SALEM — Juniper removal efforts in Oregon’s high desert would receive $15 million under a bill that’s touted as a way to conserve water while reducing wildfire risks.

Under House Bill 3135, the $15 million would be distributed to soil and water conservation districts in Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson, Harney, Klamath, Lakeview, and Wheeler counties, where juniper trees have increasingly dominated the landscape over the past two centuries.

“If we want to get real about water conservation, we need to get rid of juniper,” said Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, the bill’s chief sponsor, during a recent legislative hearing.

The proposal would continue juniper removal work and associated research that received $2.65 million from lawmakers in 2023 under broader water funding legislation. Most of the seven juniper-removal projects awarded that money are now nearing completion.

“We’ve started to get some of the data we are looking for,” Breese-Iverson said.

Though juniper is a native Western species, fire suppression and other factors have caused the trees to behave like invasive weeds since European settlement of the West.

Each tree consumes between 25 gallons and 40 gallons per day, which can add up to more than 300,000 gallons per acre — the equivalent daily water use of four average households in Central Oregon, experts say.

Considering that juniper now covers millions of acres in Central and Eastern Oregon, experts say it has serious water implications for irrigators and cities in these regions.

“It’s really impacting our watershed and the hydrology of our area,” said Eric Klann, engineer for the City of Prineville.

The eventual goal is to develop a renewable energy project in Prineville that would burn juniper wood in a controlled environment, preventing the release of smoke and particulates while generating electricity, he said.

“We hope to use all these opportunities as teaching opportunities,” Klann said.

According to a study started in 2019, peak flows in a Jefferson County stream have climbed in recent years as junipers were removed from the surrounding watershed, said Doug Riggs, a representative of the Central Oregon Cities Association.

“The proof is in the pudding,” he said.

Apart from preserving water, juniper removal projects have helped restore native grasses and the ecosystems they support while decreasing the risk of fire, which is heightened by the tree’s sap, Riggs said. “This is the beginning of the process.”

Ultimately, the total elimination of juniper is “never going to happen,” both due to the tree’s abundance and because the oldest and most historic specimens are considered “cultural resources,” said Andy Gallagher, manager of the Crook County Soil and Water Conservation District.

“We can’t ignore those resources, so those trees tend to get a reprieve,” he said.