Irrigation Leader May 2021

VOLUME 12 ISSUE 5

may 2021

Menard County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1: Revitalizing a 280-Year-Old Canal

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CONTENTS MAY 2021 Volume 12 Issue 5

Irrigation Leader is published 10 times a year with combined issues for July/August and November/December by

an American company established in 2009.

STAFF: Kris Polly, Editor-in-Chief Joshua Dill, Managing Editor Tyler Young, Writer Stephanie Biddle, Graphic Designer Eliza Moreno, Web Designer Caroline Polly, Production Assistant and Social Media Coordinator Cassandra Leonard, Staff Assistant

8

Menard County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1: Revitalizing a 280-Year-Old Canal

5 T he Valuable Work of Small Irrigation Districts

By Kris Polly 8 M enard County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1: Revitalizing a 280-Year-Old Canal

22 T he Keith–Lincoln County Irrigation District: A Historic Small District in Western Nebraska 28 T he Stewart Ditch and Reservoir Company’s Piping Project 32 The Frenchman-Cambridge Irrigation District’s Radio Communications Towers

18 Y uma Irrigation District: Enabling All-Year-Round Ag in the Arid Southwest

38 D ee Waldron: Leveling Out for Irrigation in Utah’s Weber Basin 42 JOB LISTINGS

Coming soon in Irrigation Leader: June: New Zealand July: Russ Reinke of Reinke Manufacturing Do you have a story idea for an upcoming issue? Contact our editor-in-chief, Kris Polly, at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

4 | IRRIGATION LEADER | May 2021

ADVERTISING: Irrigation Leader accepts half-page and full-page ads. For more information on rates and placement, please contact Kris Polly at (703) 517-3962 or kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

CIRCULATION: Irrigation Leader is distributed to irrigation district managers and boards of directors in the 17 western states, Bureau of Reclamation officials, members of Congress and committee staff, and advertising sponsors.

For address corrections or additions, please contact us at admin@waterstrategies.com.

Copyright © 2020 Water Strategies LLC. Irrigation Leader relies on the excellent contributions of a variety of natural resources professionals who provide content for the magazine. However, the views and opinions expressed by these contributors are solely those of the original contributor and do not necessarily represent or reflect the policies or positions of Irrigation Leader magazine, its editors, or Water Strategies LLC. The acceptance and use of advertisements in Irrigation Leader do not constitute a representation or warranty by Water Strategies LLC or Irrigation Leader magazine regarding the products, services, claims, or companies advertised. /IrrigationLeader irrigationleader

@IrrigationLeadr

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COVER PHOTO: Caroline Runge (left) and Meredith Allen (right), the outgoing and current managers of Texas’s Menard County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1.

Photo courtesy of Whitworth Photography.

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF WHITWORTH PHOTOGRAPHY.

12 S upplying Agricultural Water in Hidalgo County, Texas

SUBMISSIONS: Irrigation Leader welcomes manuscript, photography, and art submissions.

However, the right to edit or deny publishing submissions is reserved. Submissions are returned only upon request.

For more information, please contact our office at (202) 698-0690 or irrigation.leader@waterstrategies.com.

The Valuable Work of Small Irrigation Districts

By Kris Polly

T

he beauty of American agriculture lies not just in its epic magnitude and immense productivity, but in the fact that it so often has a local and smallscale character. Small and family farms are integral to U.S. agriculture; so too are small local irrigation districts and water companies. In this month’s Irrigation Leader, we bring you some of their stories.

In our cover story, we interview Meredith Allen and Caroline Runge, the current and outgoing managers of Texas’s Menard County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1, which is working to repair its historic irrigation canal, built by the Spanish in 1756, and to revitalize irrigated agriculture in Menard County.

Elsewhere in Texas, Oscar Gonzalez of the Hidalgo County Water Control and Improvement District No. 19 is dealing with the encroachment of urban development and the complications caused by the construction of a wall on the U.S.‑Mexico border.

In Arizona, General Manager Rex Green of Yuma Irrigation District is working to ensure food safety, to raise funds for infrastructure improvements, and to mitigate the effects of drought in an area that provides 90 percent of the United States’ winter produce.

Mark McConnell, the general manager of western Nebraska’s Keith–Lincoln County Irrigation District, is working to pay for infrastructure improvements, in part by running water for Nebraska’s natural resources districts

through his district’s canals during the offseason for groundwater recharge.

Karl Burns, president of Colorado’s Stewart Ditch and Reservoir Company, tells us about the company’s recent Bureau of Reclamation–funded project to pipe a portion of its historic ditch with pipe manufactured by Diamond Plastics.

General Manager Brad Edgerton of Nebraska's Frenchman-Cambridge Irrigation District tells us about the radio communication towers that his district is putting up to operate its Rubicon automated gate system.

Finally, we speak with Dee Waldron, a farmer in Weber County, Utah, who has undertaken significant water efficiency projects on his property.

Small irrigation districts represent something truly admirable about the United States: How local producers come together to cooperatively build, fund, and operate infrastructure projects that benefit all, and how skillful managers leverage limited funds and resources to maintain and improve their districts’ water infrastructure. IL Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Irrigation Leader magazine and the president of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

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May 2021 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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Menard County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1: Revitalizing a 280‑Year-Old Canal

M

enard County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 (MCWCID), located in Menard County, Texas, manages an irrigation canal that was built by the Spanish in 1756. After being temporarily dewatered in 2013, the canal has experienced major seepage issues and now requires repairs. In this interview, Meredith Allen and Caroline Runge, the current and outgoing managers of MCWCID, talk to Irrigation Leader about the fascinating history of their canal and their plans to repair it and revitalize irrigated agriculture in Menard County.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your backgrounds and how you came to be in your current positions.

Meredith Allen: I grew up on a ranch in Sutton County, not far from Menard County. I earned a master’s degree in water management from Texas A&M University. I was previously the manager of the Sutton County Groundwater Conservation District. When I moved closer to the Menard area, I was recruited by Caroline because she was looking to retire. Right now, we work as a team, with the plan that in the future she will retire and turn it over to me.

The new return to the San Saba River, built in 2018.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the history of the district.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us the history of the Menard Irrigation Canal.

Caroline Runge: MCWCID was formed in 1955 with a view toward building a dam on the San Saba River to provide for irrigation. The permit for that project never came through, so we didn’t build the dam, and for many years, aside from helping people with their water rights, the district didn’t do much of anything. However, in 2016, the district acquired the water right for the Menard Irrigation Canal from the Menard Irrigation Company, which previously managed it. Operating the canal is the district’s sole responsibility. The district is a political subdivision of the state. We are funded through local tax dollars.

Caroline Runge: The Menard Irrigation Canal has been in existence since 1756. Up to that point, the colonization of New Spain had stopped at the Rio Grande, but the Spanish government decided to colonize further north and chose this spot as the northernmost area it was going to occupy.

There are three tributaries that come into the San Saba River just above the current city of Menard, so it was the area with the most water. In 1757, the Spanish constructed a presidio, or fort, just west of where Menard is today. The prior year, they had constructed the Menard Irrigation Canal, which we commonly refer to as the ditch, to irrigate

8 | IRRIGATION LEADER | May 2021

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MCWCID.

Caroline Runge: I grew up on a ranch in Presidio County and took a long, circuitous route to my current position. I went through law school, and in the 1990s, I attended the Water Resources Institute at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. I came back to this area of Texas in 1996.

I was the manager of the Menard County Underground Water District from 1999 to 2010, and manager of MCWCID from 1999 until January 2020, when Meredith took over from me.

The diversion point of the ditch.

the valley downstream of Menard and supply food to the presidio and the mission. The Spanish were incredible hydraulic engineers. Until we took it over, this ditch flowed for 10 miles using gravity flow. It has never used any pumps.

It was constructed so that water flowed through it for about 3 miles before there were any irrigation withdrawals in order to build up pressure, or head, to carry the water all the way to the end of the canal.

