Volume 2 Issue 9
October 2011
Bryant Startin: Wyoming's Shoshone Irrigation District Brings Long-Term Outlook to Aging Infrastructure, Urbanization Issues
Long-term Planning Key Ingredient to Successful Irrigation District Management By Kris Polly
S
uccessful irrigation district managers are, by necessity, successful planners. The theme of this issue of Irrigation Leader is long-term planning and how various districts, states, and laws use and promote a forward-thinking outlook to irrigation system management. This issue’s lead interview with Bryant Startin, general manager of Wyoming’s Shoshone Irrigation District (SID), is a prime example of the beneficial impact of longterm planning. SID realized long ago that irrigation system improvements must be conducted regularly in to avoid major aging infrastructure concerns while keeping farmers’ water assessments low. Dependence on state and federal funding can leave districts without recourse when budgets are tightened, and self-reliance ensures long-term results. For example, SID has been able to conduct annual piping projects without significant increases in annual assessments by supplementing its revenue with hydropower production. Congressman Scott Tipton (R-CO) writes in this issue about his proposed legislation that would pave the way for irrigation districts throughout the West to follow SID’s lead and supplement their revenue with low-head hydropower generation capability. Tipton’s bill would lower regulatory barriers for small hydropower construction on federally owned facilities, and is a complement to previous legislation authored by Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) to help operators of transferred works and other private projects. Reclamation Deputy Commissioner Kira Finkler highlights the efforts of her agency to support districts as federal budget cycles become increasingly difficult to manage. Similarly, two articles about historical and current efforts in Texas highlight the benefits of state support for water infrastructure. A recent Nebraska court decision highlighted by Don Blanlenau’s water law column also demonstrates the power of localized efforts to raise revenue for the benefit of regional irrigation practices. Some areas are already thinking outside the box. For decades, Western Kansas groundwater districts and counties have supported a weather modification program that is used to reduce the size of crop-damaging hail. Water managers in the region know that there is no bigger waste of water than irrigating a crop for an entire season, only to see it destroyed by a violent hailstorm. A new program in Wauneta, Nebraska, aims to mitigate the water sapping effects of invasive plant species using goat grazing 2
as a deterrent to invasive growth. Water managers with concerns over burning and herbicide use may benefit from this innovative approach. This issue’s district focus articles highlight two districts that are also working to manage water resources with a long-term outlook. New Mexico’s Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District is responsible for an irrigation system that traces its roots before the arrival of the Spanish in 1540. The district is working to modernize its infrastructure to ensure its historical system is prepared for future generations of area irrigators. Idaho’s North Side Canal Company is working to explore the potential of low-head hydropower to supplement its revenues in an effort to modernize infrastructure. The district built its first hydropower capability in 1988 and knows the additional revenue it can provide will aid its continued efforts to modernize. Commercial entities are also working to ensure the long-term operation of irrigation infrastructure. Diamond Plastics Corporation CEO John Britton highlights the durability advantages of PVC pipe and its continued role in the upgrade of irrigation systems built decades ago. Additionally, a family company based in Nebraska has developed RAAFT Tracks, a product affixed to irrigation pivots that prevents them from creating ruts in the soil. Pivots remain an important tool to on-farm water conservation, but they quickly lose their glamour if they get stuck. My last trip home to Nebraska involved helping my father and brother get two pivots out of the mud. Our family was the first to try the RAAFT Tracks in Chase County. They work exceptionally well, which is why they are featured in this issue. In addition to improving my trips home, RAAFT Tracks can help many people save a lot of time, water, and expense. Long-term, innovative thinking will ensure the continued operation of irrigation systems in the West for future generations. I hope this issue of Irrigation Leader will help to stimulate further conversation about this important and ongoing component of irrigation district management. Kris Polly is editor-in-chief of Irrigation Leader magazine and president of Water Strategies, LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose 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 by e-mailing Kris.Polly@waterstrategies.com. Irrigation Leader
October 2011
C O N T E N T S 2 Long-Term Planning
By Kris Polly, editor-in-chief Volume 2
Issue 9
Irrigation Leader is published 10 times a year with combined issues for November-December and July-August by: Water Strategies, LLC P.O. Box 100576 Arlington, VA 22210 Staff: Kris Polly, Editor-in-Chief John Chisholm, Senior Writer James Heath, Advertising Sales Robin Pursley, Graphic Designer Capital Copyediting, LLC, Copy Editor 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. ADVERTISING: Irrigation Leader accepts one-quarter, half-page, and full-page ads. For more information on rates and placement, please contact James Heath by phoning (310) 471-3630 office, (310) 701-8401 cell, or by e-mailing Irrigation.Leader@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 office by e-mailing Irrigation.Leader@waterstrategies.com.
