Talent Considers Piping Leaky, Open Air Irrigation Canal
Talent Irrigation District officials say piping a mile of its open air, leaky Talent canal could save enough water to allow the district to stop taking water out of Ashland Creek.
The $1 million project would remove the Oak street diversion and its fish ladder allowing water to stay in Ashland Creek and eventually Bear Creek, improving water quality and helping wild salmon.
If completed, the project would become the first mile of an estimated 200 miles of canal that could be piped in the upper Rogue River’s Bear Creek and Little Butte Creek under the WISE project.
A cost benefit study on the entire $300 million proposal will launch this month thanks to a $250,000 state grant.