The Comanches drove the Spanish away from this area around 1772, and for a little over 100 years, the ditch wasn’t in use. In 1874, a man named William Vaughn got a charter to use the ditch for irrigation and for a grist mill.

He ran it until about 1886, when it sold to Gus Noyes.

The Menard Irrigation Company, Inc., was formed in 1905, and its shareholders operated the ditch from 1905 until we bought the rights in 2016. The priority date for the ditch is 1905, when the company was created. We bought a total of 4,890 acre-feet of water right, which is about half of the total irrigation rights that are adjudicated in Menard County.

Meredith Allen: The Menard Irrigation Company wanted to sell its water right after the big drought in 2011–2012.

Caroline was able to convince the voters of the importance of passing a $4 million dollar bond to purchase the water irrigationleadermagazine.com

A field next to the ditch.

right, which is an incredible feat that required a lot of education of the community on the importance of keeping the water right in the area.

Caroline Runge: It was an unlined earthen ditch, and over more than 260 years of use, it had created its own alluvium; if it stayed hydrated, there was no problem with major deterioration. In 2013, during the bad drought years, the alluvium completely dried out. When we tried to reopen in 2014, it took about 5,000 acre-feet just to May 2021 | IRRIGATION LEADER

|9

rehydrate the canal so that it would flow through back to the river. At that point, the shareholders decided to sell, and we bought the water right. We spent a couple of years going through the process of getting the bond passed and getting approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Since then, because the alluvium has dried out so much, the canal has undergone serious deterioration. We have been working on repairs ever since. We cut off the last 3 miles of the canal and lined the new entry point to the San Saba River with concrete in order to conserve water. The irrigators at the end of the canal were the largest irrigators in the county.

They switched to using to groundwater from the Hickory aquifer, which is over 2,500 feet deep and does not connect to the San Saba River.

Irrigation Leader: What is the current status of the canal project?

Meredith Allen: When the water rights were purchased, MCWCID thought it had enough money to complete all necessary repairs, but after those repairs were made, further issues arose: Without any water, trees along the ditch died and fell into the ditch, and then in 2018, massive flooding breached holes in the sides of the canal and deposited 40–50 tons of gravel in it. Financially, we have only been able to afford patches. There is a lot of seepage in the first mile or two, close to the river. We want to focus on that area. The district hired Ambiotec Engineering Group in September 2020 to perform a feasibility study on the first 2.5 miles to assess the issues and give us suggestions for improvements. Ambiotec presented its findings to the board in March 2021. Using the information provided, the district will now look for funding opportunities to complete the suggested improvements.

Caroline Runge: We anticipate that there will be restrictions on what we can do to the section of the canal that goes through town. It runs through the middle of town, right past the courthouse, and it is a big draw for tourism.

Irrigation Leader: Who are MCWCID’s customers?

Meredith Allen: Because there is no water in the ditch right now, we do not have many, but all our customers are irrigators.

Irrigation Leader: What are the principal crops in the area?

Caroline Runge: Primarily hay and pecans. There is also a small amount of seed crops, such as oats. I am told the San Saba River Valley is the longest stretch of native pecans in the state. The area is well suited for pecans. It’s a big part of Menard’s agricultural industry. Of the 565,000 acres in Menard County, only about 2,000 are irrigated. This is typical rocky hill country, and almost all our irrigated acres are located in the San Saba River Valley, east of town. As a matter of fact, the northern boundary of the cultivable area is the San Saba River, and the Spanish built the ditch along the southern boundary of the cultivable area so that they could water all of it.

Irrigation Leader: What is your vision for the future of MCWCID?

Irrigation Leader: What kinds of grant-making bodies are you planning to apply to?

Caroline Runge: Our vision for the district is to conserve as much water as we can and to preserve the viability of our irrigated agriculture. We also want to maximize the efficiency of the ditch. It’s important to us to protect the viability of agricultural production in this county. For the last 5 years, half our water rights have been shut down, so it is our top priority to get that up and going again. IL

Meredith Allen: We put out a request for proposals, and I think we’re going to try to get some advice from the engineering firm we work with. We don’t yet know what form our repairs are going to take, which is something that will influence where we go for grant funds.

Meredith Allen is the manager of Menard County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1.

Caroline Runge is the former manager of Menard County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1.

Irrigation Leader: Are there any kind of historical guidelines or restrictions that you have to operate under given the historical importance of the canal?

Meredith Allen: No, other than the fact that the community of Menard values the ditch and wants to preserve it.

10 | IRRIGATION LEADER | May 2021

They can be contacted at manager@menardcountywcid.org or (325) 396‑3670.

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF WHITWORTH PHOTOGRAPHY.

Caroline Runge: We are also approaching some environmental organizations for grants, because improving the ditch would result in an immense amounts of water conservation. There’s been a lot of interest in this area in water savings on the San Saba River.

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Supplying Agricultural Water in Hidalgo County, Texas

The construction of the border wall has impeded access to portions of the HCWCID19’s infrastructure.

T

he Hidalgo County Water Control and Improvement District #19 (HCWCID19) is a small water supplier located near the Rio Grande. In this interview, General Manager Oscar Gonzalez tells Irrigation Leader about its operations, the challenges of dealing with encroaching development, and the complications caused by the construction of the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the history of the HCWCID19.

Oscar Gonzalez: John H. Shary acquired the Mission Canal Company and developed it into the United Irrigation

12 | IRRIGATION LEADER | May 2021

Irrigation Leader: How many customers do you have?

Oscar Gonzalez: Prior to 2018, we had one customer: the operator of the corporate farm owned by the privately held oil company. That farm grew cabbage, carrots, celery, corn, cotton, melons, onions, and winter greens. It operated as a grower-packer-shipper from 1974 to 2018. After 2018, the company restructured and sold the farm to a new owner.

Now, there are three farmers who lease the land. One of the current farmers grows corn, cotton, and sugarcane; another farms corn and cotton; and the third grows strictly citrus.

Irrigation Leader: Have you been affected by droughts on the Rio Grande?

Oscar Gonzalez: There was a drought in the mid-2000s that affected our water allocations from Amistad Lake and Falcon Lake, two reservoirs on the Rio Grande. As the storage percentages in those reservoirs go down, the farmers get fewer irrigations from the district. Once the irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE HCWCID19.

Oscar Gonzalez: After I graduated from college in 1982, I went to work for a private oil company as its agribusiness accounting manager. I worked in the corporate office for 10 years and oversaw the farm and ranch divisions, which had operations in Texas, Montana, and Wyoming. I transferred to the company’s farming operation in the Rio Grande Valley in the role of chief financial officer, a position I held from January 1993 to August 2005. I was then the general manager of Sharyland Farms, part of the same company, from 2005 to 2016. I retired from farming operations after 34 years of service, and in February 2016, I was hired by the HCWCID19, for which I already served as a director, to oversee operations as its general manager. Now, I provide agricultural water to the farm that I once managed. I’ve been involved with this farming operation for about 39 years and with the water district as a director for about 20 years.

Company, which was one of the longest-operating private irrigation companies in the Rio Grande Valley, operating from 1915 to 1952. In July 1952, HCWCID19 was established due to the sale of the United Irrigation Company’s irrigation system. We’re located in Mission, Texas, right on the banks of the Rio Grande River. The district’s boundaries encompass 6,263 acres. We have some exceptions and exclusions, so our current net acreage is 2,367. Our water rights allow us to pump straight out of the Rio Grande River and to provide water for agricultural purposes only. We place our water orders through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

water storage percentage reaches the municipal level, all agricultural irrigation water releases stop. The storage levels are also affected by Mexico, since the treaty of 1944 covers six tributaries that release water to the Rio Grande. Mexico’s water releases play a crucial role in maintaining the storage percentages that the TCEQ uses to issue additional water allocations to our adjudication certificates.

Irrigation Leader: What water storage and distribution infrastructure does the HCWCID19 have?

Oscar Gonzalez: Our pumping facilities have three pumps.

