much water landowners can use.<\/p>\n<p>In the eyes of Oregon courts, \u201cwaste is like pornography,\u201d she said: \u201cYou know it when you see it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So it doesn\u2019t matter if landowners are watering the prized crops that decades ago were celebrated by the Deschutes Basin\u2019s annual potato festival, when local women vied to be crowned \u201cMiss Spud,\u201d or the grass and hay for today\u2019s \u201cPlayground for Ambitions.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped bb--size-medium bb--size-full wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex block-visibility-hide-medium-screen block-visibility-hide-small-screen p-bb--size-medium p-bb--size-full\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"561\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"82515\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"An old black-and-white photograph of many bundles of potatoes, a table with three trophies on it, and a group of men in three-piece suits and hats posing for the camera. Someone has written on the photograph, \u201c2nd Annual Potato Show Redmond.\u201d\" class=\"wp-image-82515\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,224 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,573 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,764 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1146 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1528 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,644 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,315 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,412 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,416 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,393 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,561 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,858 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1493 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,299 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,597 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,896 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1194 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"561\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"82519\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"An old black-and-white photograph of a crowd of women in dresses and men in shirtsleeves looking through potatoes outside on a city street.\" class=\"wp-image-82519\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,224 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,573 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,764 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1146 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1528 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,644 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,315 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,412 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,416 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,393 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,561 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,858 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1493 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,299 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,597 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,896 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1194 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><\/figure><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">The Redmond Potato Show in 1912 and in the 1960s. For roughly half a century, much of the Central Oregon Irrigation District\u2019s water fed potato farms, and those potatoes fed the West Coast. Local high schoolers were excused from school for a week to help with a harvest that filled as many as 20 rail cars a day in the 1950s.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Deschutes County Historical Society<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-1 is-cropped bb--size-medium bb--size-large wp-block-gallery-4 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex block-visibility-hide-large-screen p-bb--size-medium p-bb--size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"561\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"82515\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"An old black-and-white photograph of many bundles of potatoes, a table with three trophies on it, and a group of men in three-piece suits and hats posing for the camera. Someone has written on the photograph, \u201c2nd Annual Potato Show Redmond.\u201d\" class=\"wp-image-82515\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,224 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,573 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,764 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1146 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1528 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,644 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,315 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,412 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,416 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,393 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,561 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,858 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1493 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,299 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,597 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,896 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0922.5862_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1194 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"561\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"82519\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"An old black-and-white photograph of a crowd of women in dresses and men in shirtsleeves looking through potatoes outside on a city street.\" class=\"wp-image-82519\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,224 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,573 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,764 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1146 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1528 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,644 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,315 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,412 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,416 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,393 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,561 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,858 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1493 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,299 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,597 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,896 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2003.001.0918.5857-PDcrop_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1194 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><\/figure><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">The Redmond Potato Show in 1912 and in the 1960s. For roughly half a century, much of the Central Oregon Irrigation District\u2019s water fed potato farms, and those potatoes fed the West Coast. Local high schoolers were excused from school for a week to help with a harvest that filled as many as 20 rail cars a day in the 1950s.