TALENT, Ore. – The Talent Irrigation District will reopen its entire irrigation system after a two-week shutdown.
With the recent weather and severe drought situation facing the Rogue Basin, the agency said the shutdown was made to extend the limited water supply in our area.
President of the Talent Irrigation District Board Mike Winters said, “We’ve had as much as three years of drought protection, but every year we’ve dealt with less and less water. We kept biting into the savings account, so to speak.”
The people affected most by shutdowns are hay farmers and cattle ranchers, according to the district.
On June 24, the district announced it will start refilling canals on Monday, June 28. The process will take several days to make sure the canals hold up, but irrigators should start getting water soon. The district emphasized that irrigators shouldn’t open any valves without first talking to their ditch rider.
Talent Irrigation District water comes from Howard Prairie Reservoir, Hyatt Lake, and Emigrant Lake. Without significant rain, this year’s irrigation season could be even shorter than originally anticipated. The district needs more than 50,000 acre-feet of water to make it through a regular season. This season started with a little over 22,000 acre-feet.
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