Two are 42-inch lines and one is a 24-inch line. Two of them are electric, and one is powered by natural gas. We pump water directly into two lateral earthen canals. From there, water goes through underground pipelines to the different fields for irrigation needs.

Irrigation Leader: What are some of your top issues today?

Oscar Gonzalez: We are dealing with aging infrastructure, much of which is quite a few decades old. We work on our earthen canals, concrete canals, and underground pipelines at different times of the year, when there is leaking or seepage. Temperature changes and ground movements are a common source of our problems. We’re also dealing with metering systems, or transducers, that monitor water flow.

We’re also monitoring the changes in our farming operations caused by the encroachment of urban development. That is something we’ve been dealing with since 2005. The previous owner of the land we service had a development company that had a master plan and brought in residential and retail development and a business park. A good portion of the farm was developed through that plan.

Now, that urban development is affecting farming practices, including what crops are grown. For example, when sugarcane is harvested, the mill will burn the cane stock, and now it has to worry about the smoke and ash being carried toward the residential developments that are getting closer and closer to the farming operation. There are also some restrictions on using planes for boll weevil control. An international bridge and a highway have been built through the middle of the farming operation, and a new loop toll road has been proposed for the southern part of the farm.

Irrigation Leader: How do your operations and your situation differ from those of larger districts?

Oscar Gonzalez: We just deal with delivering irrigation water for agricultural use only. Our clients are all farmers, so we don’t deliver water for municipal needs. That has pros and cons. Water demands are based strictly on agricultural use, crop rotation, and crop selection, so if a farmer misses the planting date of a crop, like they did this past fall, we lose some water revenue for that crop year. irrigationleadermagazine.com

Because the HCWCID19 is a water control and improvement district, we have a little more leeway in certain areas than a traditional irrigation district. Our district has more flexibility with dealing with financing, roads, trespassing and illegal dumping on our property, drainage needs, and the maintenance of infrastructure for water distribution in our area.

Our current farmers use poly pipe, which is a blue collapsible pipe. That has improved water distribution, conserved water, and limited labor costs on the farmer side.

Our farmers also try to implement minimum tillage to try to conserve moisture in the field. Water conservation is a key part of our operations.

Irrigation Leader: Is there anything else you wanted to discuss that we haven’t touched on yet?

Oscar Gonzalez: One local issue that has been affecting us is the construction of the border wall. In my area, our canals run parallel with the International Boundary and Water Commission levies. The previous administration started the construction of the border wall, but when the new administration came in in January, President Biden signed a proclamation stopping the construction for 60 days to review the wall project. That 60-day period ended on March 22. We’re hoping that we’ll get information about whether the new administration intends to continue constructing the existing border wall, to redesign it, or to halt construction altogether.

The construction has affected us because the builders have taken down the levee system in front of our pumping plant, which is used for flood control and also provided a means to access our pumping plant. We must use a temporary secondary road to enter our pumping facilities, which causes many challenges. Some of our canals have been temporarily filled in for the wall construction. Since the construction stopped, they were supposed to excavate the canal and backfill the dirt behind the levee wall. The current design is a levee wall within the levee system with an 18‑foot bollard wall on top.

There are rumors that the administration is going to fill the gaps in the border wall, which I hope will address the levee wall, because flooding is a big concern. Hurricane season begins in June. If those levees are not reinforced and a hurricane hits Monterey, as occurred in 2010 when the river crested over and they had to open the floodway, our community, farmers, and infrastructure could be greatly affected. IL Oscar Gonzalez is the general manager of the Hidalgo County Water Control and Improvement District #19. He can be contacted at hcwcid19@outlook.com or (956) 266‑6370.

May 2021 | IRRIGATION LEADER

| 13

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Yuma Irrigation District: Enabling All-Year-Round Ag in the Arid Southwest

Desert lettuce being grown in the Yuma area.

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gricultural producers in the Yuma, Arizona, area produce around 90 percent of North America’s winter produce. In the summer, they produce significant amounts of field crops as well. Yuma Irrigation District (YID), irrigating 10,600 acres, is one of the smaller local irrigation districts that make this possible. In this interview, YID General Manager Rex Green tells Irrigation Leader about the district’s operations and top issues.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

Rex Green: I was born in Yuma and grew up in our service area. I left to attend the University of Arizona, where I received a degree in agronomy and plant genetics. After graduation, I returned to Yuma. I’ve always been involved in agriculture.

The position of manager of YID became available in 1989. I was one of several candidates interviewed and was likely selected because of my experience in production agriculture and maintenance. The board directed me to focus on the operation and maintenance aspects of the district. We’ve made significant advances in efficient water delivery and conservation in the last 30 years.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about YID.

18 | IRRIGATION LEADER | May 2021

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about YID’s infrastructure.

Rex Green: YID’s infrastructure consists of seven turnouts off the Gila Gravity Main Canal, which services the districts in the Gila Project. The South Gila Canal is an 8‑mile concrete-lined canal that, along with 30 miles of underground pipeline, constitutes YID’s distribution system conveyance facilities. The depth of our supply pipelines allows for right-of-way cultivation, which reduces maintenance expense. Our system also includes 90 metered field turnouts. Accurate metering of water delivered is important in water use efficiency and conservation. The challenges of meeting supply needs in a 365‑day growing cycle frequently test our operational capacity to the limit, and perhaps a bit beyond.

Irrigation Leader: Where does your water come from?

Rex Green: Colorado River water is diverted at Imperial Dam to the Gila Gravity Main Canal and then to our turnouts. The OM&R costs of Imperial Dam and the Gila Gravity Main Canal are pro rata shared among the districts.

Irrigation Leader: Does your flow get restricted during droughts on the Colorado River? irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF YID.

Rex Green: In 1919, the lands in the district were organized into an electrical power district that supplied power to pump groundwater for irrigation. YID was formed in the mid-1960s and was operated by the Bureau of Reclamation until 1973, when the landowners in the district formed a board and took over operations. Under the contract with Reclamation, the service area is 10,600 acres.

The district covers the south side of the Gila River and the Colorado River east of Yuma, Arizona. There are seven irrigation districts in the area, of which YID is the fourth largest. We have seven employees, including three ditch riders, two maintenance personnel, a water master, and me.

We deliver water to about 25 growers.

We’re part of the Yuma Mesa Division of Reclamation’s Gila Project. The three districts of the division share an undivided entitlement to 250,000 acre-feet of priority 3 Colorado River water.

The district levies a per-acre assessment for operations, maintenance, and replacement (OM&R). Irrigation assessments in the area vary somewhat, but compared to those in other areas are relatively low. Most of our growers farm in several irrigation districts.

YID’s board of directors is elected from landowners who are water users. The board has demonstrated decades of leadership in efficient water use and conservation.

Rex Green: Much of the Colorado River basin and Arizona are experiencing a prolonged, exceptional drought.

The drought situation has not yet caused any diversion limitations. YID has a third-priority water contract. If the drought continues, there will be reductions under the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan. With the coming 2022 declaration of a shortage condition on the river, rights with a fourth or lower priority will be restricted.

Irrigation Leader: What are the main crops grown in your district, and what type of irrigation systems do the farmers use?

Rex Green: During the winter months, the Yuma area, which includes YID, supplies or ships over 90 percent of North America’s produce. Winter produce crops include broccoli; cabbage; cauliflower; greens; several types of lettuce; onions; and spinach, including baby-leaf spinach. Our growers double crop and are able to harvest over 15,000 acres of produce from the 10,600 acres during the winter.

During the summer months, the main field crops are high-quality desert durum wheat for pasta, alfalfa, Sudan hay for export, melons, and some cotton. Almost the entire district—9,000 acres— grows some sort of field or forage crop, such as cotton, wheat, or another grain or cereal.

Double and triple cropping allow district growers to annually harvest over 23,000 acres.