COVER PHOTO: Bryant Startin, General Manager for the Shoshone Irrigation District (SID), October 2011. Photo provided by SID.
4 Wyoming’s Shoshone Irrigation District Brings Long-Term Outlook to Aging Infrastructure, Urbanization Issues 8 PVC Pipe Provides Long-Term Solution to Aging Infrastructure Concerns By John Britton
10 Hydropower: Clean Energy, American Jobs
By Congressman Scott Tipton
12 Getting It Done in a Tough Financial Climate:
Maintaining Operational Integrity With Reduced Federal Spending By Kira Finkler
16 Western Kansas Modifies Weather to
Reduce Hail Damage on Crops
17 Texas Electorate Set to Vote on Increased
Bond Limit for Water Resources Development 21 The 1968 Texas Water Plan
By Todd Vottler
District Focus:
24 Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District
Targets Modernization as Mission Grows 26 North Side Canal Company Plans For Future
With Supplemental Hydropower Revenue Water Law:
28 Nebraska Supreme Court Upholds Water
Use Tax: Kipinger v. Nebraska Dept. of Natural Resources By Don Blankenau
The Innovators:
29 Marketing RAAFT Tracks Pivot Accessory Is
a Family Affair
30 Goat Grazing Program Offers Invasive
Species Removal Alternative to Burning, Herbicide Use By Bruce Peterson
Irrigation Leader
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Wyoming’s Shoshone Irrigation District Brings Long-Term Outlook to Aging Infrastructure, Urbanization Issues
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yoming’s Shoshone Irrigation District (SID) is one of many water project operators across the West dealing with aging infrastructure issues. However, the now 103-year-old district approaches infrastructure maintenance with a long-term outlook in mind. This approach has allowed the district to continue improving its system and still keep annual landowner assessments low. SID’s long-term approach was bolstered when it installed a pilot hydropower project in 1983. Capable of generating 3 megawatts, the project allows the district to supplement its water assessment revenue with income from the electric power market. Until this year, the district had not raised its assessment rate since 1993. However, SID continues a decades-long piping project, along with programs to repair and replace other components of its system. Bryant Startin has managed the district for 11 years, though his tenure at SID stretches back to 1984. In that time, he has seen the district urbanize as larger tracts of land are subdivided by developers. While the district serves 36,000 acres and maintains a firm grounding in agriculture, the majority of SID’s 1,270 landowners have 5 acres or less. Irrigation Leader’s editor-in-chief Kris Polly spoke with Startin on August 25, 2011. Kris Polly: How has the district taken a long-term approach to its operation and maintenance activities? Bryant Startin: Long-term planning always has to be a core part of your mission, especially with a 100-year-old project; you cannot let it go. You just have to keep moving forward or you will get too far behind. Most of our planning is based on repairing our infrastructure and laying pipe. We have been doing that with the funds from our power plant. The Wyoming Water Development Commission is also a huge supporter of our irrigation infrastructure, and we have been able to get funds from them for the last 20 years. We sit down and make a plan on what ditches we want to bury and which structures need rehabilitation. We present our recommendations to the board and file an application with the Water Development Commission to help fund it. Kris Polly: Do you have an established timeline for how much work you want to complete each maintenance season?
