Malheur Reservoir

Malheur Reservoir is an irrigation lake along Willow Creek in Malheur County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Built by the Orchard Irrigation District in the 1930s, the 1282 acre lake can hold about 49000 acre.ft of water, which is used to irrigate about 2300 acre of farmland downstream. Draining a semi-arid rangeland basin of 254 sqmi, the reservoir receives very high concentrations of nutrients and is naturally eutrophic.

About 80 percent of the 12.3 mi shoreline is privately owned, but the lake and part of the shore is open to public use. Since the mid-1960s, the reservoir has been stocked with rainbow trout, although fishing conditions have varied with weather cycles, and the reservoir has at times gone dry during drought. During wet cycles, it is capable of producing trout in excess of 20 in long.

The lake is accessible by dirt road, starting either from an intersection with U.S. Route 26, about 15 mi to the southwest, near Ironside, or from a different intersection with Route 26, about 15 mi to the southeast near Brogan. The lake has a boat ramp on the north shore, and camping is possible in a few places near the ramp. The Malheur County Parks Department maintains the boat ramp as well as gravel parking and a restroom.