We use all available irrigation systems and methods, including drip, sprinkler, large farm turnouts, gated pipe, and siphon tube. Perhaps the key to our efficient irrigation systems is the use of basin-level or 0.0.‑grade-level fields.

Irrigation Leader: What are some of YID’s current top issues?

Rex Green: Our top issue is food safety. Produce is sensitive to pathogen contamination, whether by air or water. The risk to, and protection of, consumers from pathogens is our greatest concern.

Financial responsibility for aging infrastructure is the second-greatest concern. Imperial Dam is undergoing a multimillion-dollar rehabilitation, and the cost falls on the districts. Some districts face overwhelming assessment increases, including those of special assessments to meet the costs of rehabilitation.

Potential effects on our water supply from long-term drought is our third-highest concern. Although our water right is higher priority, if the drought continues at its current severity, agriculture water will become a greater target.

Eventually, the third-priority users will have to give some water to the river. Perhaps of greater concern is the effect of the drought on others. As lower-priority water right holders lose water to the drought, pressure will increase to move water off the river and out of Yuma County agriculture.

Water flows uphill to money.

The final high-priority concern is servicing and supporting water users’ changing needs. The technology of irrigation and irrigationleadermagazine.com

cropping continue to evolve. This area can support 150– 200 different crops. Managing salt is necessary to keep salt from affecting production. Groundwater has to be pumped from parts of the district to keep it from rendering the soil unproductive. Getting growers the water they need will always be a challenge as times, technology, and crops change.

Irrigation Leader: Are you encouraging your farmers’ onfarm efficiency and conservation efforts?

Rex Green: Growers are encouraged to be efficient and conserve water. Practices resulting in water use efficiencies and conservation are more grower driven than district driven.

Farmers have to be efficient if they want to stay in business.

Since the 1970s, our growers have adopted growing and irrigation practices that have reduced water use and increased crop production. YID and the other districts in the area have conserved millions of acre-feet of Colorado River water for others to use. The three districts in the Yuma Mesa Division have left about 75,000 acre-feet of their shared entitlement in the river each year. Most of the conserved water and all the unused water entitlement has gone to support farming in central Arizona. A good review of the water use efficiency in the area can be found in a February 2015 report by the Yuma County Agriculture Water Coalition, A Case Study in Efficiency: Agriculture and Water Use in the Yuma, Arizona Area. It can be found on the coalition’s website, agwateryuma.com.

Irrigation Leader: How do the operations of a small district differ from those of a large one?

Rex Green: Having a small staff makes large construction projects a challenge. We work with contractors and other irrigation districts to complete larger-scale projects. It would be difficult to overstate the benefits of the cooperation between local districts on each other’s issues.

Irrigation Leader: Have you been applying for any grants from Reclamation or any other sources?

Rex Green: Funding for major projects is always a challenge.

We have previously applied for and received grants for water conservation, metering, and safety improvements in our canals. We are not currently involved in any grant projects.

We continually look for opportunities through available grants to maintain and improve our system. IL Rex Green is the general manager of Yuma Irrigation District. He can be contacted at rgreen@yumairrigation.com or (928) 726‑1047.

May 2021 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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The Keith–Lincoln County Irrigation District: A Historic Small District in Western Nebraska

The KLCID’s headgate system.

T

he Keith–Lincoln County Irrigation District (KLCID), located in western Nebraska, has been operating since the late 19th century. Aside from a headgate system installed during the 1970s, the canal system used by the KLCID today also dates back to that time. In this interview, we speak with KLCID Board President Mark McConnell about the district’s operations and the challenges of a small irrigation district.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the KLCID. Mark McConnell: It was established over 100 years ago, and its canal system was built in the late 1800s. Our appropriation dates to 1894 and was obtained during the construction

22 | IRRIGATION LEADER | May 2021

Irrigation Leader: What are the major crops that are grown in your district?

Mark McConnell: Predominantly row crops. Corn and soybeans make up 80–90 percent of the acreage; then there is some alfalfa and a little bit of wheat, most of which is not irrigated. There was a time when there were a lot of sugar beets, but we lost all our local processing and shipping facilities, so sugar beets have mainly disappeared.

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us about the source of your water and the date of your water right? irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GABBY PERLINGER.

Mark McConnell: I’m a director for the district. Our district is pretty small. It covers parts of two counties—Keith and Lincoln. It is governed by an elected three-member board and has a single ditch rider. Each director represents one of the district’s three subdistricts. I have been board president for 4–5 years. I am also an active farmer and a patron of the district. I use the water from our system on my farms. Actually, owning land within the district is a requirement to serve on the board and to have voting authority.

process. The canal system was finished around 1898–99.

We’re not a huge district. Over the years, we’ve had around 5,000–6,000 acres. We lost a few in later years—we went through a drastic recertification process during the late 1980s, when the Nebraska Department of Water Resources came in and reviewed which acres were being irrigated and which were not. We lost some eligible irrigated acres and subsequently some of our flow rights after that adjudication.

Our current tax base is around 5,600 acres. We rebuilt our headgate system during the mid‑1970s; that was probably the largest improvement we have made to the system. Other than that, our system has remained pretty much the same since we started, and the age of our structures is beginning to show.

local districts below us until our demand calls are met or the available natural flows are used up; then, it gets to store any excess and any water it has priority rights to.

Irrigation Leader: What infrastructure improvements have you done in the past, and what do you aim to do in the future?

Mark McConnell: As I mentioned, the biggest improvement we have made over the life of the system was to our headgate structure. There was originally a sand dike in the river channel that went through a set concrete gates that were nothing more than manual bore–type check structures. The canal operators tried to split the river channel to get enough water to supply the canal. They might pull in 100–150 cubic feet per second (cfs) of water through that main headgate down a lead-in canal to a regulating check, where they would spill some of the water back into the river. That way, they could regulate the water in our main canal system at about 80–90 cfs. They used that for 75–80 years, all the way until the mid‑1970s. It was kind of a mess, since year after year, the sandbank would be washed out by high river flows, leaving the district unable to get water as flows dropped off later in the summer. We’d have to rebuild the dike, which was tough.

The KLCID’s weir structure.

Mark McConnell: Nebraska’s state law and water rights are based on the principle of first in time, first in right. Our water right was approved on February 2, 1894. We are second in line locally in terms of our right to pull water out of the North Platte River system, which puts us in a strong position. There is one other district, slightly larger than us, whose right dates back a few months earlier. There have been times when we’ve been able to run water in our ditches while other districts have had to shut down for lack of water.

Usually, the first thing that people did when they could get a hold of a right of way and get the farmers on board was to apply for a water right so that they could get a good priority date. They usually held their water right by the time they started construction. That was the case with us, too.

All our water comes out of the North Platte River.

Kingsley Dam, which forms Lake McConaughy, is not far upstream of us. We are the first district that pulls water below the dam. Lake McConaughy is controlled

by Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (CNPPID), which we have storage water contracts with in addition to our natural flow right established with the State of Nebraska. Our water right is based on natural inflows coming into the west end of Lake McConaughy, as determined by the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources. That’s where we determine our priority.

CNPPID has to pass that water through to us and the other irrigationleadermagazine.com

The KLCID’s ditch.

In the mid-1970s, the board started a project to completely rebuild and upgrade our gate system. It picked a location further downstream where we could actually bridge the entire river channel and control the whole flow of the river through our gates and our diversion. The district put in a new concrete structure with six automatic gates and a side gate system to control the flow into our main canal system. It was all automated at the time it was built; it was said at the time that we had the best headgate system of any ditch in the state.

We’re still using that structure, which works pretty well, though it requires more maintenance all the time. We’re having some issues with sealing plates under our gates and things on the concrete itself, and our drive system is showing some wear and tear. I actually tried to push a program over the last couple of years to upgrade the control system on the gate operators and link it with a SCADA system that May 2021 | IRRIGATION LEADER

| 23

CNPPID uses on all its gates. So far, I’ve kind of gotten shot down on that because it is a costly upgrade. We have abandoned that for the time being and are operating just like we always have. We’re getting to the point where we’re going to have to do some major servicing on it.

