Irrigation Leader November/December 2020

VOLUME 11 ISSUE 10

november/december 2020

Shane M. Leonard: Pursuing Efficiency in an Urbanizing Irrigation District

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CONTENTS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 Volume 11 Issue 10

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

an American company established in 2009.

6 Shane M. Leonard: Pursuing Efficiency in an Urbanizing Irrigation District

5 E fficiency and Modernization

By Kris Polly 6 S hane M. Leonard: Pursuing Efficiency in an Urbanizing Irrigation District 12 How

the Davis and Weber Counties Canal Company Is Modernizing Its 140‑Year-Old System 18 H ow Title Transfer Will Help Minidoka Irrigation District Raise Funds

22 S emitropic Water Storage District’s New Well Telemetry Project

By Jan Boling THE INNOVATORS 26 H ydroSide Systems: Using Water Power to Make Traveling Irrigation Systems Autonomous 32 A ither: Bringing Australia’s Water Management Expertise to Users Worldwide

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 | November/December 2020

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.

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 our managing editor, Joshua Dill, at joshua.dill@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.

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COVER PHOTO: Shane M. Leonard, RWCD General Manager.

Photo courtesy of RWCD.

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF RWCD.

Coming soon in Irrigation Leader: January: Milk River Project Ribbon Cutting

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

Efficiency and Modernization

By Kris Polly

I

rrigation district managers usually think of one thing when they hear efficiency: reducing water loss. Of course, the concept goes much further. Efficiency includes saving water, but it also means saving time, saving money, and making good decisions the first time around so that there is no need to reverse course.

In our cover story, Shane Leonard of Arizona’s Roosevelt Water Conservation District (RWCD) tells us that efficiency goes beyond infrastructure upgrades. It also includes making sure that you have the right employees and that they are properly trained. This is all the more important in a rapidly urbanizing area like the one that RWCD serves.

Our conversation with Rick Smith of Utah’s Davis and Weber Counties Canal Company (DWCCC) fills out the picture of urbanizing irrigation districts in the West. At nearly 140 years old, the DWCCC is lining and piping its system to serve a customer base that is now 50 percent urbanized.

We also speak with Dan Davidson of Minidoka Irrigation District in Idaho. The district is seeking title transfer so that it has the flexibility to make changes to its system, gain extra revenue, and partner with other water users.

Semitropic Water Storage District in California, meanwhile, is installing a metering system to ensure a responsible use of water. We learn more about how it selected the meters it did in an article by Jan Boling.

In our interview with Dana Mohr, we hear about the truly exciting technology that his company, HydroSide, has developed. HydroSide’s water-powered system for moving wheel lines, traveling guns, and boom irrigation systems promises to save farmers time and help them irrigate more intentionally. The technology won the company the title of 2020 Farm Bureau Entrepreneur of the Year.

Finally, we hear from the Australian water management consultancy Aither. Aither provides economics, policy, and management advice that is informed by Australia’s experience in battling the early 2000s Millennium Drought. Aither’s expertise in water markets is particularly of interest. The company is currently expanding its operations into the United States.

Improving infrastructure, measuring water use, building an expert workforce, taking advantage of automation, and learning the lessons of the global irrigation experience— these are all paths to efficiency. I hope you learn something new from the impressive irrigation professionals featured in this final issue of 2020. 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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November/December 2020 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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Shane M. Leonard: Pursuing Efficiency in an Urbanizing Irrigation District

The Legacy Park at RWCD headquarters.

Shane Leonard: I am the general manager of RWCD, which is located in eastern Maricopa County in the great state of Arizona. I am the fourth generation of my family working at the district. I received my bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University’s Morrison School of Agribusiness and Resource Management, majoring in finance and minoring in finite resource management. RWCD is approximately 40,000 acres in size, 10,000 acres of which is still irrigated, either in large-scale agricultural production or in municipal, industrial, and smaller-acreage backyard subdivisions. We currently have 52 employees. We produce approximately 60,000 acre-feet of water per year for delivery, made up primarily of renewable supplies. We recently moved into a brand-new facility, the first that we have built in 100 years.

Irrigation Leader: How has the district made its water distribution system more efficient, and what kind of infrastructure programs have been involved?

A box culvert being built under a freeway offramp.

T

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about yourself and about RWCD.

6 | IRRIGATION LEADER | November/December 2020

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF RWCD .

he Roosevelt Water Conservation District (RWCD) has been serving local farmers, urban irrigators, and other central Arizona water users for more than a century. Located on the eastern edge of the Phoenix metro area in Maricopa County, its 40,000‑acre service area overlaps with the quickly growing cities of Mesa and Chandler and the town of Gilbert, meaning that it is acquiring many new customers and quickly becoming a largely urbanized district. In this interview, RWCD General Manager Shane M. Leonard tells Irrigation Leader about how his district pursues efficiency via infrastructure upgrades, staff training, and relationship building.

Shane Leonard: Several things fall under the heading of efficiencies, in my opinion. First, there is infrastructure—in our case, large open conveyances; canals; and smaller delivery systems, such as laterals and pipeline. RWCD was one of the first fully lined concrete systems designed for irrigation in the western United States. And while it is evident that a fully lined system loses less water than an unlined one, our system was designed to be completely gravity fed, such that it does not require us to introduce any more water into the system than is absolutely necessary to fulfill our deliveries.

In short, we don’t have to add extra water just to push the water through the system. The next step in improving our infrastructure’s efficiency is completing the transition from above-ground delivery channels to underground rubber-gasketed reinforced concrete pipe. Based on our current capital budget and urbanization rates, I expect that will be completed in the next 5–10 years.

The second aspect of efficiency concerns the operation of the system—in essence, RWCD staff and their utilization of the system for delivery. You can have the world’s most efficient system in place, but if the people operating it are ill trained or are constantly leaving and being replaced, then it doesn’t matter. Over the last 10 years, one of the district’s primary focuses has been

to ensure that our staff are properly trained and given the necessary tools and support to perform at their best.

These operators truly become specialized workers, so it is woefully inefficient not to create a good working environment and training programs to maximize retention. The operational and financial costs of having employees leave prematurely are sizable.

The third path to efficiency is being protective of and responsive to your water supplies, particularly those that are renewable. You need to do everything that is reasonably possible to make certain they are readily available, based on fluctuating demand and relative to the ongoing drought in the West.

I would also state that maintaining strong, trust-filled relationships with our industry partners and elected officials is a critical component of RWCD’s operational efficiency.

Securing long-term relationships and multiyear renewable supply agreements has allowed us to extend our planning horizon over longer periods of time, which provides for a much more efficient use of our time and limited resources.

System efficiency is a multifaceted issue requiring constant analysis. However, I believe the design of the system, its operations, and the people who operate that system should always be foremost in a manager’s thoughts and actions. If you remove any one of those three primary factors, then you’re not achieving your maximum efficiency.