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Irrigation Leader
Bryant Startin: We do not have anything set in stone, but we mostly try to bury 2 to 3 miles of pipe each year. We also have a lot of drop structures on the main canal and have been replacing those at a rate of about one per year. There are also some other big structures along the main canal, but at this point most have been repaired or replaced. Our diversion dam on the Shoshone River is something that we made some repairs on, but for the most part, we are still in the planning stages. Our water from the dam goes through a 3.5-mile-long tunnel underground that was built in 1908, and a lot of rehabilitation work was completed on that in the 1980s. Kris Polly: What is the reason behind piping your canals and laterals? Bryant Startin: The main reason is water conservation, as well as the reduced maintenance costs. It is just easier to take care of a ditch when it is all piped. Additionally, there are safety issues now with urbanization, but that has not yet been a major driver. Kris Polly: What percentage of your 400 miles of canals has been piped? Bryant Startin: Probably about 60 percent now. In the 1970s, the four Shoshone Project irrigation districts Irrigation Leader
actually had our own pipe plant to build concrete pipe. Our district ran that for 15 years. Kris Polly: What caused you to stop using the concrete plant? Bryant Startin: It just was not economically feasible anymore. In 1990, the four districts received a $7.5-million loan from the Bureau of Reclamation, matched by a $7.5-million grant from the state of Wyoming to use over 7 years. We utilized the plant again in the early 1990s using that funding, but then all the other districts stopped laying as much pipe, and we decided to move to plastic, which ended up being less expensive. Kris Polly: In the 1980s, the district constructed a hydropower plant. How has that helped the district accomplish its long-term goals? Bryant Startin: Our power plant is the reason we can do all this work. The district built the plant in 1983 on a spot in our canal system that drops 53 feet over a quarter mile through a steep concrete shoot. That was right before I came here, but the plant was built as part of a Department of Energy demonstration project for low-head hydropower. The district got some federal funding and then borrowed the other funds to install a power plant that has 5
a 3-megawatt generator. The plant has been in operation since 1983 and is still running very well today. It is one of our big assets. When they built it, it was intended to help keep the costs to the landowners down, and it has done that. We have not raised assessments since 1993 because we are supplementing our budget with funds from power generation, but this year we are actually going to raise the assessment a bit because the power plant is not keeping up with the increased costs. Kris Polly: Do you have plans to put in more hydropower generation capability? Bryant Startin: We are absolutely interested in it. We have had a couple other sites studied in the past, but they were not feasible at the time. Now with all the small hydropower technology that is coming out, we are taking a look at some of it again. The district has 31 drop structures on our main canal that have the potential for hydropower on a smaller scale. We have been looking at some possibility of opportunity there and are looking at different options. The options are out there, but we have to find someone that will purchase any power that we are able to generate. I think that is a big issue with anyone who tries to build a hydropower plant on a project. Kris Polly: How do state funding mechanisms work to support your maintenance programs? Bryant Startin: State water infrastructure funds come from a certain percentage of taxes on minerals. When I first started applying for funds, there was a lot of money available, but I think word got out over time, and now they will get $50 million worth of requests with only $30 million to spend. However, for us and other irrigation districts, if you have a good plan, they try to make it work. We get an average of $250,000 a year from them. Basically, state funding buys all the materials, and we match those funds with the labor, equipment, and engineering costs to do these projects. The state also has a low-interest loan program to help with construction costs, but our district does all of its own labor, from large concrete structures to laying pipe. We have some very talented people. Kris Polly: How does urbanization make you change how you plan to operate the district in the future? 6
Piping laterals during winter months.
Bryant Startin: I think one of the big problems with urbanization is that you get someone who buys a couple acres and builds a big house, and they end up not using any water from us even though they need irrigation to keep the land green in our desert climate. They can pound a well, the water table here is about 10 feet, and they are better off sprinkling. Of course, the other issue is that we have subdivisions where people come home from work and want to turn a knob to have water from us to irrigate their lawn because of their water right. We have come to the conclusion that we are not providers of municipal water. The people with small tracts of land generally do not take care of their ditches and do not understand where their wastewater is supposed to go. Once wastewater leaves their property they think it is their neighbor’s problem, and it’s not; it’s their problem. Small landowners just do not take care of the ditches like the larger farmers do. Supply is not that big of an issue for us, but we do not install extra headgates for anyone and only deliver to the original high point of a unit. Basically, any ditches within that subdivision are their responsibility. Kris Polly: Does urbanization present problems with encroachments? Bryant Startin: Encroachments are beginning to be a problem. We are doing our best to help prevent that. We tried to lobby the county’s planning and zoning department to get us more involved in the development of the smaller tracts of land. However, people realize that this is still an agricultural community for the most part, and we have been pretty lucky keeping our easements.
Irrigation Leader
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PVC Pipe Provides Long-Term Solution to Aging Infrastructure Concerns By John Britton
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be constructed. The growth of Diamond Plastics Corporation traced the expansion of the PVC industry as a whole. The company was formed in 1982 by a group of private investors that purchased two PVC pipe manufacturing facilities from
he definition of a successful product is one that solves a problem for the end user in an economical and manageable way. PVC pipe meets these criteria. Developed in the late 1800s, the polymerization process used to produce PVC combines chlorine from seawater with ethylene from natural gas to create a powder. Ultimately, this powder is blended with the other ingredients and heated to form solid formable PVC that is then extruded into the intended product. While this process was pioneered by Germany in the lead-up to World War II for use on submarines, the commercial market for it in the United States grew rapidly in the postwar 1950s as America’s boom led to increased demand for water transmission systems. By the 1970s, millions of feet of PVC pipe had been sold, and 40 years later it remains in perfect condition. PVC has proved to be the most efficient of the polymerbased products for these applications. If anything, the pipe buried during this period has grown stronger, further attesting to the longevity and anticorrosion properties of PVC. Prior to the widespread acceptance of PVC, many irrigation districts relied on concrete pipe that was heavy, expensive, and labor intensive. It was not even a watertight product. Concrete pipe was generally manufactured near the site of the construction project, Dennis E. Bauer, vice president sales & marketing for further increasing costs given the need for fixed assets to Diamond Plastics Corporation, standing next to 36" pipe.