We recently had to do some work on our weir, also. A few years ago, it was experiencing quite a bit of concrete erosion.

We repaired it rather than replacing it. That’s a critical structure too; if we can’t maintain our weir, we are done.

We have a couple of concrete drops through the system that are starting to crack and really should be replaced. For now, we’re patching them and putting riprap around them.

Replacing them will probably cost $20,000–$30,000, and they probably cost $300 when they went in. We’ve been tight enough on cash that we haven’t replaced them either.

Another big issue for us is bridges. Originally, there were a lot of bridges on the system. There were small farms up and down the valley, 80 or 160 acres in size, each with a different owner, and they all had bridges, generally wooden structures with concrete footings. Some of the footings are now in bad shape, and the wooden bridges are basically obsolete, since people are trying to cross them with heavy trucks and equipment. We have been thinning out the bridges all we can; of course, a lot of the ownership has consolidated over the years. We won’t even build a wooden bridge anymore. For the most part, we leave it up to the landowners to put in bridges. We have built a few concrete bridges, which is cost-effective if we can do it ourselves. We can build them for under $10,000. If we hire a contractor, they cost $25,000 or more. Culverts are not usable at many locations either because there is always the danger of plugging them with high-debris storm runoff. At this point, we’ve mostly gotten out of the bridge business.

We are working more closely with the natural resources districts (NRDs), which have stepped up and are now partnering with the surface districts. Originally, the NRDs were only established to monitor and regulate groundwater usage across the state. Now, with the establishment of conjunctive use laws concerning both groundwater and surface water, the NRDs work hand in hand with the Department of Natural Resources to help restore and maintain river flows, which have been affected by groundwater irrigation development over the last 40–50 years. The NRDs have decided that they want to keep these ditches going, because they benefit their goals. They’re able to generate some money and send it back to the ditches. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to generate enough additional money to do some more extensive projects on our structures soon.

Mark McConnell: It mostly comes down to revenue. Even though we’re a relatively small district, we have about 30 miles of canal system to maintain. That’s quite a bit, actually, since our budget is less than $100,000 a year.

24 | IRRIGATION LEADER | May 2021

Irrigation Leader: Is there anything else you wanted to share?

Mark McConnell: We’re always fighting the cost side of things and trying to keep our rates down and to supply water as reasonably as possible to our patrons. Times are changing, and it’s getting to be harder all the time, yet there’s no reason these ditches can’t be maintained and continue to be viable well into the future. With the support of the NRDs, I think we are still going to be around for a long time, but it’s a different world than it was even 30–50 years ago. Our intention is to continue on as long as we can. We as a board and I personally will always support trying to keep the KLCID operational. IL Mark McConnell is the president of the board of the Keith–Lincoln County Irrigation District. He can be reached at markandsue@hughes.net.

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK MCCONNELL.

Irrigation Leader: What is distinctive about the operations and concerns of a small irrigation district?

A big share of the budget goes to labor and equipment maintenance, and not much is left for major projects. There are other funding sources out there that we’ve looked into, but most are designed to be used for efficiency upgrades and not simply maintenance on existing infrastructure.

The other thing is support and usage by the patrons.

Ownership of the land base has consolidated quite a bit, and with improvements in irrigation technology, a lot of ground has been converted to pivot irrigation. That’s a good thing, since it has made a huge difference in water conservation, but we find that when people start using pivot systems, a lot of them don’t want to use ditch water anymore. At that point, they no longer want to support the ditch itself, either.

They’re bound to support the district whether they’re using the water or not, but it gets a little contentious when we want to spend money. My personal opinion on that is that with the simple filtration systems we’ve set up, we just don’t have any problems using surface water, and there is no real reason not to continue to use ditch water in pivot systems and highertech systems. It’s more a question of preference. People want to use well water and say that the ditch is outmoded, but there is no reason they can’t use ditch water. Ditch water is cheaper than groundwater. In reality, we supply the same water as that hole in the ground does. Nevertheless, it’s a tough situation.

We’re losing people’s confidence and backing.

Our work with the NRDs has helped us. They are now using these canal systems for recharge flows. In the offseason, when excess natural flows are available, the NRDs have us flow water in our canals with the purpose of soaking it into the ground and returning it to the river system over time, something they are required to do by law in many areas of the state. The NRDs compensate the districts for the amount of water that is put back into the river system. This is a win-win situation for the NRDs and the irrigation districts.

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The Stewart Ditch and Reservoir Company’s Piping Project

T

he Stewart Ditch and Reservoir Company (SDRC) is a Colorado-based agricultural water provider serving 235 shareholders. It recently completed a project, funded mainly by a Bureau of Reclamation grant, to pipe a portion of its historic ditch with pipe manufactured by Diamond Plastics. In this interview, SDRC President Karl Burns tells Irrigation Leader about the project and the benefits it will bring.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

Karl Burns: My family moved to the Paonia, Colorado, area in 1970. In 1990, I bought my ranch, which is just up the road from my mom’s ranch. When I bought the property, I ended up getting elected to the board of the SDRC. After a year, I was elected to serve as its president, and I’ve served in this position for 30 years.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the SDRC. Karl Burns: The SDRC was incorporated in 1898. There are 235 shareholders. Most of the water is used for irrigation purposes, but some shareholders just water a yard and garden.

Most of the water is used on fruit trees, hay, or grain crops.

Irrigation Leader: Have you been using the same ditch since 1898?

Karl Burns: Yes, the ditch is still the original takeout from the river. The ditch has long been an important part of the local economy. We hold the third-oldest water right on the North Fork of the Gunnison River.

Irrigation Leader: What irrigation techniques do your water users use?

Karl Burns: A lot of people use drip systems. There are close to 500 hundred acres under sprinklers, now that we’ve started piping the ditch. A lot of users still use furrow irrigation or gated pipe.

Irrigation Leader: What is the source of your water?

Irrigation Leader: How much storage do you have in your system?

Karl Burns: We have no storage. We own a small share of a lake, but we leased that to the mines in the early 1980s for

28 | IRRIGATION LEADER | May 2021

augmentation water. Right now, that water is still being used under that agreement.

Irrigation Leader: What was the motivation behind starting your current piping project?

Karl Burns: We had a lot of infrastructure on our ditch that was in need of repair. I heard that the Bureau of Reclamation had a salinity program, and because Reclamation had done a salt study in our area, we met the requirements to apply. Our first-round funding application was tied to approximately 13 miles of open ditch. The second round of funding involved an additional 3 miles of pipe, all of which is 48 inches in diameter. The main motivation between the piping project was to eliminate the water loss associated with open-ditch systems. It gives us more control over our supply. Under drought conditions like we experienced last summer, we are better able to deliver water to our users, even when the supply is less than normal. irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE SDRC.

Karl Burns: The water comes out of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Ultimately, it comes from snowpack runoff.

Pipe manufactured by Diamond Plastics being installed in the SDRC’s system.

Karl Burns and Bill Pecharich on the construction site.

The new pipe has transformed our ability to meet the needs of shareholders by ensuring that we are getting water to the end of the ditch, where it otherwise may not have reached.

Karl Burns: We would like to think that someday, we’ll get the whole ditch piped. We still have approximately 9 miles of ditch to pipe, so you can understand that it will require a significant commitment of financial resources.

of the funding for this project comes from a grant from Reclamation, specifically through the Colorado Salinity Control Basin Funding Initiative. This program is focused on the Colorado River and the salt studies that have been done throughout the basin. It particularly monitors the salinity in Utah. The underlying intention is to reduce the salt load in the Colorado River. Subsequently, Reclamation has developed programs such as the one we used, which are designed to help irrigation users pipe their ditches. The goal is for users to subsequently switch to sprinklers and drip irrigation, which will also help decrease the amount of salt going back to the river.

Irrigation Leader: Is the pipe pressurized?

Irrigation Leader: When was the project completed?