Shane Leonard: How much time do you have? There are so many facets to being an urbanizing district that it can be overwhelming at times. One of the things that makes RWCD unique as a historically agricultural entity in Arizona is that we are almost fully urbanized. We still serve around 5,000 acres of agricultural land, but we are quickly becoming primarily a small-farm and urban delivery system. When I talk about efficiencies in different settings—for example, the Arizona Reconsultation Committee process—I’m not necessarily exclusively talking about system efficiencies. I’m also talking about employee efficiencies, time-management efficiencies, and customer service–related efficiencies.

Irrigation Leader: How does employee retention save time and money?

PHOTO COURTESY OF JUSTIN STEWART.

Irrigation Leader: You have a planned pump plant that would capture water and send it back into the system.

Would you tell us more about that?

Shane Leonard: It is actually a series of pump stations that would allow us to recapture water that has been stranded in the downstream end of our system and move it back upstream for potential use. RWCD has a closed system without an outfall. Any water that enters the system and isn’t delivered to the customer is held in the system, primarily in two reuse impoundments. We have a partially constructed reuse system that allows us to move a portion of that stored water upstream for redelivery, but it’s not all encompassing.

This capital outlay would complete the pressurized reuse system so that we can move all this water anywhere in the district, thus moving it to the supply side of our water ledger. For example, if a user is unable to accept a planned delivery, we could direct the water into our downstream reuse impoundment and bring it to the customer at a later time or deliver it to another user without the need to bring new water into the system. This will be a vital portion of our system as renewable supplies are reduced and we go back to being a primarily groundwater district. When that happens, having the ability to reduce our need to mine groundwater will benefit RWCD as well as the aquifer.

Irrigation Leader: What can you tell us about being an urbanized district? irrigationleadermagazine.com

This aerial view of RWCD’s headquarters and its main canal demonstrates the urbanizing character of its service area.

Shane Leonard: It’s a straight-line calculation. It often surprises me how few water supply managers have completed a formalized employee retention study—that is, an analysis of how long it takes to hire and train a new person to become a fully trained and independent operating arm of their agency. Does that take 3 days, 6 months, or 6 years? Who is involved in the training process, how much time do they devote to the training, and how much of their salary or wage covers training the new hire? All that and more enters into the cost of training a new employee.

I believe that many managers and their boards would be surprised with the results of that kind of detailed analysis.

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us about your philosophy regarding staff training?

Shane Leonard: I’ve interviewed a lot of folks over the years, and what has become increasingly clear to me is that a good partnership with a new employee has to be based on more than steady work and a regular paycheck.

November/December 2020 | IRRIGATION LEADER

|7

A potential hire needs to know that, beyond the basics of protocol and training, they are going to be a valued member of our team. If we can set that standard early in the hiring process, we don’t just get a warm body, we get a person who is as dedicated to the success of the district as they are to themselves. A symbiosis of their needs and goals with those of the district is a recipe for efficiency as well as success.

Irrigation Leader: How does efficient communication within the district save it money?

Shane Leonard: The phrase may seem cliched, but time is money, particularly in the case of urbanizing districts. For example, urbanizing districts struggle with the fact that as the total amount of water they are producing and delivering diminishes, the labor-hours necessary to make their remaining deliveries more than likely increases. Effective communication along the entire water supply chain, from the customer ordering the water to the zanjero making the delivery and everyone in between, is vital to a time- and money-efficient operation.

Efficient communication covers more than verbal and written communication in today’s world. It also requires technology. For example, RWCD has been working with Assura Software for the past year to provide a platform that meets the current needs of our operations and the technology demands of a younger workforce. By partnering with Hamish Howard and Graeme Partridge of Assura, we’re ensuring that our software package enables, among other items, a robust reporting system for delivery issues, including flooding and low-head or no-head calls. Our intent is to significantly shorten the time between the moment when a delivery issue is noticed and the implementation of a solution.

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us about the importance of forming working relationships with decisionmakers in Congress, and how RWCD does that?

Shane Leonard: Establishing a relationship of trust and communication with elected officials and decisionmakers is vitally important. I believe that Congress and many legislatures in the western United States have lost focus on water and natural resources issues because the water community has lost its collective voice. RWCD, under its previous general manager (my father), made the decision to start reengaging on those topics at the state and federal levels in an attempt to recapture the opportunity to ensure that decisions regarding water were not occurring by happenstance or being made in a vacuum. There is simply too much at stake in an increasingly arid western climate for water managers and policymakers to not get on the same page for the common good of our constituents. The adoption of the Drought Contingency Plan (DCP) by the Colorado basin states could not have occurred if it weren’t for the fact that entities like RWCD had open, honest,

8 | IRRIGATION LEADER | November/December 2020

and forthright conversations with our congressional and state-level delegations. The unfortunate reality is that the DCP might not have happened but for the time of crisis we were in and the tremendous leadership shown by Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman and her staff.

It shouldn’t take a crisis and inordinate focus by federal representatives to get issues of this magnitude addressed sooner and in a much more comprehensive fashion.

Irrigation Leader: How did you design your new building, and what are the advantages of being able to use it as a space for community events?

Shane Leonard: The new building was 20 years in the making, which means that the design went through several different iterations and was thoroughly vetted by all, board members and employees alike. We wanted it designed for efficiency in workflow and communication. We wanted to ensure that we were taking advantage of current technologies while preserving the ability to use future technologies as they arise.

An important aspect of our design focus was the need to maintain relationships with our current customers as well as to provide the opportunity to establish positive relationships with our new customers and the urbanizing community. We constructed a Legacy Park adjacent to the new office, which can house outdoor events, and reserved a large space on our second floor, where more-official community events can occur. I am pleased to report that our intent had the desired outcome. From the day we occupied the new building, we have hosted at least two public events a month, and that number was increasing prior to the implementation of COVID‑19-related restrictions.

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us about the district’s planning horizon and how it plans for the future?

Shane Leonard: We operate for today, but think and plan for the long term. More often than not, my horizon goes beyond the tenure of my employment as well as my lifetime.

The decisions my senior staff, our board of directors, and I are making, the agreements we have entered and will enter into, and the infrastructure projects we’re planning are intended to benefit the district and its partners long after we’re gone.

My father used to tell me that in all aspects, we should try to leave things a little better than we found them and that, rarely, we get a chance to leave them much better. That’s the horizon and the vision I plan for on behalf of RWCD. IL Shane M. Leonard is the general manager of the Roosevelt Water Conservation District. He can be contacted at s.leonard@rwcd.net.

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How the Davis and Weber Counties Canal Company Is Modernizing Its 140‑Year-Old System

A newly lined canal in the DWCCC’s system.