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Deschutes County Historical Society<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This is the point COID\u2019s Managing Director Craig Horrell, who is in charge of the district\u2019s day-to-day operations, tried to drive home at a town hall meeting in Redmond last March. The moderator read a question asking about incentives that might make \u201chobby farms\u201d more efficient. Horrell bristled at the term, calling it a label intended to \u201cshame and coerce us into change.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe as district managers don\u2019t get to decide whether we like somebody growing carrot seed or somebody having two llamas and a Prius in the driveway,\u201d he shot back. \u201cIf you\u2019re using your water beneficially and growing a beneficial crop, that is what we manage. We don\u2019t have the right to say whether it\u2019s a good thing or a bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The district is vigilant about ensuring one thing \u2014 that landowners are growing a non-native crop, which the district checks through field visits and by aerial reviews, COID\u2019s Deputy Director of Water Rights Jessi Talbott said in a recent interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Every summer, a COID-hired plane flies over the district\u2019s more than 70 square miles of fields, an area larger than Salem, Oregon\u2019s capital city, looking for brown patches. If landowners aren\u2019t using the water exactly where they are supposed to at least once every five years, the state can cancel unused water rights. Oregon regulators have canceled irrigation water rights just four times since 2020, and none of those were in the COID.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNobody else in the state does what we do to try and encourage use,\u201d Talbott said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since 2021, the district has sent more than 1,000 letters to landowners warning them they were in danger of losing water rights. The intent of the letters isn\u2019t to scare people, but to educate them about water stewardship, Talbott said. If landowners suspected of not using water don\u2019t take action, COID can and will confiscate rights itself, she added, but this rarely happens.<\/p>\n<p>Casad\u2019s landlord got a letter from COID in 2016, after aerial surveillance spotted \u201cspecific dry areas\u201d on the property, district records show. Casad and his wife, Cate Havstad-Casad, had turned one rocky corner into a compost pile and parking area for their equipment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn order to satisfy the powers that be seeing that we\u2019re using the water, there was an entire season where we had to water that compost pile and equipment yard,\u201d Havstad-Casad said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>By the next year, a COID inspector\u2019s report noted \u201cenough growth to avoid confiscation.\u201d In 2023, on another property, Andria Truax and her husband Dan Baumann got a COID warning letter that sent them into \u201cpanic mode,\u201d they said. The couple owns a nursery raising drought-tolerant landscaping plants on a 10-acre property near Bend.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re supposed to keep some of these areas green that are next to impossible to grow anything on,\u201d Truax said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They didn\u2019t want to douse rocky soil and fight back the weeds that immediately sprang up. The irony struck her because \u201cfarmers are getting cut off from water downstream and meanwhile we\u2019re being told to water more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, to protect their water rights and property values, they turned on the sprinklers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>COID doesn\u2019t tell people to water rocks or compost piles, Talbott said in an interview last year. In a more recent interview, she said OPB and ProPublica\u2019s finding that only about 25% of the district\u2019s diversion was consumed by crops was \u201cinfuriating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do so much to educate our patrons and for them to use the water right and make products out of it, feed the community, feed cows, whatever is in alignment with water law,\u201d Talbott said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the same meeting, Horrell said the district not only doesn\u2019t overdeliver water, but some properties don\u2019t get enough. COID doesn\u2019t directly measure how much water landowners use, only how much land they\u2019re irrigating.<\/p>\n<p>In its water management conservation plan, which covers 2015 to 2020, COID approximated how much water crops required, based on surveys of its landowners about what they were growing \u2014 largely pastures \u2014 and federal weather data. Those averaged estimates showed crops required about 27% of what the district took out of the river annually. That roughly mirrors our own finding of what crops actually drank, based on the state\u2019s study of satellite data.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Horrell and other district officials did not respond to multiple questions about the numbers in COID\u2019s own conservation plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cThey Have All the Cards\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>State leaders have long wrestled with how to divvy up the Deschutes Basin in the face of increasing drought, booming population and growing demand. Bend and Redmond, the basin\u2019s two largest cities, are facing uncertain future supplies; during the drought of 2022, COID diverted over 12 times more water than both cities combined, with their then roughly 132,000 total residents. While farms are, by far, the biggest water users in the nation, the COID\u2019s contribution to the state\u2019s agricultural economy is among the lowest in Oregon. The region leads other Oregon counties only in horse sales.<\/p>\n<p>Republican state Rep. Mark Owens, a hay farmer from Eastern Oregon and one of the state\u2019s leading voices on water management, said the district\u2019s hobby farmers are getting excess water \u201cwhich they do not need, should not have to utilize and should not be delivered to them.\u201d Oregon, he said, is long overdue to look again at how it manages water.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The beneficial use rule was designed, he said, to build up rural economies, and \u201cit\u2019s what allowed some of our communities to prosper.\u201d But now, \u201cyou have a group of folks that employ nobody, harvest nothing, so how are you actually providing a public benefit for that water?