The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced a $5.9 million federal grant to North Unit Irrigation District for the replacement of aging screens designed to prevent fish from entering its canal system from the Deschutes River.

North Unit will use the funds to install flat-plate screens and a traveling-screen cleaning system at the Bend headworks, located at the district’s main canal intake on Bend’s north side, according to a news release Tuesday from the Bureau of Reclamation.

The screens are designed to allow water to flow into the canal while preventing fish from entering the canal system. Fish screens also improve the quality of water that enters the canal system by reducing debris and sediment that can clog canals and pipes. So-called traveling screens rotate, which helps in the filtering process and prevents debris from accumulating in one location.

The Deschutes River is home to brown and rainbow trout, brook trout, whitefish and other fish species. For decades its fish populations have been threatened by the installation of dams and canal diversions that disrupt fish habitat. The current screens blocking the canal were installed in 1945.

The new screens will slow the water into the canal and will also prevent smaller fish from entering the canal. The screens will be designed to provide a safe path for fish to the fish ladder, which allows fish to migrate further downstream.

The grant is part of a $51 million funding package from President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to fund 18 projects in eight states to improve aquatic habitats. The infrastructure funding has allowed the Bureau of Reclamation to invest $8.3 billion over five years for water infrastructure projects.

Mike Britton, executive director of the North Unit Irrigation District, said replacing the screens has been a priority “for decades” but securing funding for the project has been a challenge.

“With the opportunities that have become available through the Biden administration, we are now able to take care of those fish screens and hopefully they will last another 70 years,” said Britton.

Britton said the cost to purchase the screens will be around $3 million. Funds will also be used for civil engineering work, which has increased due to inflation.

“Like everything else these days, costs have nearly tripled for various reasons,” said Britton.

In addition to the funding for North Unit, the Bureau of Reclamation also announced a $651,542 grant to the Deschutes River Conservancy for a project to restore aquatic habitat for the Oregon spotted frog and native redband trout in the Upper Deschutes Basin.

The conservancy and the Deschutes Basin Board of Control will use the grant to fund several projects designed to restore the stream channel by regrading the riverbanks and reconnecting the active channel with its adjacent floodplains.

“The altered flows in the Upper Deschutes River have resulted in an over-widened channel that is disconnected from the wetlands that the Oregon spotted frog needs to survive,” said Kate Fitzpatrick, executive director of the conservancy.

The work is expected to help water inundate wetlands and riverbanks, improving habitat for the spotted frog and instream habitat.

“This is a first step in what will be extensive work needed in the system,” said Fitzpatrick. “As these projects get implemented, the public will notice a more natural Deschutes River system and all the benefits that entails, including a better fishery and improved water quality.”