Canal hydro project completed


The completion of the $22 million Juniper Ridge Hydroelectric Project marks a feat of water conservation and renewable energy production.

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The completion of the $22 million Juniper Ridge Hydroelectric Project marks an engineering feat combining water conservation and the production of renewable energy.

The year-long project is located along Highway 97 north of Bend and will supply electricity for PacifiCorp.

[Central Oregon Irrigation District] Manager Steve Johnson spent several years marshalling resources, including assembling federal stimulus funds and tax credits, to realize a vision which involved replacing a 13,500-ft stretch of open irrigation canal with underground steel pipe and an innovative 3.5 megawatt turbine-driven hydropower system.

By piping and conserving water supplies previously lost through seepage into the porous canal base, the Juniper Ridge Project will also benefit Deschutes River salmon and reintroduced steelhead. Experts anticipate the project saving around 20 cubic feet of water per second – or around 11 Olympic-sized swimming pools a day that would otherwise have been lost from the watershed.

Read more at Cascade Business News.

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