The Oregon Water Resources Commission is awarding almost five million dollars to help fund water projects throughout the state, including the Lone Pine Irrigation District in Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties.  $1.6 mil will be going to the construction of a new river crossing and the piping of ten and a half miles of open canals in the district.  The hope is that those enhancements will improve the efficiency of the system and will add legal protection to the conserved water instream.