\u201d he said. \u201cSo is there something broken? Yeah, there is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>How, he asked, \u201cdo you get the most crop per drop?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rather than mandates, the Legislature has turned to incentives, like authorizing programs that pay people to leave water in the river without losing the right to it. Baumann and Truax eventually did just that with a sliver of their water rights. But the state doesn\u2019t dictate how irrigation districts use those incentives. COID\u2019s board of directors has capped participation so that very few properties are eligible.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Horrell said the district has to limit enrollment in water-sharing programs because its 120-year-old delivery system will fail if the canals aren\u2019t brimming full.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video bb--size-medium bb--size-large p-bb--size-medium p-bb--size-large\"><video height=\"1080\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1080;\" width=\"1920\" autoplay=\"\" loop=\"\" muted=\"\" preload=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/OR-Deschutes-River-Irrigation-body-cinemagraph.mp4\" playsinline=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">After the Central Oregon Irrigation District delivered water to landowners near Redmond, Oregon, in July 2025, what\u2019s left pooled in a silty pond where it eventually drained away or evaporated. The district said it has 24 ponds that catch water at the ends of its system.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Brandon Swanson\/OPB<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The district\u2019s hundreds of miles of open, unlined waterways rely on gravity to push huge volumes out of the river and propel the water that ends up on fields more than 30 miles away. When COID has reduced the volume of this \u201ccarry water\u201d too much in the past, Horrell said, farms at the ends of the system suffered.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But the district acknowledged in public meetings and in our interviews that all the water leaking and evaporating along the way is wasteful. To change that, it\u2019s seeking more than $700 million in public funding to replace the canals with new, pressurized pipes. It\u2019s already gotten more than $65 million for piping since 2015.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no dispute that we all want a better, more equal, more balanced water delivery system that benefits our river, our partners, districts, cities. That\u2019s a given,\u201d Horrell said, \u201cHow we get there is what we argue about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>COID is a business, he emphasized, one that he said does need to become more sustainable as the climate changes.<\/p>\n<p>COID\u2019s rights allow it to take even more water from the Deschutes than it does. Even so, Horrell pointed out, it has voluntarily scaled back over the last decade of droughts. Thanks to piping, he said, it sends some water to downstream farmers when it doesn\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n<p>But, he said, that \u201cdoesn\u2019t mean that it is not ours.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Deschutes, like rivers across the country, is owned by the public, and taxpayers are spending big to conserve it. But irrigation districts still have all the power, said environmental advocate Yancy Lind, who contributes to a state-supported water planning group with districts, cities and state managers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe live in the West and in the West, water is power and the irrigators have the water. It\u2019s that simple,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have all the cards. We\u2019re just trying to pull little crumbs out from them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cIt Doesn\u2019t Have to Be This Way\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>After seven years of leasing land in the COID, Casad headed north to nearby Jefferson County and the North Unit Irrigation District, where he now lives. He moved because he could afford to buy there and the land was more fertile \u2014 it produces more than half the world\u2019s supply of carrot seed. Plus he wanted to live among people like him, dedicated farmers, someone like Jos Poland, \u201ca tough dude\u201d and the lifelong dairy farmer who became his new neighbor.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-large bb--size-medium bb--size-large p-bb--size-medium p-bb--size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"766\" width=\"1149\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=1149\" alt=\"A landscape of green farmland, with irrigation sprinkler lines across it, and in the distance a snow-capped mountain.\" class=\"wp-image-82526\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1334 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_053_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1067 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1149px) 100vw, 1149px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">The peaks of the Cascade Range are visible in the distance from Casad Family Farms. The mountain range forms a wall dividing wet, coastal Oregon from semi-arid high desert.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Leah Nash for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The move came with one big tradeoff. Casad went from a district with plentiful water to one that has long had to make do with less. North Unit is the first to be cut off during a drought. Compared to the COID, even in a wet year, North Unit promises half as much water per acre, and it loses an even higher percentage in leaky delivery canals, but its crops still consume a much higher percentage of what the district takes out of the river, our analysis found.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>North Unit\u2019s farmers pride themselves on that efficiency. Drive through Casad\u2019s neighborhood and you\u2019ll see rows of water-saving sprinklers, and pumps churning to recycle and reapply the runoff captured by specialized ponds. \u201cIt\u2019s the only way we\u2019ve been able to survive,\u201d said one of the district\u2019s longtime farmers, 80-year-old Gary Harris.<\/p>\n<p>Casad knew this, so he calculated that half as much water on fertile land would be enough.<\/p>\n<p>And it was, until the drought hit in 2020. To keep his farm going, he started drying up two acres of land for every acre of potatoes he planted. Down the road, Poland\u2019s organic cow pastures died. He had to sell half his herd.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was losing money so fast that I couldn\u2019t afford to feed my animals,\u201d Poland recalled. \u201cThat threw me in a big depression.\u201d He struggled to get out of bed. Casad started helping him with the dairy, working through the night on his own farm.