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Crooked River Watershed Council updates county on USGS study, beaver reintroduction and bank stabilization plans
Summary
Chris Gannon, director of the Crooked River Watershed Council, told the Crook County Board of Commissioners the council is working with USGS on a nitrogen-source study due January 2026, pursuing beaver reestablishment programs and planning bank-stabilization projects across a roughly 19-mile reach below Pineville.
Chris Gannon, director of the Crooked River Watershed Council, briefed the Crook County Board of Commissioners on May 21 on a year-long set of watershed projects including a USGS water-quality study, a beaver reintroduction effort and bank-stabilization work along the Lower Crooked River.
Gannon said the council has partnered with the county, the city, Ochoco Irrigation District, the Swimming Water Conservation District and a conservation group from Bend to examine water-quality issues that originate in the Crooked River and move into the Deschutes system. He told commissioners the U.S. Geological Survey is conducting more technical sampling to identify sources of nitrogen compounds; USGS will issue a formal report in January 2026, and the council plans to return with the agency to summarize findings for the board.
The council is also pursuing a two-pronged beaver program, Gannon said: encourage beaver reestablishment where appropriate while providing landowners with nuisance-beaver assistance where beaver activity interferes with irrigation or culverts. He described that effort as “hit and miss” because of landowner concerns about infrastructure impacts.
Gannon described ongoing bank-stabilization planning on a roughly 19-mile reach of the Lower Crooked River between the Pineville city limits and Lone Pine Bridge, working with seven large landowners to address annual erosion during high-flow events. He said bank erosion can range “from a few inches to a few feet” depending on the year and called stabilization projects a priority to reduce repeated soil loss.
Gannon told the board that over the past five years the council’s ranking of operational challenges has flipped: permitting for conservation projects is now the hardest obstacle, followed by funding and then landowner acceptance — reversing the order he observed when he began in 2011. He asked for help in coordinating with state permitting agencies to speed conservation work.
A commissioner offered to set up a meeting with the governor’s office to discuss permitting barriers; Gannon said the council would welcome that conversation.
Gannon also reported improved council finances compared with prior years and said the council had submitted an annual report to the county.