T

he Davis and Weber Counties Canal Company (DWCCC) is a wholesale and retail water supplier for several thousand acres of agricultural, residential, and commercial land in northern Utah. With a nearly 140-year-old system in a rapidly urbanizing area, the DWCCC is putting significant money and effort into lining, enclosing, and updating its delivery system and adapting to the conversion of agricultural lands to urbanization. In this interview, DWCCC General Manager Rick Smith tells Irrigation Leader about the company’s infrastructure work and plans for the future.

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 DWCCC.

12 | IRRIGATION LEADER | November/December 2020

Irrigation Leader: What is the breakdown between agricultural and urban customers?

Rick Smith: We’ve been trying to analyze that. It’s probably getting close to 50/50 now, considering how much this area has grown. Over the last 30 years, the landscape has really changed; what used to be mostly farms now includes a lot of homes, schools, parks, churches, and businesses.

Irrigation Leader: How many urban customers do you deliver water to? irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE DWCCC.

Rick Smith: I’m the general manager of the DWCCC. I have bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Brigham Young University. I am a professional engineer licensed in Utah. I worked for a consulting firm called J‑U‑B Engineers for more than 17 years. The DWCCC was one of our clients, so I was involved with the company from the outside as an engineering consultant. I’ve been the general manager now for over 4 years.

Rick Smith: The DWCCC was created in 1884, before Utah was a state. It was an extension of a company that served the agricultural land in Davis and Weber Counties.

It is a private, mutual irrigation company with shareholders.

Today, we have just over 17 miles of canal in our system. We serve roughly 40,000 irrigated acres. Over the last 30 years, we’ve been shifting away from exclusively providing water for flood irrigation and beginning to provide secondary water for residential and commercial properties, such as lawns and gardens. This is known as a dual system in some areas. Today, we have a total of 14 employees, including our reservoir tender and me.

Rick Smith: Our company alone has roughly 16,000 connections.

We also serve other companies and cities that provide water through their own secondary systems. We serve five cities either completely or partially, as well as two other entities that have their own systems. Based on what I’ve heard from them, I think we provide water to a total of around 35,500 urban connections.

Irrigation Leader: What are the primary crops grown on your agricultural land?

Rick Smith: Alfalfa, beans, corn, melons, onions, peppers, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, and wheat.

Irrigation Leader: What are the primary forms of irrigation in your area?

us to operate it beginning this year. Combined, the City of Kaysville and the DWCCC own and control more than 65 percent of the KIC’s stock.

Irrigation Leader: How many ditch companies do you serve?

Rick Smith: We serve approximately 25 ditch companies and roughly 30 siphons. We used to serve more ditches, but some of them have disappeared as the land was developed. Those areas usually are added to our pressurized system, which serves outdoor landscaping, lawns, and gardens.

Irrigation Leader: Do you set your assessments per acre or per ditch company?

Rick Smith: For agriculture, it’s flood irrigation. I do not know any farmers who have converted to pressurized systems. The secondary water we provide is pressurized and is used for lawn and garden sprinkler systems.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your water source and your infrastructure.

Rick Smith: Our main water source is the Weber River and one of its tributaries, East Canyon Creek. At the mouth of Weber Canyon, we divert the river into our canal system, which then skirts along the bench and heads west, going around Hill Air Force Base. The canal slope is nearly flat.

In addition to our natural rights on the Weber River, we have storage rights. We draw from two large storage reservoirs, Echo Reservoir and East Canyon Reservoir, which are both operated and maintained in partnership with the Bureau of Reclamation. East Canyon Dam was originally owned and operated by the DWCCC. The first three dams in that location were built by the DWCCC in the 1880s and early 1900s. The current dam increased the volume of storage and was built by Reclamation for the Weber Basin Project in the 1960s.

We deliver water to ditch companies, like a wholesaler to its stockholders. Each ditch company off our system is an independent private entity. Those ditch companies are responsible for their delivery infrastructure and laterals. It is their their responsibility to deliver the water to our shareholders through flood irrigation pipes. Some of the turnouts off our canal supply water to our secondary water system reservoirs.

The DWCCC owns just over 39 percent of the Weber River Water Users Association (WRWUA), which is the company that runs Echo Dam. For many years, one manager has run both DWCCC and WRWUA because they are so integrally connected. By contract, we also run the Kaysville Irrigation Company (KIC), a smaller irrigation company that is in the same city as one of our secondary systems and is a water supplier for that pressure system. Because its number of users has been slowly diminishing, the KIC asked irrigationleadermagazine.com

The DWCCC’s East Canyon Dam.

Rick Smith: We assess per share. There are 10,000 water shares in our company. The amount of water a customer gets from us depends on their water shares and the water resources we have available. In addition to water share assessments, the ditch companies we deliver to often charge their users a ditch fee.

Irrigation Leader: Do you have any hydropower installations?

Rick Smith: In the recent past, we have applied for and received several WaterSMART grants from Reclamation.

We have constructed some small hydro installments as part of that process. One of our challenges is that, because our canal is flat, we have limited head. That means that the velocity of the water is our source of generating power.

Historically, the company was able to run the water through the wintertime, and there was an old hydro plant that came off the upper part of our canal system in South Weber. I know the company sent a lot of water there during the wintertime. I’ve heard that they would throw dynamite into the canal to break the ice and keep the water flowing. I’m not sure exactly when that power station was abandoned or decommissioned, but we haven’t run power to it for a long time.

November/December 2020 | IRRIGATION LEADER

| 13

Newly installed Emrgy small hydro units operating in a DWCCC canal.

Irrigation Leader: What are the top issues that your canal company faces today?

Rick Smith: Our canal system was built in 1884, with concrete liner installed around 1911, so it is old. In 1999, our canal breached in Riverdale and flooded parts of a neighborhood.

That required repairs, restorations, and updates to our canal system. Since then, we’ve developed a capital facility plan to repair and upgrade parts of the canal system and to enclose parts of it so that it is more fortified and ready to deliver water for the next hundred years and more. Over 70 percent of the canal system has been redone, realigned, or enclosed since 1999. We’ve spent $40 million on those projects.

Over the last year, we enclosed a section that had never been lined and has houses on both sides of it. There are always pieces that we’re trying to enclose or otherwise improve. Over the next 20 years, we’ll be enclosing more of the open canal. In addition to the conservation gains, enclosing the canal reduces maintenance issues, since it reduces the amount of debris that enters the canal and the amount of algae that grows in it. Other challenges include encroachment by urbanization and the fact that several utilities cross our canal right of way.

Irrigation Leader: What materials have you used to line your canals?

Rick Smith: We’ve used cast-in-place and precast box culverts, large-diameter pipes, and new reinforced concrete liner with Waterstop.

Irrigation Leader: What is your company’s next big project?

