A Web of Opportunity
Using irrigation modernization to activate statewide opportunities for improved access to broadband and fire preparedness
An Aging Lifeline of the West
In the western United States, growing crops means irrigating land, often with water diverted from rivers.
The dams, diversions, and canals that deliver this water can be over a century old, and anywhere from thirty to seventy percent of the water may be lost to seepage and evaporation. Modernizing these systems increases resiliency and reliability for farms and restores flow to rivers and creeks.
A Web of Opportunity
A birds-eye view of Oregon reveals how these diversions create a web across the state, connecting farms, communities, and forest in a way that can be activated for multiple benefits.
A significant barrier to improving telecommunications and energy infrastructure in rural areas is the expense associated with siting, right-of-way or easements, engineering, permitting, and installation.
Irrigation districts already hold thousands of rights-of-way that wind through rural Oregon.
Activating these pathways can expedite efforts to make rural communities more innovative and sustainable.
Canals of Oregon
Source: National Hydrography Dataset
Improving Broadband Access
Pipeline projects that are being planned to improve water availability for farmers and fish already cover many of the associated costs, making the co-location of fiber optic lines highly feasible and cost-effective.
Increasing broadband infrastructure statewide through these already planned irrigation projects would accelerate efforts to increase access for rural students, as well as enable precision farming capabilities.
Broadband Service Needs
Existing irrigation infrastructure in Oregon and potential for broadband co-location.
Broadband Data Source: ESRI and FCC Form 477
Broadband Service Needs
Madras - Central, Oregon
Existing irrigation infrastructure in Central Oregon and potential for broadband co-location.
Broadband Data Source: ESRI and FCC Form 477
Strengthening Fire Preparedness
Natural disasters, such as increasingly catastrophic wildfires, pose new threats to rural communities. The pressurized water generated by modern irrigation infrastructure alone can provide an additional water source for emergency responders, decreasing response times.
In addition, buried transmission lines could also provide a safe way to continue electrical service when wildfire risks are elevated.
Fire Risk
Oregon
Existing irrigation infrastructure in Oregon and potential for improving wildfire preparedness.
Wildland Fire Potential Data Source: ESRI and the USFS Fire Modeling Institute
Fire Risk
Rogue Valley - Southern, Oregon
Existing irrigation infrastructure in Southern Oregon and potential for improving wildfire preparedness.
Wildland Fire Potential Data Source: ESRI and the USFS Fire Modeling Institute
Existing and newly proposed state and federal programs can be leveraged to finance and streamline the process for installing the new West – rural communities equipped with the infrastructure necessary to make the most of technological advances all the while safeguarding resources and land. Maximizing our investments in infrastructure, particularly focusing on co-location, can help provide agricultural security, energy independence, and community resilience for the next hundred years.