Karl Burns: Yes.

Karl Burns: At the end of 2020.

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us about the factors that went into your choice of the material and the manufacturer of the pipe?

Irrigation Leader: What is your vision for the future of the SDRC?

Irrigation Leader: At the end of the project, is the full canal going to be piped?

Karl Burns: A combination of factors led to our final selection. We looked at the sorts of materials that would best work for this application, we looked at the site itself, and then we considered our budget. Staying within our budget was really the overriding consideration.

Irrigation Leader: Were there any concerns about soil type?

Karl Burns: Certainly, considering the soil type was one of the many factors that went into our decisionmaking.

Ultimately, we are confident that the product we selected will withstand the variables associated with our application.

Irrigation Leader: What is Reclamation’s role in this project?

Karl Burns: Reclamation manages the salinity funding program, which also includes habitat replacement, oversight of how the money is spent, and project design. The majority irrigationleadermagazine.com

Karl Burns: As everyone knows, the water we provide is extremely valuable. It looks like the West is moving toward a long-term drought, so we must be as efficient with this water as we can be. This scarcity has led virtually every segment of the water industry to look for new supply sources, and today a great many are leaning heavily toward trying to buy up agricultural water rights. Agriculture plays a critical role in a sustainable community, since you need land and water for crops, livestock, and produce. We must keep finding ways to stretch our water as far as we can so that it meets everyone’s needs. It is a challenge for all water users to make the wisest and best choices for managing their water. IL Karl Burns is the president of the Stewart Ditch and Reservoir Company. He can be reached at kandjburnsranch@paonia.com.

May 2021 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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The Frenchman-Cambridge Irrigation District’s Radio Communications Towers

The FCID raises a repeater tower near Oxford, Nebraska.

F

renchman-Cambridge Irrigation District (FCID), headquartered in Cambridge, Nebraska, diverts around 60,000 acre-feet of irrigation water a year to a service area of 45,669 irrigated acres. To make its delivery system more efficient and to save water, it is implementing a Rubicon Water automated gate system, with the end goal of achieving total channel control (TCC) capabilities. To enable its gates to communicate with each other and with the office, the FCID is also building radio communication towers. In this interview, FCID Manager Brad Edgerton tells Irrigation Leader about the capabilities the gate system gives the district and details the factors that went into selecting and installing its towers.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the FCID. Brad Edgerton: The FCID is a federal project built in the late 1940s and early 1950s by the Bureau of Reclamation.

32 | IRRIGATION LEADER | May 2021

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us more about the size and scale of your canal system?

Brad Edgerton: We have two bigger canals: Cambridge Canal, which serves 18,000 acres, and Meeker-Driftwood Canal, which serves a little less than 18,000 acres. We have two smaller canals: Red Willow Canal, which serves about 4,700 acres, and Bartley Canal, which serves about 6,500 acres. Cambridge, Bartley, and Red Willow divert directly off the Republican River, while Meeker-Driftwood Canal comes directly out of Swanson Reservoir.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your Rubicon gate system. When did you install it and why?

Brad Edgerton: We learned about Rubicon at the Four States Irrigation Council conference in Fort Collins, Colorado, in 2012, where its product was on display. We had two check structures on Cambridge Canal with which it was difficult irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE FCID.

Brad Edgerton: I started out in the water business in 1983, working for the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources.

In 2009, I was named general manager of the FCID.

We serve 45,669 acres under four canal systems. We have a contract with Reclamation to take storage water out of three reservoirs. We have nine ditch riders and an office manager in addition to myself.

Brad Edgerton: Our number 1 goal was saving water, but the gates do save them time and labor. Typically, when we had big changes over the course of a day, the ditch riders had to spend about 3 hours each morning logging water through the system. The Rubicon system saves them that time.

Our intention was not to replace the ditch riders—we’re shorthanded as it is—but it has shifted the ditch riders’ workload during the irrigation season. The gate system has other benefits that we only recognized after installing it.

Prior to 2020, we only allowed users to order water 5 days a week, since our ditch riders didn’t work weekends. Now that we are automating our canals, they can make changes to their water orders 7 days a week. Further, that means that water use is more evenly distributed across the days of the week, rather than peaking on Monday and Friday. That makes our deliveries more efficient and allows irrigators to be more efficient and to have more scheduling options.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the communication towers you have installed for your Rubicon system.

The completed repeater tower.

to adjust the flow each day, and there was also a safety issue with regard to the depth of the logs and the strength needed to remove logs. We bought two gates and installed them just to test them out, and we really liked them. Then we aggressively pursued grant money, mostly through Reclamation’s WaterSMART program and Nebraska’s water sustainably grants, to install more Rubicon gates and to automate our system. We knew up front that the ultimate goal was to automate the entire canal so that we could operate with what is called TCC, which involves the gates communicating with each other and making adjustments continuously without human intervention. This would help us eliminate the spill at the bottom of the canals. Today, the Cambridge Canal operates with TCC, and we have eliminated more than 95 percent of the spill at the bottom of that canal. The spill we do have is mostly due to rain events that put extra water in the canal. We are making these investments because the Republican River basin is overdeveloped and our water supply is half of what it once was. We currently allocate 8 inches per acre, so every drop of water we save has value to our farmers.

Irrigation Leader: Do the automated gates also save the ditch riders time and labor? irrigationleadermagazine.com

Brad Edgerton: The Rubicon gates all communicate with our office and with our SCADA system. They also communicate with each other via a radio network. Each gate has a radio that operates at a 450‑megahertz bandwidth. To enable that, we have installed several repeater towers. We purchased a used tower near Arapahoe that is the backbone of our radio network.

When we installed the gates just east of Oxford, we needed another repeater in that area to relay the data back to our office. Our research showed that we needed a tower of about 100 feet, and we found a 100‑foot freestanding aluminum tower that is able to tilt over to enable repairs and adjustment, which eliminates the need for us to hire someone to climb the tower and do the work. We have a mechanism that allows us to raise and lower it in a safe way. It’s worked really well. We have also been awarded another grant to automate our system near McCook, so we will be installing two more 100‑foot aluminum towers in that area. We are getting that project underway.

Irrigation Leader: Did you always know that you would need towers like this for your gate system, or did you realize that you needed them based on the performance of the gate system?

Brad Edgerton: We knew we would need something on the bottom end of Cambridge Canal because our tower near Arapahoe, even though it is 180 feet tall, only has a range of about 25–30 miles. However, we didn’t know exactly what we would need to do. We looked around to see if we could rent space on existing towers, but there wasn’t room. We talked to people who owned grain elevators to see if we could put antennas on top of the elevators, but it seemed that most people either had something on the elevators already or weren’t interested in renting space. We did find a pretty-goodsized tower, but the owner wanted a lot of money to rent space on it. The best solution was just to do our own thing.

May 2021 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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The jig used to hold the tower while concrete was run.

Irrigation Leader: Did you erect the tower on land that you already owned?

Brad Edgerton: Yes. There was a fenced-off section along the canal in the Oxford area that we thought would work well.

Rubicon staff can help forecast the coverage that various setups will provide, and the elevation-profile feature on Google Earth can also help you analyze different locations.

I picked out this location and had Rubicon run it through its computer program to see what kind of coverage it would provide. I did the same sort of thing with the McCook location: I first looked at it on Google Earth and then looked into more specific information about coverage and how tall the tower needed to be. We found a small surplus shipping container, 4.5 feet by 8 feet in size, that we used to house the radio equipment. We then had to put electrical service into this container to operate the radio equipment.

Irrigation Leader: You talked about how the tower can bend down for maintenance. What kind of regular maintenance do the towers require?

Irrigation Leader: What are the next steps for your canals and gate system?

34 | IRRIGATION LEADER | May 2021

Irrigation Leader: What results are you seeing from your gate system?