14 | IRRIGATION LEADER | November/December 2020

Irrigation Leader: How has the pandemic affected your operations?

Rick Smith: It hasn’t affected us too much. We are an essential company, so we have continued our work. We put some restrictions on the few people coming into our office and created barriers in the office so that people’s movements are limited. During this time, we’ve had to exchange water shares, sign people up for the water rental pool, and get people ready for the water season; developers and engineers have also been dropping off plans for new developments connecting to our secondary water system.

Irrigation Leader: What is your message to Congress and to Reclamation?

Rick Smith: We are appreciative of Reclamation and its WaterSMART program. We would like solar to be an option for the green energy component, since it can be challenging to get hydro options. Any money that we can get to put toward our irrigation and water projects is helpful for everybody. When we combine those grant awards with state funds and our own money, we can get a lot of these projects fast tracked. That seed money has helped us improve our system more quickly without increasing our share assessments too much. We’re trying to encourage water conservation, help our end users be water wise, and protect and use our water resources in a wise manner. IL Rick Smith is the general manager of the Davis and Weber Counties Canal Company and the Weber River Water Users Association. He can be contacted at ricks@davisweber.org or (801) 774‑6373. irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE DWCCC.

Rick Smith: Our main goal is to slowly chip away at our system. We are enclosing additional sections of our open canal in the Clearfield area, not too far from our offices. We’re replacing open canal liner that has been there for a long time; in some places, there has been no liner. In order to afford that work, we’ve applied for some WaterSMART grants. We have also received state funding in the form of 20- to 35‑year

low-interest loans. We are working on several things in our secondary system. We recently finished a 42-inch pressure pipe, and this winter, we’re building a new booster station to pressurize some of our secondary water. We are also starting to retrofit individual services with meters.

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How Title Transfer Will Help Minidoka Irrigation District Raise Funds

A check structure on the MID’s Canal B.

D

an Davidson is an Idaho native who has served as the manager of southern Idaho’s Minidoka Irrigation District (MID) for the past 8 years. The MID’s system dates back to the first decade of the 20th century, and as with many irrigation districts, repairing and replacing aging infrastructure is a priority. The MID is currently pursuing a transfer of the title for its system from the Bureau of Reclamation, which would allow it to provide additional services and thus raise money for infrastructure. In this interview, Mr. Davidson tells Irrigation Leader about the current status of the MID’s title transfer efforts and its plans for the future.

engineer, working with floating bridges and boats. Afterward, I worked with my father-in-law on a cattle ranch. My primary job was flood irrigation. Because I spent a lot of time around water growing up, when an opportunity to work at an irrigation district opened up, I took it. Five years later, the opportunity to manage a larger system opened up. I managed Bear River Canal Company, the largest canal company in the state of Utah, for 9 years. The water I used flowed through many of the dams where my grandfather worked. However, my family and I missed Idaho, so in 2012, I took the job of manager of the MID. I have been here for more than 8 years.

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 MID.

18 | IRRIGATION LEADER | November/December 2020

Dan Davidson: The MID has over 400 miles of canals, laterals, and drains and more than 77,000 irrigated acres within a 100,000‑acre service area. The project was built in the early 1900s. The primary crops are alfalfa, potatoes, small grains, and sugar beets. We have 26 full-time employees.

Irrigation Leader: How did the MID decide to pursue title transfer? irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MID.

Dan Davidson: I guess you can say that the water industry is a family business. I grew up along the Snake River in eastern Idaho. My grandfather spent his life working at dams on the Snake and Bear Rivers. My father was a dam operator on the Snake River for Utah Power. After he retired, he worked as a watermaster on the Blackfoot River. After graduating from high school, I spent 8 years in the military as a combat

Dan Davidson: I began discussing title transfer with the board in 2013. In 2016, we formally requested title transfer.

When the John D. Dingell, Jr., Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act began to gain momentum, we decided to put everything on hold. After the Dingell Act passed in 2019, we dove in to get it finished.

The main reason we wanted to seek title transfer was to provide additional income opportunities for the district and to reduce regulatory issues. That extra income would make it a little easier to operate the irrigation district on a dayto-day basis without the added bureaucratic layer of dealing with Reclamation. Currently, every time we need to make a change to our system, we have to seek permission from Reclamation. That can be really time consuming.

Irrigation Leader: Does the MID have issues with aging infrastructure?

Irrigation Leader: What is your message to other irrigation districts that are considering title transfer?

Dan Davidson: Make sure you keep board members up to speed on the process. Build a good working relationship with local Reclamation staff. They can make title transfer much easier. Get the message out to everyone early. Make sure everyone is delivering the same message about the transfer.

Irrigation Leader: What is the most important thing you’ve learned as a manager?

Dan Davidson: Build confidence in your staff. Get them involved in the decisionmaking process. I can’t say enough good things about everyone I work with at the MID. They’re excellent people to work with, and they’ve made the process a lot easier. IL

Dan Davidson: Absolutely. This spring, we replaced a structure that dated back to the original construction of the district in 1907. There are other original structures in use today.

Irrigation Leader: Will gaining ownership of the title to its system enable the MID to go to the private sector for funding?

Dan Davidson: We are already able to seek private-sector funding. Title transfer will allow us more freedom to make changes to our system and to partner with other water user groups. Currently, our main income stream comes from assessments paid directly by our water users. The other income streams that title transfer would open include using our system to convey water for other entities and using it for recharge.

Right now, if we want to wheel water for someone else, we need Reclamation’s permission. We would use that extra money to make changes and improvements to the system.

The head of the A-2 Canal in Rupert, Idaho.

Irrigation Leader: Where are you in the title transfer process?

Dan Davidson: The title transfer package was submitted to Congress on September 24. That starts a 90-day period during which Congress can veto the transfer. Idaho’s delegation supports the transfer.

Irrigation Leader: What has it been like to work with Reclamation?

Dan Davidson: I have a lot of respect for everyone on the title transfer team at Reclamation. They’ve been great to work with, and I appreciate all they have done. As with any big project, there are hiccups along the way and lessons learned. One of those was the appraisal process. It took a lot longer than expected. When we are done, other districts will have an easier time working through the process, though. irrigationleadermagazine.com

This adjustable weir is the head of the Lower A Canal.

Dan Davidson is the manager of the Minidoka Irrigation District. He can be contacted at dan.mid@pmt.org or (208) 436‑3188.

November/December 2020 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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Semitropic Water Storage District’s New Well Telemetry Project

By Jan Boling

An aerial view of Kern County farmland.

W

22 | IRRIGATION LEADER | November/December 2020

Semitropic provides water banking services for its partners.

