The Joint System Canal (JSC) is a 13.6 mile irrigation canal at the beginning of both the Rogue River Valley and Medford Irrigation Districts. The JSC serves 2,200 farms and over 21,000 irrigated acres. 

The existing canal poses many challenges for the irrigation districts including significant maintenance costs and evaporation and seepage losses. The open water transportation and flood irrigation return flows contribute to water quality issues in Little Butte Creek and Rogue Basin.

The irrigation districts and partners are planning to pipe the entire JSC in a series of phases. Piping the canal will help the irrigation districts provide more and cleaner, pressurized water to their patrons. Water quality in the Rogue Basin and Little Butte Creek may be improved by reducing water quality impairment in water transportation and on-farm irrigation improvements that occur as a result of the project. The project will also result in instream conserved water for Little Butte Creek.

JSWCD is supporting this project via outreach efforts, project design work, and pre-project water quality monitoring.

Watch this excellent video or read this two page summary of the proposed project to learn more!