On Monday the Deschutes National Forest released a final decision to issue a special use permit allowing the City of Bend to make improvements to the Bridge Creek Water Supply System.
The final decision follows Deputy Regional Forester Becki Heath’s response to issues raised by four objectors to the project. With the decision the Deschutes National Forest will issue a special use permit lasting for up to 20 years to allow the City of Bend to maintain and improve the water supply system on National Forest System lands as analyzed in the environmental assessment.
Those improvements include installation of a 10-mile-long replacement water supply pipeline and upgrades to an existing intake facility. A previous decision on issuing a special use permit to the City of Bend was withdrawn.
The major change in the new decision limits the City of Bend to withdrawing a maximum of 18.2 cubic feet per second from Tumalo Creek.This change will allow more water to be left in 10 miles of Tumalo Creek than remains under the City’s current system.
The new decision also calls for the City of Bend to monitor the flow of water both at the top of the pipeline at the Bridge Creek diversion and at the bottom of the pipeline at the Outback Site.
While construction could begin immediately, the Forest Service has required the City to wait at least 30 days to allow them to notify the public of pending traffic impacts on Skyliners Road, which will remain open during construction.
For more information about the decision and the project, please contact Rod Bonacker, project coordinator, at 541-480-3915.