Diamond Plastics Corporation headquarters in Grand Island, Nebraska.
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Irrigation Leader
Gifford-Hill, a concrete pipe manufacturer that had expanded into the PVC market but fell on hard times. Since then, Diamond Plastics expanded to include five more facilities that now represent the backbone of the company’s manufacturing infrastructure, which is capable of producing almost 1 billion pounds of PVC pipe each year. Expansion of sizes has helped PVC move into new markets, and Diamond Plastics remains a pioneer in this area. When PVC first came on the market, operators of irrigation systems wanted to pipe smaller ditches, but showed less interest in piping much larger canals. Today, as water conservation becomes an increasingly important part of irrigation, PVC has been keeping pace with demand for piping larger volumes of water. Diamond Plastics now offers pipe with diameters up to 48 inches. Importantly, PVC is a clean product that is safe for the environment both when it is manufactured and when it is installed in the ground. The only resource consumed in the manufacturing process is electricity, and even water used is recycled repeatedly. Once placed in the ground, PVC does not corrode or harm the water traveling inside of it. This is a distinct advantage over concrete and metallic pipe materials, which can corrode and become clogged with minerals similar to cholesterol clogging an artery. Additionally, cost savings are even greater when the longevity of PVC is considered. While most pipe has only
Irrigation Leader
been in the ground for 40 years, engineering experts estimate a life of 100 years or beyond for PVC, which ensures that irrigation systems will not require the level of repair necessary with competing pipe materials. In my years with Diamond Plastics Corporation, I have always been amazed by the sheer size of demand for our products and those of other PVC pipe manufacturers. I sometimes find myself wondering, “Where does all of this pipe go?” Yet the answer is simple; much of our nation’s water infrastructure was constructed before this durable material was available, and operators of aging projects are trying to upgrade for the next 100 years of water delivery. PVC allows them to count on their infrastructure over extended time horizons without significant corrosion and degradation concerns, a key element to ensuring the success of future generations of American agriculture. John Britton is the chief executive officer of Diamond Plastics Corporation in Grand Island, Nebraska. For more information on the company, visit its website at www.dpcpipe.com.
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Hydropower:
Clean Energy, American Jobs
By Congressman Scott Tipton
A
t a time when our country needs to focus on domestic energy production and job creation, hydropower can play a critical role in providing clean renewable energy while expanding job opportunities in rural America. Hydropower is the cheapest and cleanest source of electricity available through modern technology. It’s the highest source of non-carbon-emitting energy in the world and accounts for approximately 75 percent of the United States’ total renewable electricity generation, making it the leading renewable energy source of power. Many rural water and irrigation districts and electric utilities in Colorado and other western states seek to develop hydropower on Bureau of Reclamation water canals and pipelines, but overly burdensome and unnecessary regulations stand in the way. Increased conduit hydropower serves a number of purposes: it produces renewable and emissions-free energy that can be used to pump water or sell electricity to the grid; it can generate revenue for the hydropower developer to help pay for aging infrastructure costs and water/power facility modernization; and it can create local jobs and generate revenue to the federal government. One thing stands in the way of such common-sense development: outdated and unnecessary federal regulations. H.R. 795, introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressmen Adrian Smith and Jim Costa, provides regulatory reform for nonfederal conduit hydropower generation, and I believe it’s time to begin reform for hydropower development on federal conduits as well. As it stands, federal regulations hinder this development on federal projects and subject job creators to unnecessary requirements that render small hydropower projects economically unfeasible. For this reason, I recently introduced H.R. 2842, The Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act of 2011. This legislation authorizes power development at the agency’s conduits to clear up multiagency confusion and duplicative processes, and reduces the regulatory costs associated with hydropower development. This legislation seeks to remove one major economic handcuff, unnecessary environmental analysis. Even though Reclamation conduit hydropower units would already be on disturbed ground within existing facilities that have already gone through federal environmental review, another National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis must still be done in this case under existing regulations. This is done despite the fact that the Interior Department’s 10
