Tumalo Irrigation District, Tumalo Project, West of Deschutes River, Tumalo, Deschutes County, OR

Significance: Tumalo Project structures and features are significant for their association with a troubled irrigation system built during the early twentieth century in the Upper Deschutes River Basin. For most of its history, the system has functioned under the control of the Tumalo Irrigation District (TID), a National Register-eligible historic property. The district's earliest features date to 1900, with substantial building phases in circa 1903, 1913-1914, and 1922-1923. Initially begun as a private enterprise, the system came under the jurisdiction of the State of Oregon as a failed Carey Act project before reformation as the self-governing TID. Construction of the irrigation system historically known as the Tumalo Project has encouraged and accompanied settlement and agricultural development in the Upper Deschutes River Basin to the present day.
Survey number: HAER OR-151
Building/structure dates: 1923 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1955-2006 Subsequent Work