The district uses grower-owned wells to recover banked water and delivers it to the partners. Since the banking partners pay for the energy required to recover their water, it is imperative that the district be able to distinguish the use of these wells to recover banked water from use of the wells by the growers for their own needs. Semitropic measures the water stored for its water banking partners and the amount used by farmers and creates an allocation report showing the amount of water pumped back to the partners and the energy consumed to do so.

Until now, Semitropic had created the report using hand-taken meter readings and Pacific Gas and Electric Company power bills. Using manually collected data, it took up to 2 years to generate the cost accounting. Semitropic needed an automated method to get it done in a couple of months instead.

With this aim, Semitropic approached REDtrac LLC in Bakersfield, California. REDtrac brings together software and hardware engineers with industry experts with extensive experience in agriculture. Semitropic tasked REDtrac with creating an energy reconciliation system for the district’s groundwater banking recovery operation to more easily divide the costs of well operation between the growers who own the wells and the district’s water banking activities.

Greg Allen and Jeff Young of REDtrac guided Semitropic to a solution that involved a wide selection of meters with irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF RYAN HARVEY.

here there is water, people thrive. Many consider it their lifeblood—especially in the agricultural region of central California. They count on there being water to drink; to feed their crops; for recreational use; and, to put it in general terms; to enable their existence! With the ongoing battle between agriculture and environmentalists— especially during drought years—monitoring the use of this precious commodity has become a top-of-mind issue.

One challenge for farmers is to demonstrate to the public that they are true stewards of the land and that they use only as much water as is needed to provide food and clothing for us all. They must be able to monitor their water consumption and adapt their consumption quickly to real-time weather and environmental conditions. The question is how best to do it.

There are eight water storage districts in California; their mission is to store and deliver water to customers. Established in 1958, Semitropic Water Storage District is the largest water storage district in Kern County. It covers an area of more than 220,000 acres and delivers water to nearly 300 customers who together irrigate approximately 140,000 agricultural acres.

Begun as an irrigation district for the purpose of securing State Water Project supplies to reduce groundwater overdraft, its three primary objectives today are to increase water supply reliability, decrease the cost of water for irrigation, and correct overdraft in the groundwater basin.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TECHNOFLO SYSTEMS AND JAN BOLING.

A TechnoFlo PS 32 propeller-style saddle meter installed on Semitropic’s system.

Solar-powered Seametrics AG3000 meters deployed on Semitropic’s system.

proven performance at a good price for the district. An added bonus is that, down the road, farmers may be able to use the data collected through this project for their own tracking needs—perhaps for Sustainable Groundwater Management Act reporting.

Semitropic has tested Seametrics’ meters for a number of years. Based on their proven performance, Semitropic selected Seametrics meters to replace a number of older-style propeller meters, providing a wider flow range and higher accuracy.

The new Seametrics meters also come standard with a pulse output that ties in well with the telemetry project.

The TechnoFlo PS 32 propeller-style saddle meter, with its easy-to-read stabilized nonbounce graphic display, was also specified for the Semitropic project. Its long life and its capability to tie into Semitropic’s telemetry system were selling points.

These meters were supplemented with the low-cost Seametrics IP117 insertion paddle wheel.

Semitropic put out a request for proposal calling for a variety of specific Seametrics products (or approved equals), including battery-operated spool-type electromagnetic flow meters, strap-on saddle meters, strap-on saddle meters with remote heads and stainless steel cross-vanes, and insertiontype paddle wheels.

In September 2018, TechnoFlo Systems of Porterville, California, was awarded the contract. TechnoFlo Systems offers technology solutions and flow measurement products to its customers, which include municipal clean water and wastewater utilities, industrial and food and beverage customers, and the agricultural irrigators. Centrally located in California’s fertile, agricultural San Joaquin Valley, it serves customers throughout Northern and Central California and Nevada. With over 70 years of combined experience in the municipal and irrigation markets and extensive work with engineered flow products, TechnoFlo irrigationleadermagazine.com

has the knowledge and willingness to meet any customer’s requirements. Its owners, Steven and Eric Huth, are brothers who share a desire to serve their customers by providing the right products to meet specific needs.

Semitropic has a long history of buying meters from TechnoFlo; REDtrac has also worked with TechnoFlo President Steve Huth. As REDtrac’s Jeff Young states, “Working with Steve and TechnoFlo Systems was fantastic for our purposes. They’ve always been there to help us and have been very responsive to any questions that have arisen.

From the telemetry side of the project, they’ve been great to work with. And Seametric and TechnoFlo meters are definitely the right solution to Semitropic’s needs.”

Mr. Huth says, “While I’m sure we won the bid partially based upon our past performance and versatility, our ability to provide one platform featuring all the meter technology, including the Seametrics magmeter and paddle wheel, along with the TechnoFlo meters cinched it. Other meter companies are unable to supply the TechnoFlo propeller meter or customized wiring done by TechnoFlo Systems.”

As the first phase of the project draws to a close, Huth sums it up as follows: “I think the interesting thing on this project is that TechnoFlo is supplying Seametrics full-bore flanged AG3000 meters, Seametrics IP117 insertion paddlewheel meters, and TechnoFlo PS32 saddle propeller meters all with special customer-requested TE output connections, allowing the meter to be hooked up to the REDtrac telemetry and remote monitoring system.” IL Jan Boling is the president of Boling Associates Advertising & Marketing. For more about Boling Associates, visit www.bolingassociates.com.

November/December 2020 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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THE INNOVATORS

HydroSide Systems: Using Water Power to Make Traveling Irrigation Systems Autonomous

Peter Bean, Wil Hackleman, and Dana Mohr in front of a HydroSide automated traveling gun.

H

ydroSide Systems has developed an innovative and awardwinning technology for moving wheel lines, traveling guns, boom systems, and other traveling irrigation units.

It aims to replace labor-intensive movers with a water-powered hydroelectric system, making irrigation units self-powered and autonomous. In this interview, HydroSide Founder and CEO Dana Mohr tells Irrigation Leader about how the company’s technology works and the benefits it can bring to irrigators.

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

26 | IRRIGATION LEADER | November/December 2020

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HYDROSIDE.

Dana Mohr: My background is tied to blue-collar industry and construction, so I very much relate to the hard work that goes into farming and agriculture. I was also blessed to marry into a Montana family with strong ties to agriculture.

My wife, Sharon, and I first lived near Denver, Colorado, and eventually moved to Coeur d’Alene in northern Idaho to be closer to family.

Around 8 years ago, my brother-in-law was responsible for managing several wheel lines in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. The work involved walking through a field;

manually starting a motor; and disconnecting, draining, and moving the system 60 feet from one irrigation set to another every 12–24 hours. He had to do this all the way across a 40‑acre field. The labor-intensive nature of the process seemed resource draining for farmers and farmhands alike. Discussing this problem with him planted the seed for what would eventually become HydroSide; it sprouted in 2017 with a potential solution.