current Reclamation Manual allows for NEPA categorical exclusions for “minor construction activities associated with authorized projects . . . which merely augment or supplement, or are enclosed within existing facilities.” The legislation also substantially reduces administrative costs so that the projects are no longer cost prohibitive. Instead of the current process where Reclamation must painstakingly analyze each and every proposal for development, the bill gives the first development right to the entity/entities operating and maintaining the federal conduit. Most Reclamation irrigation and water supply projects have an arrangement where operation and maintenance activities are transferred to the local beneficiary as a way to reduce paperwork and other costs. The rationale for the legislation’s first right of refusal provision is that the nonfederal operator knows the details of the facility and is locally invested into the project. This provision would significantly decrease conduit hydropower planning costs. The hydropower development encouraged by this legislation will not harm the environment since the generation units would be placed on already disturbed ground within existing facilities that have already gone through federal environmental review. The bill also protects water users by specifically reaffirming hydropower development as secondary to water supply and delivery purposes, and ensuring that there will be no financial and operational impacts to existing water and power users. Further, the bill protects agreements that the water users have on existing conduit generation projects and provides additional safeguards to ensure such projects do not undermine water deliveries. I’m proud to have the support of the Family Farm Alliance, the National Water Resources Association, and the American Public Power Association, among others. If enacted, this legislation will streamline the regulatory process and reduce administrative costs for small hydropower development at Reclamation’s facilities, while supporting the creation of badly needed rural jobs. Congressman Scott Tipton (R-CO) is a member of the House Natural Resources Committee and the Subcommittee on Water and Power. His office can be reached by phone at (202) 225-4761, or by accessing his website at tipton.house.gov/contact-me/email-me.
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Irrigation Leader accepts one-quarter, half-page, and full-page ads. For more information on rates and placement, please contact James Heath by phoning (310) 471-3630 office, (310) 701-8401 cell, or by e-mailing Irrigation.Leader@waterstrategies.com
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Getting it Done in a Tough Financial Climate: Maintaining Operational Integrity With Reduced Federal Spending By Kira Finkler
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ira Finkler, Reclamation’s deputy commissioner for external and intergovernmental affairs, delivered the following address to the National Water Resources Association Western Water Seminar on July 26, 2011, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Reclamation provided the address to Irrigation Leader for broader circulation. Thank you for the opportunity to be with you today. I appreciate the chance to escape the DC heat and humidity for a day or two. I’ve lived in DC for 20 years and have yet to adjust to humidity. There are several things I’d like to discuss today. First, these are tough times with respect to budgets. I expect we will continue to see decreasing budget levels over the next few years. As we speak, very high-level discussions are taking place in DC to increase the debt limit. Both sides are calling for huge cuts to appropriations over the next decade – around $2.7 trillion. I am confident a deal can be struck – compromise is important and critical. The stakes are too high if the debt limit isn’t increased. We must get this done before August 2nd to ensure that America does not default on its obligations. If America, for the first time in its history, defaults on its obligations, it would have a catastrophic impact on our economy and the financial system. We are seeing some very stark budget reductions. The focus on cutting spending and reducing deficit has consequences for Reclamation. Look no further than the Rural Water Program as an example. This program provides funding to plan, design and construct rural water projects to develop and deliver potable water supplies to rural communities and tribes in
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the western United States. Several rural water projects are currently operating and delivering potable water to rural residents in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Allow me to review the levels of funding over the past few years: FY 2010 enacted $121.3 million FY 2011 request $62 million FY 2012 request $35.5 million Let’s talk about the Water and Related Resources Account for a moment, Reclamation’s principal operating account. The President’s FY 2012 request of $805 million breaks down as follows: 51 percent (more than half) or 406.7 million will be used for operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation. 27 percent for water and energy management 8 percent for fish and wildlife management 4 percent for land management Our Water and Related Resources Account is impacted by the focus on cuts to spending and reducing the deficit: FY 2010 enacted $951 million FY 2011 enacted $911 million FY 2012 request $805 million and $50 million in a separate account to implement Indian Water Rights Settlements The House-passed FY 2012 appropriations bill provides $822 million but squeezes the $50 million for Indian Water Rights Settlement into the account. This represents an effective reduction of $33.5 million to the program proposed in the President’s Budget for the Water and Related Resources Account. Overall, the House applied an across the board reduction of approximately 2percent to all projects and programs in the Water and Related Resources Account, with a couple of exceptions including Dam Safety and the WaterSMART program.