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember watching the lights of the tractor out the window,\u201d Cate Havstad-Casad said. She was pregnant with their first child, sitting in the bathtub having contractions, she said, but she waited hours to call her husband inside \u201cbecause I understood the pressure on his shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Casad wept as he dredged up memories of the drought. \u201cSome of this stuff you just bury,\u201d he said. \u201cYou bury it down deep.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During those years, which overlapped with the pandemic, Jefferson County Commissioner Kelly Simmelink said he heard from farmers dealing with falling commodity prices, rising operational costs, \u201cand then the real fact of water availability \u2014 I don\u2019t know how you continue.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video bb--size-xsmall-right block-visibility-hide-medium-screen block-visibility-hide-small-screen p-bb--size-xsmall-right\"><video height=\"1920\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1080 \/ 1920;\" width=\"1080\" controls=\"\" poster=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/OR_River11_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/OR_River_lr.mp4\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Cate Havstad-Casad reacts to the news that state water cutbacks mean her family will need to dry up most of their farm in this excerpt from a March 2022 video diary.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Courtesy of Cate Havstad-Casad<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As the drought wore on, the suicide rate in Jefferson County nearly doubled. \u201cOur farmers and ranchers face immense pressure,\u201d he told the Legislature in early 2023, successfully urging it to launch a state-funded suicide prevention hotline for agricultural producers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Two years into the drought, Casad learned at North Unit\u2019s spring meeting that he would have to cut back his water use even more. For every acre of vegetables he could plant, four would have to go fallow. He called his wife to break the news when she was out of town.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After she hung up, she sat alone in her hotel room and broke down.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video bb--size-xsmall-right block-visibility-hide-large-screen p-bb--size-xsmall-right\"><video height=\"1920\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1080 \/ 1920;\" width=\"1080\" controls=\"\" poster=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/OR_River11_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/OR_River_lr.mp4\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Cate Havstad-Casad reacts to the news that state water cutbacks mean her family will need to dry up most of their farm in this excerpt from a March 2022 video diary.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Courtesy of Cate Havstad-Casad<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be this way\u201d she said through tears in a video diary she recorded at the time. \u201cIt is Oregon water law which will give a very wealthy person with a hayfield that they literally mow and leave in the field and do nothing with because their life has nothing to do with the land, \u2026\u00a0 that person will get twice as much water as any professional farmer will get in North Unit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Casad no longer grows potatoes. The bins where he once stored them sit empty in the barn. Now he grows mostly hay and grass for cattle \u2014 crops that he said need less water.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped bb--size-medium bb--size-full wp-block-gallery-5 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex block-visibility-hide-medium-screen block-visibility-hide-small-screen p-bb--size-medium p-bb--size-full\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"502\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"82533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"A wall in the interior of a barn with numerous objects hung on it, including a faded American flag, a T-shirt that says \u201cJuan Deere\u201d with a silhouette of a donkey, old advertising posters, and a board that reads, \u201cPotatoes, Stop In\u201d and has a drawing of a potato with a smiling face.\" class=\"wp-image-82533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1334 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1067 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">The barn at the Casad family farm<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Leah Nash for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"502\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"82532\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"Empty bins made of weathered and battered wood. \" class=\"wp-image-82532\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1334 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1067 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Empty bins that once stored potatoes<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Leah Nash for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-1 is-cropped bb--size-medium bb--size-large wp-block-gallery-6 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex block-visibility-hide-large-screen p-bb--size-medium p-bb--size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"502\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"82532\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"Empty bins made of weathered and battered wood.\" class=\"wp-image-82532\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1334 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_025-PDedit_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1067 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Empty bins that once stored potatoes<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Leah Nash for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"502\" width=\"752\" data-id=\"82533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"A wall in the interior of a barn with numerous objects hung on it, including a faded American flag, a T-shirt that says \u201cJuan Deere\u201d with a silhouette of a donkey, old advertising posters, and a board that reads, \u201cPotatoes, Stop In\u201d and has a drawing of a potato with a smiling face.\" class=\"wp-image-82533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1334 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_017_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1067 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">The barn at the Casad family farm<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Leah Nash for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-full bb--size-medium bb--size-full p-bb--size-medium p-bb--size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"1708\" width=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=2560\" alt=\"Inside a barn sits a large yellow machine with wheels and an angled chute. The machine is surrounded by hay bales and a cat walks by.