Our idea zeroed in on moving the irrigation system with power generated by the water itself rather than by a gaspowered motor. We bounced the idea around with a variety of engineers who said they believed it could work. My wife and I found an investor and a developer, and HydroSide was born.

We created a product that could not only fully automate wheel-line systems, but could also be applied to other traveling irrigation systems, including traveling guns and traveling booms. It had great marketing potential and was promising from a business-case perspective. On top of it all, we had done plenty of research, and our system was patentable. We are now patent pending in the United States, Canada, the European Union, and Australia and have received positive review from the World International Patent Organization.

THE INNOVATORS Last year, recognizing the importance of securing industry credibility, we entered the HydroSide system in the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) 6th Annual Farm Bureau Innovation Challenge. In the fall, we learned that we had been named a top 10 finalist. At the AFBF annual meeting in January, HydroSide won a 3‑day competition against teams from across the United States.

We couldn’t believe it when we were named the 2020 Farm Bureau Entrepreneur of the Year.

We are now within about 2 months of initiating intensive third-party field testing of the autonomous traveling gun, which is the first of the three systems we plan to manufacture.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the basic innovation that HydroSide has developed.

Dana Mohr: Our original idea was to figure out how to make wheel lines more efficient. We thought of a way to pull a drag line along with a wheel line as it moved from set to set.

That way, a farmer would only need to do 3–5 set changes to cover a 40‑acre field. In field testing, we came up against the reality that dragging a hose through a field is difficult, even if it only weighs 800–1,000 pounds. Next, we looked at the option of carrying the hose along with us. That led to the birth of our new design, which is essentially a mobilized hose reel platform. We then automated other forms of traveling irrigation using the same base unit.

A traditional hose reel is towed to an irrigation site behind a truck. Once positioned, an irrigation cart is attached to the hose, and a tractor pulls the cart and drags the hose a set distance down the field. The farmer then fires up the hose reel and it pulls the irrigation cart back to the hose reel while it irrigates. It’s kind of like casting a line out with a fishing rod and slowly reeling the lure back in, but in this case the irrigation cart is sent out and then slowly pulled back to the hose reel as it irrigates. Our approach differs because we mobilize the hose reel itself so that it can travel down the length of the field and back, spooling out the hose and then picking it back up as it returns. This eliminates the need for the farmer to repeatedly conduct manual hose pulls to prep the irrigation cart for another run. Our system is a one‑to-one replacement for a hose-reel irrigation setup and is fully autonomous, meaning that you can now automate traveling guns and traveling booms as well.

With respect to wheel lines, we pair our base traveling hose reel with another small mover that is located about two-thirds of the way down wheel line and then we sequence the movements of the hose reel and the smaller mover. This allows the wheel line to move autonomously across the field for each set. Our system also wirelessly controls the water flow so that the line drains—a critical step—before it moves to the next set and then turns itself back on.

The beauty of the system is that it is versatile enough to work with different crop types. If a farmer wants to grow turf or forage on a 40‑acre square, they might want to use a irrigationleadermagazine.com

hose reel in a wheel line orientation in order to put the water down slowly and achieve a good depth of saturation. If the farmer later wants to plant a taller crop, such as corn, which is too tall for a wheel line, the same hose reel, with the switch of a few fittings, could operate as a traveling gun. We believe that the modular nature of these products is a game changer for farmers who want to grow different crops on the same land without buying additional irrigation systems.

Irrigation Leader: What are the advantages of the HydroSide system over other irrigation systems?

Dana Mohr: The challenge with traditional wheel lines is that they’re labor intensive. Also, farmers typically only have time to move them every 12 hours or so, even though the soil and crop type might benefit from a shorter watering schedule, with the units moved every 7 hours.

The HydroSide system can be set for 4, 6, or 8 hours, or whatever would be best suited for the soil structure and crop.

Traveling guns and booms can be great for oddly shaped fields, tall crops, and tough terrain, but they are also labor intensive and susceptible to waste through overwatering, wind drift, evaporation, and runoff. With our system, a farmer can adjust the watering as it drives, or it can be done

A HydroSide automated traveling gun unit.

November/December 2020 | IRRIGATION LEADER

| 27

THE INNOVATORS remotely based on topography or environmental conditions.

The farmer can speed up the system’s set times so that it puts down progressively less water as it gets to the bottom of a slope, for instance, minimizing runoff and overwatering.

Irrigation Leader: How does the HydroSide system use technology to the advantage of its customers?

Dana Mohr: Our system is unique because it can bring precision technology to legacy irrigation systems, like wheel lines, or can be a standalone precision irrigation system when set up as a traveling gun or boom. The HydroSide system allows farmers to monitor the positioning of their units, their general operational and functional data, and real-time water consumption information from their phones or computers.

Our system also proactively communicates with farmers if it senses events like a drop or spike in pressure that could indicating a leak or blockage. We can adjust watering based on the orientation and topography of the field along with the demands of the crop, the soil structure, and environmental conditions. By putting water down exactly where it is needed or at a rate that the topography can handle, we avoid waste and can help increase yield, all while saving on labor costs. We project that our systems can reduce such waste by as much as 70 percent, and this fall we will be doing research with Fresno State to test this assumption.

Irrigation Leader: How does your system move itself?

Dana Mohr: Since we’re pretty far along in the patent process, I can share a little bit about how we generate the power to move the irrigation system. The simple answer is that the unit is powered with hydroelectric technology: Water comes into the system and runs through an inline turbine, powering an alternator that converts and stores the power in onboard battery banks. The batteries, in turn, power the electric drive motors and the onboard navigation computer controls. It doesn’t require an external power source, nor does it have the potential maintenance issues that accompany gas-productpowered engines. There are two drive motors on every unit, so even if there is a problem with one of them, the unit can limp along until a repair can be made.

Irrigation Leader: What is the focus of HydroSide’s marketing?

28 | IRRIGATION LEADER | November/December 2020

Irrigation Leader: What are the top concerns or issues confronting your customers?

Dana Mohr: Throughout the development of the HydroSide system, we’ve interviewed growers to understand their challenges with legacy systems and what they would like systems like ours to be able to do. The growers we’ve interviewed across the inland Northwest consistently say that they need to irrigate on different schedules but simply don’t have the time to move away from the longer traditional pulls and 12‑ or 24‑hour sets. This has confirmed that our initial hypothesis was right on target. We are proud of the methodical approach we have taken in conducting this outreach.

Throughout these conversations, we have found that growers are excited about trying the new product. We are answering that call by organizing a series of demo days that will take place throughout our immediate region this fall and in spring 2021. Thereafter, we’ll repeat that on a more national level in the high-density usage areas I noted earlier.