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Irrigation Leader
The House provided $83.7 million for the Dam Safety program, the same level as the President’s budget request. The WaterSMART program, which includes WaterSMART grants, Water Conservation Field Services Program, and other programs, did take cuts in the amount of $22 million. The President’s request was $53.5 million. The most significant portion of requested WaterSMART grant funding is used to award Water and Energy Efficiency Grants, which fund on-theground activities such as lining or piping of existing canals, installation of automated irrigation management systems and flow measurement devices, and other similar projects. Funding has also been awarded for urban water conservation improvements, such as residential meter installation efforts. WaterSMART grants don’t create big government. They infuse some resources out to the ground, on a costshare basis, to make things happen. Recently, Reclamation announced FY 2011 awards for these grants. We were able to provide $24 million for one category: water and energy efficiency grants. This funding was allocated to 54 projects. This federal funding, when combined with other nonfederal resources, will total more than $76 million, which is expected to save more than 15 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, enough for more than 1,300 households. These projects are also expected to save an estimated 102,000 acre-feet of water each year, enough water for more than 400,000 people. There is a huge demand for these programs. Through the Recovery Act, Reclamation made $40 million available for WaterSMART grants and received requests totaling more than $340 million. Demand continues in FY 2011. Reclamation received $33.1 million in funding for WaterSMART grants and received requests totaling $73.1 million. The FY 2012 President’s request includes $18.5 million for WaterSMART grants and the House passed bill provides $10.8 million. Many of you have told me you like the Water Conservation Field Services Program. The President’s FY 2012 request was $5.1 million and the House passed bill provides $4 million. The second area I would like to touch on today is something that Tom Donnelly asked me to discuss, namely, programs and initiatives that might be able to help given the current budget environment. First, loan guarantees. As many of you know, Congress passed a law in 2006 giving new authority for loan guarantees. Among other things, the Secretary is authorized to issue loan guarantees to assist in financing Irrigation Leader
a) construction of rural water supply projects; b) major maintenance and rehabilitation of Reclamation project facilities; and c) improvements to infrastructure directly related to a Reclamation project. Project beneficiaries would be able to pursue loans from banks with Reclamation providing a guarantee against default to the bank. This rule has never been finalized, and we are in ongoing discussions with OMB regarding it. Second, in 2009 Congress passed, and the President signed, Public Law 111-11. This statute provides authority for water users to repay costs of certain major maintenance work over a period as long as 50 years. Third, the Secretary of the Interior announced an initiative to help address the huge percentage of unemployed young people. The proportion of young people employed in July 2010 was 48.9 percent, the lowest rate since record keeping began in 1948, according to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. To help tackle this problem— and to infuse new energy and thinking into the Federal workforce—the Interior Department has increased the employment of young people by 45 percent in 2010 FY and provided employment opportunities for 22,000 youth (ages 15–25). With a potential federal workforce retirement rate of 40 percent in the next four to six years, the Department of the Interior has an opportunity to provide entry-level positions for young Americans, including returning veterans. In FY 2010, Reclamation hired 192 young people. So far in FY 2011, we have hired 154. The youth initiative makes good business sense. As an example, a recent Oklahoma project to thin trees in order to reduce risk of catastrophic fire around a reservoir would have cost an estimated $90,000 with a contract. Using a youth conservation crew to accomplish the work cost $72,000, representing a 25 percent savings. Next, I would like to share with all of you how Reclamation and the Department, are working to be more efficient. All of us agree that we need to put our nation’s fiscal house in order. That’s why Secretary Salazar is proactively cutting nearly a billion dollars from the Department’s budget over the next decade. The Secretary launched the largest information technology reform in the federal government. It is expected to save a half a billion dollars over 10 years. In the last year, the Department has also cut contracting expenses by more than a quarter of a billion dollars.