\" class=\"wp-image-82534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1334 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_014_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1067 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">A potato harvester in the barn at the Casad family farm has been idle for four years. The children now use it as a slide.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Leah Nash for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But rough years are coming for farmers in the Deschutes Basin. This year Oregon\u2019s snowpack is one of the lowest it\u2019s been in recorded history. That snow takes years to percolate and it\u2019s what feeds the mountain springs powering the river. More than half of Oregon counties have already declared droughts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Casad farm is still paying down the debts from the last drought. Chris Casad worked part-time at a feedlot this winter. Now he\u2019s a school bus driver.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To his two young children, his \u201cwhale\u201d of a potato harvester has never been anything other than a slide, their playground for make-believe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-propublica-position-medium bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" js-autosizes=\"\" height=\"502\" width=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752\" alt=\"A man holds the hand of a boy as the two walk down a dirt driveway toward a house in the distance. Two dogs follow behind them.\" class=\"wp-image-82535\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=459,306 459w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1334 2000w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=800,534 800w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w, https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_038_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1600,1067 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\"\/><figcaption class=\"attribution\"><span class=\"attribution__caption\">Chris Casad and his oldest son, Hesston, with dogs Beth, left, and her pup, Rue, walk along the driveway of the family\u2019s farm.<\/span> <span class=\"attribution__credit\">Leah Nash for ProPublica<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-propublica-aside bb--size-medium p-bb--size-medium\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Data<\/h3>\n<p>The Oregon Water Resources Department used stream gauges to provide estimates of how much Deschutes River water six irrigation districts diverted in Bend. OWRD\u2019s diversion estimates are based on stream gauges from May to September, when the irrigation diversion flows are most consistent. They do not include the full April to October irrigation season. Estimates of how much of the Central Oregon Irrigation District\u2019s water leaked or evaporated from its canals are based on the district\u2019s 2022 Water Management Conservation Plan, its 2016 System Improvement Plan and state water right records.<\/p>\n<p>To estimate how much water crops in the COID consumed annually over the last decade, we relied on a recent state study of weather, satellite and crop data as well as irrigation district and county property records.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The state data is publicly available in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dri.edu\/project\/owrd-et\/\">a 2025 study co-authored by OWRD and the Nevada-based Desert Research Institute<\/a>. Reporters worked with an outside consultant, Arizona-based <a href=\"https:\/\/virgalabs.io\/\">Virga Labs<\/a>, to layer the statewide irrigated field-level data with irrigation district maps and county property records in order to isolate fields within COID\u2019s and North Unit\u2019s service areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To contextualize our water use findings, we conducted more than 50 interviews with farmers, water managers, hydrologists, legal experts, irrigation experts, climate experts, conservation advocates, lawmakers and COID landowners.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The state\u2019s estimates of irrigation water consumption draw on evapotranspiration data produced by OpenET, which combines satellite and weather data to gauge the water that evaporates from crops. OpenET data has uncertainty, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregon.gov\/owrd\/WRDPublications1\/FINAL_OWRD_ET_Applications_Memo_28MAR2025.pdf\">as OWRD notes in a 2025 memo<\/a>, but several experts said remotely sensed evapotranspiration was the most reliable way to estimate water use short of measuring it directly. We sought to minimize the uncertainty factors listed in OWRD\u2019s memo by basing our findings on results and trends for a 70-square-mile area from 2015 to 2022, the most recent years for which state data is available. We used both county records and irrigation district billing records to verify COID delivered water to the acreage in our analysis of the district, excluding any properties the state identified as using groundwater rights and those irrigating less than an acre, to account for water that could have been supplied by domestic wells. When included, those properties did not significantly change our results. We spot-checked information about individual properties by consulting irrigation district records, reviewing aerial imagery and interviewing landowners.<\/p>\n<p>Our analysis did not seek to quantify exactly what happened to all the water that COID diverted but that was not consumed by crops.<\/p>\n<p>COID provides some water \u2014 roughly 1% of the district\u2019s water rights \u2014- for purposes other than irrigation, according to state records. Those uses were not reflected in our analysis.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reporting Highlights Draining the Deschutes: During a historic drought, half of Central Oregon\u2019s lifeblood river was diverted to a wealthy agricultural region that got a lot more water than its plants could drink.\u00a0\u00a0 Suffering Farms: These water-rich landowners grew mostly grass and pasture for landscaping and grazing while water-starved farmers downstream fallowed fields of commercial&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":74,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260404-Nash-DeschutesIrrigation_101-SOCIAL_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[76,80,79,78,75,73,81,74,77],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-benefits","tag-expense","tag-farmers","tag-landowners","tag-law","tag-oregon","tag-propublica","tag-water","tag-wealthy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=73"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/74"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=73"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=73"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valutednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=73"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}