Brad Edgerton: The 2020 season was a big test for the Cambridge Canal. Once TCC was fully implemented, our spill stopped and the gates worked very well. We are finetuning things as we go, and we’re looking into using water ordering software from Rubicon. That would allow our producers to order water and check their water balances online. That’s the next phase of the Cambridge Canal automation project. IL Brad Edgerton is the manager of the Frenchman-Cambridge Irrigation District. He can be contacted at bradley.edgerton@gmail.com or (308) 697‑4535.

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE FCID.

Brad Edgerton: I’m hoping that little maintenance is required, but we may have to change an antenna, and there’s always the possibility of a lightning strike.

Brad Edgerton: We are currently installing automation on the Meeker-Driftwood Canal, which comes right out of the reservoir. We installed Rubicon gates on the first 14 miles before the 2020 irrigation season. After the 2020 season, we began installing the remaining two-thirds of the gates. Those should be ready by the beginning of the 2021 irrigation season. Then we can start getting the gates talking to each other and implementing TCC.

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Dee Waldron: Leveling Out for Irrigation in Utah’s Weber Basin

Dee Waldron’s piped irrigation system. A 34-inch vertical pipe sticks out of the ground every 20 feet; when a set of them is removed, the system flood irrigates a section of field.

T

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.

38 | IRRIGATION LEADER | May 2021

Dee Waldron: I started farming when I was in high school with my father and his brother. I helped milk cows and do other farm work. In 1967, I bought a tractor and started doing custom work in addition to helping my family with farm work. In 1978, I purchased Waldron Brothers, starting with my uncle’s half of the farm and shortly thereafter purchasing my dad’s half of the farm.

I farmed, operated a dairy, and raised and sold fat beef.

In 1982, I built a shop and purchased tire equipment to work on commercial and tractor tires. Today, that business has become a full-service tire store with an ag division selling fertilizer, chemicals, and seed and providing custom farming. My daughter Lindsey and my son Aaron manage the business. I’m no longer in the dairy industry, but my beef operation has continued to grow. irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DEE WALDRON.

he narrative of a small family farmer prospering after many years of hard work and sacrifice is an iconic version of the American dream. Achieving this dream requires a farmer to overcome many obstacles, both natural and manmade.

Dee Waldron is someone who has lived that dream, growing up on a family farm, striving to acquire the land and water needed to grow his business, and now owning a successful agricultural enterprise for beef, barley, and other crops. In this interview, Mr. Waldron tells Irrigation Leader how he began his journey, how he has used innovative irrigation strategies to ensure proper water for his crops and cattle, and the importance of cooperative conservation of water for all water users in Utah’s Weber Basin.

Irrigation Leader: Do you grow crops today as well?

Dee Waldron: Yes, we primarily raise alfalfa, barley, corn, and grass hay. We have tried cover crops in rotational years for improved soil health.We have irrigated ground, pasture ground, dry farm, and range ground.

Irrigation Leader: Tell us about the part of Morgan County you are located in and its climate.

Dee Waldron: We’re 5,400 feet above sea level. Our farming season usually starts in March and ends in September or October, when we have a hard frost. Morgan County has cool nights and warm days. We are located approximately 7 miles below the East Canyon Reservoir.

Irrigation Leader: How much water do you need, where do you get that water, what is the source, and who supplies it to you?

Dee Waldron: We get water from the East Canyon Reservoir and from Hardscrabble Creek. The East Canyon Reservoir is a Bureau of Reclamation project. The West Richville Irrigation and Canal Company supplies the water to us. Our flood water is 20 feet, our high water is 12 feet, and our low water is 7 feet. We have 400 acre-feet of additional reservoir water that we add to the system to make the stream a little larger.

Much of our farm uses flood irrigation, and we prefer it that way. It allows us to irrigate many acres in a short amount of time. In order to make flood irrigation more efficient, we have changed the original concrete ditch to an underground piped system. We charge it and then take off the pipes we want to irrigate from.

Irrigation Leader: Would you explain in a little more detail how the irrigation system works?

Dee Waldron: The top of the pipe is buried approximately 24–28 inches deep. The water drops into the pipe system from the canal. We have screens in place to keep debris from entering the pipe. We close the headgate at the bottom, and the system fills with water. Every 20 feet, we have a 34‑inch vertical pipe. The water fills the vertical pipes. We remove eight vertical pipes per set and continue this pattern through the field. This pattern moves 16 cubic feet per second of water at a speed of 1,180 feet per hour. Prior to the pipe system, the same acreage would take 3 days to water, whether it was corn, hay, or barley. We can irrigate the same acreage in 18 hours with this system.

Irrigation Leader: What was the motivation behind putting in all that infrastructure? Was it mainly to save money, to be more efficient in terms of time, or to respond to restricted water supplies during droughts? irrigationleadermagazine.com

Dee Waldron: All the above. The biggest concern right now is conserving water. We live in a desert state. Water is precious. When we went from irrigating for 3½ days to 18 hours on that same 64‑acre field, we saved a tremendous amount of water. Now, I water with a big volume of water, but I move it more quickly and efficiently.

I save money on labor; it is fast and easy to pull and cap and change to the next watering set. All my other irrigated acres have the same irrigation pipe system. As a bonus, I have had constantly better yields since putting in the watering system.

Irrigation Leader: Was there anything else about your onfarm water efficiency projects you wanted to add?

Dee Waldron: Leveling is a key. Irrigation is so much more efficient if you’re on level ground. Every field that has been updated to a pipe system has also been laser leveled. This makes watering much more efficient—so much so that when we rotate an alfalfa crop, we laser level again before we put it back into alfalfa. Our crop rotation cycle lasts approximately 5 years.

Irrigation Leader: What is your role in the Weber River Water Users Association?

Dee Waldron: I am on the board of directors. Our responsibility is to efficiently provide for the water needs of our agriculture and city customers. Our goal is to maintain and build infrastructure for present and future generations. Basically, we are the stewards of the Weber River water system.

My dad was the deputy water commissioner and served in that capacity for several years. My son Aaron is currently the water deputy. Conserving water is the name of the game. If we have a drought year, then our conservation practices are life saving. If there is a good, wet year, we still need to have good conservation practices.

I am also currently on the board of trustees and serve as the board president for the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, which services 700,000 water customers in five counties of Utah. IL

Dee Waldron is a farmer and the president of the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District’s board of directors. He can be reached at sherry@deestireinc.com or (801) 829‑2035.

May 2021 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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THE WOMEN IN WATER SCHOLARSHIP FUND WILL BE LIVE ON APRIL 1!

The Women in Water Scholarship Fund encourages young women to pursue fulfilling careers developing, managing, and conserving water.

This annual $5,000 scholarship is awarded to a woman pursuing an undergraduate or master's degree in preparation for a career in any area of water resources.

Visit our website at fundingwomeinwater.com to donate to the fund, find application materials, or learn more about the effort you have helped to launch.

For more information, e-mail info@fundingwomeninwater.com.

THE APPLICATION DEADLINE FOR THE 2021-2022 AWARD IS JULY 1, 2021.

JOB LISTINGS

Does your irrigation district have a job listing you would like to advertise in our pages?

Irrigation Leader provides this service to irrigation districts free of charge.

For more information, please email Kris Polly at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

OWYHEE IRRIGATION DISTRICT MANAGER Salary: DOQ. The District offers a benefits package that includes paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays.

Medical, vision, and dental insurance coverage for employee and dependents paid by the district. Life insurance, health reimbursement account (HRA), PERS retirement, and a district vehicle will be provided.

Deadline: Open until filled.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Provide water to district patrons in the most efficient and cost-effective manner, improve the district’s financial standing by seeking funding opportunities, maintain positive working relationships, treat employees with respect and ensure a safe work environment, provide exceptional and professional customer service, maintain public trust through transparency and accountability, build relationships through honesty and cooperation, and implement the Owyhee Irrigation District’s conservation plan and modernization plan.