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

Dana Mohr: We are fortunate to have developed a patentable technology with our HydroSide system, and we see the traveling irrigation niche as a starting point. Our vision for the next phase of our business is to begin focusing on linear lines so that we can service even larger acreages. The linear line is the fastest-growing form of large-scale irrigation in the United States, and our goal is to build a system that will use water as a power source, just as in our initial product lines. We recognize the importance of being adaptable, so as we move in this direction, we are conducting research into integrating precision chemigation and fertigation elements into our systems. IL Dana Mohr is the CEO of HydroSide Systems. He can be contacted at dana@hydroside.com or (208) 580‑4467.

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF HYDROSIDE.

Dana Mohr: Current data show that approximately 4 million acres in the United States are irrigated by travelers and wheel lines, and an incredible amount of acreage is covered by the technology abroad. In fact, hose reels are the preferred irrigation method in a large number of countries, including France, Italy, and all the Scandinavian countries. Nevertheless, during our initial market release this year, we are focusing on the inland Northwest. Of the 4 million acres that are covered by hose reels and wheel lines in the United States, 1.3 million are in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

As we move into the trade show season in late 2020 and early 2021, we will have completed our hard testing, which will provide us with the confidence to do a far broader market release, which will include the rest of the United States, with an emphasis on high-density use areas, such as the Central Valley of California and the southeastern and mid-Atlantic states. Thereafter, we anticipate pushing to release in Australia during the early months of 2021, which is the growing season in the southern hemisphere. Canada will be a focus in 2021 as well; in fact, we’ve already had many Canadian growers reaching out to us and committing to orders for delivery in 2021.

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THE INNOVATORS

Aither: Bringing Australia’s Water Management Expertise to Users Worldwide

A water depth marker in the dry lake bed of Lake Albert in New South Wales in 2010.

T

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

32 | IRRIGATION LEADER | November/December 2020

Will Fargher: I grew up on a farm in New South Wales, Australia. I learned the value of water young, as you do when you’re surrounded by dust and hoping for rain. I studied economics and geography at university, pursuing both fields through the lens of agriculture and water. After university, I worked for the government of the State of Victoria in water policy and management at a time when the state was undertaking significant water reforms.

In 2004, all the Australian governments agreed on a national blueprint for water reform, the National Water Initiative. A National Water Commission was established in Canberra to drive the implementation of commitments made under that agreement. I joined the commission soon after its establishment and stayed for the next 7 years, the last 3 as the general manager, in which position I was responsible for urban and rural water policy. I left the commission in 2012 to start Aither and have been one of the company’s directors ever since. I’m still based in Canberra but work across Australia as well as internationally. irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BIDGEE

he Millennium Drought of the early 2000s in Australia led to fundamental reforms in water management in the country, including the establishment of a National Water Commission and the expansion of water markets. Water markets allow users to buy and sell water rights at market-determined prices, which helps to balance consumptive and environmental demand and to reveal the value that different users place on water. In 2012, the consultancy Aither was founded to provide water resources– related economics, policy, and management advice informed by the Australian experience. Aither has plans to expand operations to the United States in the near future. In this interview, Will Fargher, a founding director of Aither, and Amy Syvrud, a senior consultant for the company, tell Irrigation Leader about Aither's history and services and how it shares the wisdom accumulated by Australia over the course of its water reform journey.

Amy Syvrud: I’m a U.S. citizen and grew up in San Diego, California. I did my undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia’s Batten School of Public Policy and Leadership.

I then briefly worked for The Nature Conservancy’s Global Freshwater Strategies team in Virginia, led by Brian Richter.

That experience launched my passion for and interest in water, particularly in water markets and the policies and regulatory environments that support effective water markets.

Australia is recognized as a leader in managing water resources and is known for having the most active and sophisticated water markets in the world. I wanted to gain firsthand knowledge of Australia’s approach to water management and to identify lessons that could be applied in the United States. So, when I received a scholarship to complete a master’s degree in integrated water management at the International WaterCentre in Brisbane, I packed my bags and headed out west (far, far west).

I met Will Fargher at the World Water Congress in 2016 and have had the good fortune to work for Aither ever since. Aither is unique in that it brings together economists, strategists, and policy practitioners with a deep understanding and appreciation of the value of water. Our team has been involved in the journey of Australia’s water reform experience, and I have learned a lot through working with it over the past 4 years. I am now fortunate to be returning home to the United States to help bring Aither’s services there and to help U.S. water users make better decisions about the way we manage our water resources.

THE INNOVATORS Irrigation Leader: Do you credit growing up on a farm with your interest in water?

Will Fargher: It certainly instilled in me a fundamental sense of the value and importance of water for production, communities, and the environment. I’m passionate about agriculture and the environment and about our ability to improve the management of scarce water resources. We often talk about win-lose outcomes: who gets water and who doesn’t; which crops are grown and which aren’t; and which industries or regions are going to be sustained at the expense of others or of the environment. I fundamentally don’t believe it needs to be win-lose. It can be win-win. But we need to be smart.

Irrigation Leader: What services does Aither provide and in which business sectors?

Will Fargher: Aither’s purpose is to help governments and businesses make better decisions about globally significant issues. Combining economics, policy, strategy, and performance, we focus on four key sectors: water policy and management, water utilities and infrastructure, water markets, and resilience and adaptation. Across those sectors, we work with leaders in government and business in different countries, navigating complexity by providing decisionmakers with clear, evidence-based analysis, insights, and advice.

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us more about Aither’s work with water markets?

Will Fargher: The members of Aither’s water markets team are Australia’s leading water market advisors. We’re fortunate to have had end-to-end experience in establishing and then navigating water market rules and regulations in the world’s leading water market. Whether it’s undertaking assessments of the feasibility of establishing new markets or applying leading modelling and analytical tools to help clients form cost-effective and risk-based portfolio management strategies, Aither helps government and private clients understand water market dynamics and make decisions with confidence.

It’s worth noting that all this has come together pretty quickly in the scheme of things. Twenty years ago, I wrote my university thesis on the potential for the water markets that were then emerging to balance tradeoffs between consumptive and environmental demand in the Murray Darling basin. Fifteen years ago, the National Water Commission was working to help Australia’s states develop the institutional and administrative architecture to enable interstate water trade. Today, that market has a capital value of about A$26.3 billion (US$18.7 billion) in major entitlements and an entitlement turnover of approximately A$1 billion (US$711 million) a year.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission irrigationleadermagazine.com

(ACCC) is currently undertaking a water market inquiry, and its interim report emphasizes the benefits of water markets for Australia’s economy, communities, and individual irrigators. Despite this, implementation has been challenging at times, and the ACCC has pointed out a range of regulatory and governance issues that still need to be addressed. Issues notwithstanding, our work indicates that there are big opportunities for water markets globally, and there is certainly a growing interest from overseas.

Irrigation Leader: How do you approach developing a water market in another country that has vastly different water rights or laws?

