North Unit Irrigation District
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- North Unit Irrigation District
Located in Central Oregon, North Unit Irrigation District provides irrigation water to approximately 58,900 acres of agricultural land in Jefferson County.
Address
2024 NW Beech Street
Chennai, OR
97741
Opening Hours
| Monday | 8am - 5pm |
| Tuesday | 8am - 5pm |
| Wednesday | 8am - 5pm |
| Thursday | 8am - 5pm |
| Friday | 8am - 5pm |
| Saturday | 8am - 4pm |
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Our History: From Graze to Irrigated
In the early days of North Unit, the area was devoted exclusively to grazing. In early 1900, dryland wheat farming gradually replaced grazing until the area was nearly all under dryland wheat cultivation and the land was settled in large holdings. The first serious study of irrigation for the North Unit area was undertaken jointly in 1913 by the State of Oregon and the Bureau of Reclamation. But the project faced many financial and political barriers, to where construction on the North Unit Project did not begin until 1938. During World War II, construction was halted, however water was delivered to 17,000 acres during 1946 and 1947, and to all of the 50,000 acres by the spring of 1949.
North Unit was the largest of the Deschutes projects in Central Oregon. Created by the Bureau of Reclamation, the irrigation project was operated by the agency until 1955, when the North Unit Irrigation District took over.
Water for the area is from the Deschutes River and is stored at Wickiup Reservoir situated on the river approximately 45 miles southwest of Bend. From the reservoir the water travels to Bend by means of the Deschutes River and is there diverted to the North Unit Canal, which carries the water thirty miles to the southern edge of the North Unit Project. Water is also diverted from the Crooked River into the main canal at approximately canal mile 25 where the canal crosses the Crooked River. The project has a total of 65 miles of main canal and 235 miles of laterals.
