HERMISTON, Ore.-The irrigation season is now underway, with water flowing into canals and expected to reach customers soon.
The Hermiston Irrigation District (HID) opened Cold Springs Reservoir on April 1. According to the HID, it may take about a week for the system to fully charge and all canals to fill, however, the district expects that most patrons should have water by this weekend.
The HID provides water to about 1,200 customers in the Greater-Hermiston area through a network of 90 miles of canals, ditches and pipelines, that ultimately irrigate about 10,000 acres.
“HID is expecting to have nearly all of its water allotment for the 2025 season,” said Annette Kirkpatrick, HID District Manager. “We do not expect to have to exercise a water rotation schedule this year.”
Cold Springs Reservoir, a 1,600-acre reservoir located six miles Northeast of Hermiston, is filled from Cold Springs Creek, from a gravity-fed canal system draining from the Umatilla River and through canals from the Columbia River in low-water years.
The HID operates under the Umatilla Basin Plan, a bucket-for-bucket exchange of water from the Columbia and Umatilla Rivers started in 1988 for the benefit of the Umatilla River fishery.
As part of the plan, the Bonneville Power Administration pays for pumping water from the Columbia River, and while the Umatilla Basin Plan doesn’t provide additional water to the HID, it does provide a more reliable supply of water for customers, according to the HID.
The HID is part of the Umatilla Basin Project, which also includes the Westland Irrigation District, the West Extension Irrigation District and the Stanfield Irrigation District, all of which typically turn the water on in late March or early April.
The private Westland Irrigation District, which draws from the Umatilla River to irrigate about 14,700 acres of farmland and has rights to water stored at McKay Reservoir, turned its water on the week of March 17 and is also expecting an above average outlook for the 2025 irrigation season.
The irrigation season typically runs April 1 through October 1 but can vary depending on weather and water availability.