Will Fargher: Over the course of the last 10 years, we’ve worked in 15 different countries and had conversations with organizations in twice that number of countries. A question that invariably arises is how others might establish water markets like those in Australia. We’re cautious when we respond, because water policy and management is context specific. Each jurisdiction has its own legislation, practices, cultures, and norms, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

However, stepping back from the specifics of Australia’s arrangements, there are lessons from our experience that touch on fundamental elements of improved water management and that might help other countries. Water markets are a powerful tool, but some essential water management infrastructure must to be in place before they are established to ensure the benefits of trade and safeguard against negative consequences. These essentials include a good understanding of the water resource, good water planning, a good means by which to allocate resources, and a legal framework that can ensure that those allocations or entitlements are enforced. A system of accounting for water consumption—metering, monitoring, and reporting—also needs to be in place. If you can get those essentials in place and there is competition for water or demand for reallocation between users, then a water market can be effective under the right conditions.

A drought-affected paddock in North Wagga, New South Wales, in 2008.

November/December 2020 | IRRIGATION LEADER

| 33

THE INNOVATORS Amy Syvrud: Notably, the essentials needed for markets to function effectively are the same arrangements that are required for improved water management in general. In other words, work on these essentials can be pursued on a no-regrets basis, with the expectation that they will help improve water management regardless of whether a water market is ultimately created or not. That was the conclusion of my master’s thesis, in which I explored water market feasibility in agricultural regions outside Australia. Investing in clearly defining water rights; improving systems for monitoring, accounting, and reporting on water availability and use; and establishing sound governance and regulation will provide tangible benefits in all cases.

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us about Aither’s plans to expand its operations to the United States?

Will Fargher: While it’s increasingly in vogue to refer to yourself as being purpose driven, purpose is core to the Aither business, and it drives our team. We are an accredited Benefit Corporation, which reflects our commitment to delivering positive change through the work that we do.

Certified Benefit Corporations meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability. For us, this is as simple as balancing purpose and profit. We are a for-profit firm, but we operate in a way that benefits the communities and environments in which we work and live. We see better decisions as something that will generate enormous benefits and avoid costly and irreversible mistakes.

Now, if we’re true to all that, how do we increase our impact? We do so through growth, and there’s no better place to grow than the United States. There are clear parallels between the challenges being faced and the outcomes being sought in Australia and the United States. In both places, water resources are highly valued for their contribution to agriculture, are necessary to sustain cities and towns, and are the cornerstone of globally significant river and riverine ecosystems. We’re currently working with a number of North American clients with a presence in Australia, we’re seeing increased interest in the Australian experience from the United States, and we’re keen to meet the market in this regard.

34 | IRRIGATION LEADER | November/December 2020

Irrigation Leader: Where will you be establishing an office?

Amy Syvrud: From October 2020 onward, I’ll be based in Virginia, near Washington, DC. Our current international work has seen us collaborate with the World Bank and other Washington-based institutions, so we’ll be taking the opportunity to connect with them and with federal government departments. One aim will be to understand the water agenda of the federal administration come 2021.

However, the long-term goal is to establish a presence in the western states, which is the most logical place for our work.

Irrigation Leader: What should every water manager in the United States know about Aither?

Will Fargher: Better decisionmaking is critical for improved outcomes, and we bring a strong analytical approach to delivering the information required to make better decisions. For agricultural producers and investors, that might mean looking to understand the value of water in production and in the market and deciding how they can set up a portfolio approach that delivers increased security and returns over time. For a water utility that is thinking about the value of water to cities, towns, and irrigation areas and asking how to provide a certain level of security and supply to its customers and users, that might mean work on economic evaluation, pricing, economic regulation, funding and financing, and optimizing decisions.

These decisions need to be underpinned by sound advice that improves a producer's or an agency's information base, their understanding of the suite of options, and their ability to consider and communicate those options and their preferred outcomes. That’s the space that we work in, from analysis and insights to higher-level engagement and advice. We bring together policy, strategy, economics, and performance and offer multidisciplinary, collaborative, and evidence-based approaches and tools to support our clients—many of whom we hope will be in the United States as we go forward. IL

Will Fargher is a founding director of Aither. He can be contacted at will.fargher@aither.com.au.

Amy Syvrud is a senior consultant at Aither. She can be contacted at amy.syvrud@aither.com.au.

irrigationleadermagazine.com

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AITHER.

Amy Syvrud: This brings us back to the question I was asking myself prior to my arrival in the land down under: Are Australia’s water management lessons and experience applicable to the U.S. context? The answer is yes; its lessons are very much applicable. As Will said, there are clear parallels between the challenges faced and outcomes sought in the two countries. The real challenge, however, is in understanding how to apply those lessons effectively. That’s what we’ll be focused on as we engage with those who are working in this space in the United States. We’ve had the privilege of applying Australia’s lessons in other countries

around the world, and we are excited at the prospect of making a contribution in the United States.

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Upcoming Events November 5 Columbia Basin Development League, Annual Meeting and Conference (virtual) CANCELED: November 9–10 Kansas Governor’s Water Conference, Wichita, KS November 9, 10, 12 National Water Resources Association, 89th Annual Conference (virtual) November 17 Agribusiness and Water Council of Arizona and Arizona Department of Agriculture, Roundtable, Phoenix, AZ November 22–24 Nebraska Water Resources Association and Nebraska State Irrigation Association, Joint Convention, Kearney, NE December 1–3 Oregon Water Resources Congress, Annual Conference, Hood River, OR December 2-3 Association of California Water Agencies, Fall Conference and Exhibition (virtual) December 2–4 Washington State Water Resources Association, Annual Conference (virtual) December 8–10 National Ground Water Association, Groundwater Week, Las Vegas, NV (virtual option) December 8–11 North Dakota Water Users Association, 57th Annual Joint North Dakota and Upper Missouri Water Convention and Irrigation Workshop (virtual) CANCELED: December 14–16 Colorado River Water Users Association, Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV January 6–7 Idaho Irrigation Equipment Show and Conference, Idaho Falls, ID January (date TBD) National Water Resources Association, Leadership Forum (virtual) January (date TBD) Irrigation Leader, Operations and Management Training Workshop and Tour, Palm Springs, CA January (date TBD) Groundwater Management Districts Association, Winter Conference January 13–15 Four States Irrigation Council, Annual Meeting, Fort Collins, CO January 18–21 Idaho Water Users Association, Annual Convention, Boise, ID January 27 Nebraska Water Resources Association, Legislative Forum, Lincoln, NE January 25–28 Nevada Water Resources Association, Annual Conference (virtual) January 27–29 Texas Ground Water Association, Annual Convention and Trade Show, San Marcos, TX January 29–31 Colorado Water Congress, Annual Convention, Aurora, CO

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

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