A lava tube collapse that shut down an irrigation canal in east Bend earlier this week has undergone a rapid repair and is expected to be put back into service this weekend.

Central Oregon Irrigation District, which operates the canal, shut down water deliveries to patrons this week after a portion of the Central Oregon Canal failed last weekend due to a 40-foot wide sinkhole.

The breach occurred on Bend’s eastern outskirts, between Ward and Gosney roads, affecting water deliveries to around 1,800 properties.

“Water supplies are being restored, but working with a 100-year-old system means it will take time to push water through the canal,” said Craig Horrell, general manager for the district. “Irrigators in Alfalfa and Powell Butte should begin seeing water by Saturday.”

The stoppage of water diversions resulted in more-than-usual amounts of water running downstream through Bend for several days, causing a noticeable rise in water levels in the Bend Whitewater Park.

Work to repair the collapsed section of the canal included placing 1,200 cubic yards of boulders, 150 cubic yards of concrete and 1,200 cubic yards of gravel. K&E Excavating and Hooker Creek conducted repairs on the canal, said Horrell.

“The repairs done this week are intended to be long-term solutions,” said Horrell. “We are monitoring it over the next few days and weeks as we reintroduce water into the canal.

Horrell said additional inspections will be made at the end of the irrigation season when water is drained from the canal. Eventually, the canal will be piped, he said, but that is years down the road because the priority is piping the Pilot Butte Canal first.

Horrell said when the sinkhole opened, some of the water continued to flow past it, into the next section of canal, but some of the water fell into the sinkhole itself. It’s not clear where all that Deschutes River water ended up.

“We don’t know where the water that flowed into the sinkhole went,” said Horrell.