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• On top of that, the Department cut back on
administrative expenses by nearly a hundred million dollars in the last year, and the Department is going to cut another hundred million dollars in the coming year. Reclamation is being cautious. Our FTE levels are at lowest level they have been for quite a while. In 1985, Reclamation employed approximately 8,500 full-time employees. In 1995, that number was down to 6,500. In 2005, the agency was down to less than 6,000 full-time workers. Today, we are at a little more than 5,000. Our executives are looking for other ways to cut costs and be more efficient. I am going to provide some examples from our Great Plains Region, but I know that all areas of our organization are implementing similar actions. In an effort to reduce office space and associated costs, the Oklahoma-Texas Area Office (OTAO) has relocated to the 1st floor from the 5th floor in Austin, Texas. As a result, OTAO reduced the Austin office space square footage by 1,825 square feet, which resulted in an annual costs savings of more than $25,000. Every little bit helps. In November 2010, the Dakotas Area Office entered into a new Occupancy Agreement with GSA for 3,199 fewer square feet of office space, for a savings of approximately $30,000 per year. Consolidating remote operations of Great Plains Region’s hydroelectric powerplants, at Casper, Wyoming, presented the opportunity for the region to reduce the number of control center operator and supervisory positions. The consolidation resulted in reducing a total of six full-time employees and other building and maintenance costs. The operating cost savings for consolidating at Casper expressed as the present value of annual operating costs for a 50-year life cycle is approximately $12.4 million. The Great Plains Region embraced video conferencing in 2009 and has systems installed in the regional office as well as all area offices and two field offices. This system interfaces with other Reclamation sites and can also be used with outside entities that have a compatible system. Video conferencing has been used in lieu of travel for meetings, workshops, interviews, and training with more than 600 sessions held to date. This has resulted in a conservative cost-avoidance estimate of more than half a million dollars.
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Finally, I would like to briefly discuss how we are looking at doing a better job articulating the benefits of Reclamation’s projects and programs. In February 2009, Secretary Salazar released a report, “Economic Impact of the Department of the Interior’s Programs and Activities.” It was the first-ever analysis of the job creation and economic growth benefits related to a wide range of departmental activities. As Secretary Salazar said, “This report shows that the Department creates and supports private sector jobs and economic growth in all 50 states.” Economists from each of the bureaus were very involved in preparing this report. In June 2011, the Secretary released a second follow-up report identifying the department’s economic contributions. Again, economists from all bureaus were significantly involved in putting it together. The report shows that the department plays a substantial role in the U.S. economy, supporting over 2 million jobs and approximately $363 billion in economic activity for 2010. This report pegged the direct value of Reclamation activities at $19.6 billion annually. In addition, it found that the Bureau’s activities have a significant ripple effect that cycle throughout the economy. Please allow me to read a quote from the report: “The Bureau of Reclamation maintains 476 dams and 348 reservoirs, irrigating about 10 million acres of land, providing water to over 31 million people, generating 40 million megawatt hours of electricity, and providing recreation opportunities. These activities have an economic contribution of $55 billion, and nearly 416,000 jobs.” These are important statistics that the department has put together, and we will continue to share this data. In closing, thank you again for opportunity to be here today. I always learn a lot from all of you. Kira Finkler is Reclamation’s deputy commissioner for external and intergovernmental affairs in Washington, DC. For more information on Reclamation, visit its website at www.usbr.gov.
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Western Kansas Modifies Weather to Reduce Hail Damage on Crops
I
n regions where hail can be a common occurrence during the growing season, there may be no larger waste of water than irrigating a crop only to see it destroyed by a hail storm. Long plagued by significant hail, western Kansas has operated a hail suppression program for 37 years in an attempt to ensure farmers’ investments are realized. The Western Kansas Weather Modification Program began as an effort to increase precipitation to reduce demand on the Ogallala Aquifer. However, the program concurrently targets hail suppression in a region that is the second-most hail prone in the United States. The program uses four aircraft to modify clouds before a large-sized hail storm strikes. Working in conjunction with a meteorologist on the ground, the pilots introduce condensation nuclei into the clouds to help reduce the size of hail stones. “All precipitation in our region starts out as a solid,” said program manager and chief pilot Kyle Spencer. “It’s just a matter of how big a solid.” The team of pilots uses two methods to attempt to modify hail size. Cloud-base aircraft sit beneath the cloud in the updraft area. They then release a silver iodide solution, which is intended to mimic ice crystals, either through a release mechanism attached to a wing tip or by using solid flares launched into the updraft. Concurrently, a cloud-top aircraft releases dry ice into the cloud, which reduces hail by converting some of the super-cooled liquid water region of the cloud into natural ice nuclei. The methods of distribution put delivery aircraft and their pilots directly into the paths of large thunderstorms. However, Spencer downplayed the level of danger. “We’re always in constant contact with
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the meteorologist on the ground,” he said, noting that commercial airline pilots flying near a storm do not have similar access to real-time information of that quality. Spencer noted that the eight evaluations conducted on the program have determined that hail is reduced 27 to 35 percent in the target area. “It is important to note that no cloud-seeding program will ever claim to stop hail 100 percent,” he said. “You have to look at this as a long-term type of tool.” Additionally, evaluations have indicated that the cost-benefit ratio of the weather modification program ranges from 10:1 up to 37:1. Evaluations have been conducted by the Kansas Water Office, which has provided funding since the 1990s. However, the program draws most of its support from Western Kansas Ground Water Management District 1, which manages the program, as well as Southwest Kansas Groundwater District 3 and participating county governments. Of additional benefit to farmers, beyond a reduction in hail, is a reduction in crop insurance rates. In fact, studies to determine the effectiveness of the program are often based on surveys of crop insurance claims and rates. Importantly, the program’s operations are spread across the region to achieve maximum effectiveness. Aircraft are based strategically throughout the weather modification target area, while the meteorologist and radar are based in Lakin, Kansas. For more information on Western Kansas Ground Water Management District 1 and the Western Kansas Weather Modification Program, visit www.gmd1.org/Programs.htm.
