Detour on Division for Irrigation project
Tyson Beauchemin
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A detour on Division Street from Highway 97 is in place while The North Unit Irrigation District replaces fish screens in the river nearby.
These screens are designed to guide fish and other aquatic creatures away from equipment and into safe passages.
The banks of the river are steep near the headwaters, and the District needs to close down one lane of traffic so a large crane can be part of the project.
Josh Bailey serves as the general manager for the North Unit Irrigation District. Bailey says these upgrades have been a long time coming. The screens are 80 years old.
“Our system has a lot of pumps,” Bailey said. “There’s a lot of drops. There’s, a lot of things that, are definitely not conducive for, biological life. And we want to keep all of that out of our system, not only to protect the species, whatever it may be, but also to protect the district’s infrastructure.”
This partial road closure that is expected to continue until around April 9. Then, they’ll resume the work in October.
They’re doing this project during the off season, so it doesn’t impact farmers and ranchers who depend on the irrigation district for their water.