Oregon Leaders Are Trying to Save the Deschutes River. Here’s Why That’s So Hard.
Every year, about 90% of Central Oregon’s Deschutes River disappears into networks of canals and pipes traversing high desert. Between April and October, what’s left in this major river — one of the largest spring-fed waterways in the U.S. — looks more like a creek trickling out of Bend, Oregon. Six irrigation districts — quasi-public…