Deer Creek Irrigation District: Ditch System Master Plan

(Cover Photo: Deer Creek Irrigation District Water Conveyance Structure © Trout Unlimited, all rights reserved)

In 2015, CDFW funded a master plan for upgrades to reduce losses that occur when water is flowing in the Deer Creek Irrigation District's ditch system.

• Project Proponent: Trout Unlimited
• Focus Habitat/Species: Spring-run Chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead
• CDFW Grant Support: $87,965
• Location: Northeast of Vina, Tehama County
• Scale: 3.5-mile canal & 11 miles of open ditches
• Timing: Completed 2016
• Funding Source: California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014
• Priority: Drought Emergency Help for Salmon

The Deer Creek Irrigation District (DCID) has diversion rights to about 33% of the existing water flow in Deer Creek. DCID uses its water rights to provide irrigation water to farmland in the area northeast of the town of Vina in Tehama County, California. As a result of irrigation diversions, streamflow is often low in Deer Creek in late spring, summer, and fall. Low flows are a primary barrier that prevents migrating fish from reaching the high quality water in the upper watershed. 

Large amounts of irrigation water are lost annually along the DCID irrigation ditches from outdated irrigation systems, seepage, spillage, and deep percolation. The upgrades described in the Master Plan aim to increase the efficiency of the ditch system and thereby increase the instream flow in Deer Creek. The resulting increased flows along Deer Creek will benefit the aquatic ecosystem, including Central Valley steelhead and Spring-run Chinook salmon.

For information about other CDFW funded Deer Creek restoration projects, please see these links:

•  Deer Creek Restoration Projects Overview 
•  Lower Deer Creek Flood and Ecosystem Improvement Project, Phase 1 
•  Stanford Vina Fish Passage Planning and Design Project 
•  Deer Creek Irrigation District (DCID) Dam Fish Passage Improvement Project 
•  Lower Deer Creek Falls Fish Passage Improvement Project 
•  Restoring the Deer Creek Headwaters at Childs Meadow  

To see other Project Highlight StoryMaps like this one, see:  https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Watersheds/Project-Highlights 

For Information on Proposition 1/68 Projects, please see:  https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Watersheds/Restoration-Grants/Projects 

For further information, please contact:  WatershedGrants@wildlife.ca.gov