More than one mile of the Pilot Butte Canal could soon be listed to the National Register of Historic Places, potentially thwarting a piping project.

The State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation voted this week to nominate 7,435 feet of the canal within and near northeast Bend city limits. The nomination includes 17 acres of surrounding land that would become a historic district if the listing is approved by the National Park Service.

Pilot Butte Preservation Alliance, a group of neighbors and property owners along the canal, sought the nomination to preserve the waterway and surrounding area for a potential trail system extension.

“We’ve had a very positive vision for this area for some time.” said Jeff Perreault, a retired hydrologist and property owner. “Our vision is this will become part of a larger trail network.

“The canals are something that are an aesthetic feature of our area,” Perreault said.

The group has also raised safety concerns and questioned the need for piping the same section of canal, which has been proposed by the Central Oregon Irrigation District.

The irrigation district is seeking a text amendment to the county code that would allow it to enclose and pipe about 4,500 feet of the same part of the canal without going through a lengthy conditional use process for the assigned residential zoning. The district already pipes part of the canal downstream leading to a hydropower plant at Juniper Ridge. The new section of proposed piping would connect with the other.

A listing to the register would potentially affect whether the piping project could be completed. It would require Deschutes County and the city of Bend to review any land use applications pertaining to the canal’s “demolition, removal, or major exterior alteration,” according to Oregon law.

Irrigation district officials have said they agree parts of the canal are historic, but disagree with the process property owners have pursued. The district has conducted a separate historical analysis of its canals. It also manages the Central Oregon Canal, which runs from the Deschutes River in Bend to Alfalfa and then up to Powell Butte.

The nomination forwarded to the National Park Service on Thursday encompassed two years of work. Michael Hall, a historic preservation planner, began the process of documenting the canal’s historic significance.

Pat Kliewer, a former historic and cultural resources planner for Deschutes County, spent a year researching and studying the canal as well.

“We’re really excited that this particular stretch has gotten to the end of the nomination process because it is so unique and so special,” Kliewer said.

The Pilot Butte Canal runs from the Deschutes River in Bend to Terrebonne near the Crooked River. Construction of the canal was completed in 1905. Alexander Drake, one of founders of Bend, named the canal after Pilot Butte, which is now a state park. He founded a company that secured the water rights to divert water from the Deschutes River to ranchers and farmers.

The canal also delivers water to the city of Redmond, golf courses, parks, schools and for residential landscaping.

A national register listing would be based on the historical significance the canal played in bringing water to allow farming, fostering settlements and the incorporation of Bend and Redmond.

Kliewer said historic recognition of the canal is long overdue. The federal listing would be the first for a canal in Deschutes County.

“I know the residents there are looking forward to preserving it and allowing people to enjoy it,” Kliewer said.

The group of property owners has also sought historic recognition for the section of canal from Deschutes County. The county planning division decided in December the application for historic designation couldn’t be filed because of timing and property ownership. Deschutes County commissioners are reviewing the decision.

— Reporter: 541-617-7820,

tshorack@bendbulletin.com