REQUIREMENTS: +A ny combination of education, training, or experience that would provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the essential functions of the position. +3 years of experience as a manager in the operation of similar irrigation works or 5 years in a responsible position in the operation and maintenance of irrigation works equivalent in complexity to the project works. +B achelor’s degree in agriculture, agricultural engineering, engineering, construction management, business or public administration, or related field is preferred.

TO APPLY: Submit a cover letter, resume, and application.

Full job description and application can be found at www.owyheeirrigation.org/employmentopportunities. Mail your completed application materials to Owyhee Irrigation District, 422 Thunderegg Blvd., Nyssa, OR 97913 or to brittany@owyheeirrigation.org.

For more information: Direct questions to the current manager, Jay Chamberlin, at (541) 3723540, ext. 102 or jay@owyheeirrigation.org.

42 | IRRIGATION LEADER | May 2021

OWYHEE IRRIGATION DISTRICT HERBICIDE APPLICATOR Deadline: Open until filled.

RESPONSIBILITIES: + During the maintenance season, job duties may vary with a wide variety of system and building maintenance activities. + Maintain Right-of-ways and water delivery system managed by Owyhee Irrigation District. + Operate sprayers and chemicals to control vegetation, both terrestrial and aquatic. + Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dust, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application. + Maintain and do minor repairs on application equipment. + Operate computer inventory and record-keeping. + Control methods for vegetation include cultural, mechanical, chemical, and biological.

REQUIREMENTS: + Obtain and keep a Public Pesticide Applicator License with Aquatic and Right-of-Way endorsements within 30 days of hire. + Maintain a minimum of a valid Class B CDL with Hazmat endorsement within 60 days of hire. + Pass and maintain respiratory protection certification without limitations required for the duties.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.owyheeirrigation.org.

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JOB LISTINGS SUNKIST GROWERS INC. | FRUIT GROWERS SUPPLY COMPANY IRRIGATION SALES REPRESENTATIVE Salary: DOE Deadline: Open until filled.

RESPONSIBILITIES: The primary objective of the irrigation sales representative is to execute against a sales plan and ensure the generation of new sales exceed target goals. The representative will conduct irrigation sales call to target potential new customers and follow up with the current customer base regarding future needs; evaluates estimates for customer needs including irrigation pipelines, filters, pumps, and emission devices; and assist with scheduling subcontractors during the installation phase of projects.

QUALIFICATIONS: +S trong familiarity with the San Joaquin Valley, Fresno County, and Tulare County +S trong understanding of irrigation pipelines, filters, pumps, emission devices, and other irrigation equipment +3 –5 years irrigation experience +A college degree in an agricultural-related field preferred +M ust work well under pressure and thrive in a sales-driven environment +E xcellent communication skills, both written and verbal +S trong computer skills, including Excel, Word, and Outlook – SAP a plus +V alid unrestricted California driver’s license FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact James Torres at jtorres@sunkistgrowers.com.

SUNKIST GROWERS INC. | FRUIT GROWERS SUPPLY COMPANY SENIOR IRRIGATION DEPARTMENT MANAGER Salary: DOE Deadline: Open until filled DESCRIPTION: This individual will oversee the planning, organizations, and execution of all tasks involved in the irrigation department.

RESPONSIBILITIES: +P lanning, budgeting, and project management related to irrigation projects that result in over $15 million in sales. +L eading and planning all facets of design applications. +M anaging the generation of sales, bidding, and estimate process for all new and existing business. +M anaging a group of individuals, providing coaching and necessary tools needed to perform their jobs while managing performance. +M anaging sales and expenses and understanding the basic mechanics of a P&L +P romoting, supporting, and implementing safety and quality policies and procedures.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact James Torres at jtorres@sunkistgrowers.com.

irrigationleadermagazine.com

SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT SENIOR ENGINEER Salary: $59,966.40–$71,281.60, DOQ. Deadline: Open until filled.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Professional Engineer/scientist position that provides technical services and makes decisions for a work unit that supports the success of several of the district’s strategic programs and major projects of moderate scope with complex features. The services and decisions to be made for this job require a comprehensive knowledge and consistent application of theories, precepts, concepts, and practices related to a specific discipline. Incumbent will perform work that requires application of conventional hydraulics and hydrologic practices but may also include a variety of complex features requiring proper use of design standards; selecting suitable materials; and difficult coordination.

Assignments require a broad knowledge of hydraulic and/ or hydrologic subjects within the discipline to effectively resolve technical issues and complete assignments.

REQUIREMENTS: State of Florida Professional Engineer (PE) license is required.

TO APPLY: Please visit www.sfwmd.gov/careers and click on the link for External Candidates and refer to job reference 2637BR for more information about the requirements of these positions.

KENNEWICK IRRIGATION DISTRICT SUMMER ENGINEERING INTERN Description: KID summer engineering interns gain field and office experience assisting engineering staff with assignments, such as AUTOCAD mapping and design drawings, engineering calculations, data compilation and verification, GPS- and GIS-related work, construction records and drawings, surveying, and any duties as assigned. High school graduates enrolled in a technical or science college curriculum are encouraged to apply for this three-month, full-time, paid internship.

REQUIREMENTS: +V alid Washington state driver license and acceptable driving record required. +E xperience preferred includes irrigation district operations, engineering and construction practices, AUTOCAD, MS Office, GPS, GIS, underground utility construction, and surveying.

TO APPLY: Visit www.kid.org/employment/.

May 2021 | IRRIGATION LEADER

| 43

Upcoming Events May 4–7 Texas Ground Water Association, Annual Convention and Trade Show, San Marcos, TX May 5 Nebraska Water Center, Water Seminar Series: Tributaries: Race, Justice and the Environment (virtual) May 12 Nebraska Water Resources Association, Water Roundtable Series (virtual) May 12–13 Association of California Water Agencies, Spring Conference and Exhibition (virtual) May 17–19 Utah Water Users Association, Annual Workshop, St. George, UT May 19–21 Multi-State Salinity Coalition, Annual Salinity Summit, Las Vegas, NV June 7–8 Nebraska Natural Resources Districts, Papio Basin Tour, Omaha, NE June 7–9 International Water Resources Association, One Water–One Health (virtual) June 7–11 American Society of Civil Engineers, World Environmental & Water Resources Congress (virtual) June 14–17 Nevada Water Resources Association, Well and Water Week, Reno, NV June 16–18 Texas Water Conservation Association, Summer Conference, Horseshoe Bay, TX June 20–24 International Water Resources Association, Singapore International Water Week 2021, Singapore June 22–23 National Ground Water Association, Fate of PFAS: From Groundwater to Tap Water (virtual) July 6–8 Irrigation Australia, Conference and Exhibition, Sydney, Australia July 6–12 International Commission on Irrigation & Drainage, 24th Congress & 71st International Executive Council Meeting, Sydney, Australia July 9–12 National Association of Counties, Annual Conference and Expo, Prince George’s County, MD, and virtual July 12–13 North Dakota Water Resource Districts Association, Summer Meeting and North Dakota Water Education Foundation Executive Briefing, Dickinson, ND July 13–15 North Dakota Water Users Association, Summer Meeting, Grand Forks, ND July 14–16 Hydrovision International, Spokane, WA August 3–5 National Conference of State Legislatures, Legislative Policy Base Camp (virtual) August 3–6 World’s Large Rivers Conference, Moscow, Russia, and virtual CANCELED: August 9–11 8th International Conference on Flood Management, Iowa City, IA August 10–12 National Water Resources Association, Western Water Tour of the Columbia Basin, Portland, OR August 15–17 Idaho Water Users Association, Water Law and Resource Issues Seminar, Sun Valley, ID August 24–26 Colorado Water Congress, Summer Conference, Steamboat Springs, CO September 13–16 National Rural Water Association, WaterPro Conference, Milwaukee, WI September 14 Husker Harvest Days, Grand Island, NE September 26–28 Nebraska Natural Resources Districts, Annual Conference, Kearney, NE

Past issues of Irrigation Leader are archived at irrigationleadermagazine.com /IrrigationLeader

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