Irrigation Leader
Texas Electorate Set to Vote on Increased Bond Limit for Water Resources Development
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n November 8, Texas voters will head to the polls to vote on a constitutional amendment that aims to increase the state’s bond limit for water resources development funding. If approved, the amendment will provide for up to $6 billion in bonds outstanding to be issued by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), which administers lending to local operators of water and wastewater infrastructure. “If these funds don’t become available, we will soon be without general obligation bond authority,” said Melanie Callahan, TWDB’s interim executive administrator. TWDB is nearing its previous constitutional limit of $4.23 billion, with $3.29 billion in loans issued to date. Given that $1 billion in bond funding was issued in the last three years alone, TWDB will quickly run out of additional authority if the amendment is not approved. This new source of funding would come at a time when Texas is coping with an extreme drought that threatens agriculture throughout the state. Additionally, projections indicate that the state’s population will double in the next 50 years, and TWDB estimates that if additional water supplies and infrastructure are not created, Texas stands to lose $115.7 billion in income during that time. The creation of 1.1 million new jobs may also be jeopardized. Without the amendment, local districts may be unable to obtain funding independently in a sour economy. “We’re seeing the importance of implementing now with our extreme drought,” said Carolyn Brittin, TWDB’s deputy executive administrator for water resources planning. TWDB is quick to point out that water development bond measures are not designed to be paid back using general revenue state funds. Local operators of water infrastructure are directly responsible for repayment, ensuring those that benefit from the projects are responsible for interest and principal payments. Following the worst drought in Texas’s history, TWDB was formed in 1957 via a state constitutional amendment that authorized the issuance of $200 million in general
Irrigation Leader
obligation bonds. Since its founding, TWDB has financed billions of dollars in Texas water infrastructure and serves as the state’s water supply planner. “Beginning in the 1950s, our legislature experienced and knew the economic impact of drought,” said Brittin. “Long-term planning is important to identify needs and know what the impacts are for decision makers to help invest in water and wastewater infrastructure.” TWDB also administers two federal loan programs matched with state bonds, thereby leveraging the available state funds. The federal grants allow the entities receiving funding through these programs to finance their projects at rates lower than market. “We can get financing and turn it around at a very good rate,” said Callahan. “Especially in this economy, we’re much more attractive from the financing end.” Callahan and Brittin attribute much of TWDB’s success to its long-term outlook and conservative lending practices. “Look for the long term, don’t just set up for the now,” said Callahan as advice to other state water infrastructure financing agencies. “We have a very conservative board in terms of the investment plan and loan approvals,” said Brittin. In addition to its water project financing responsibilities, TWDB administers the state’s water bank, which allows for the transfer, sale, or lease of water and water rights throughout Texas, and administers the Texas Water Trust, where water rights are held for environmental flow maintenance. TWDB also maintains a centralized data bank with information on state natural resources and manages the Strategic Mapping Program. The mapping program is designed to develop consistent, large-scale computerized base maps describing basic geographic features of Texas, and operates under a public and private cost share. For more information about the Texas Water Development Board, visit its website at www.twdb.state.tx.us.
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The 1968 Texas Water Plan By Todd Vottler
P
oliticians and engineers have long come up with grandiose plans for moving water from one place to another. One plan proposed towing icebergs from Antarctica to Saudi Arabia. And Alaska governor Wally Hickel dreamed up a $150-billion, 1,700-mile undersea pipeline from Alaska to California. This summer, with Texas shriveling up under perhaps the most brutal 1-year drought in over 100 years, this seems like a fitting time to look back at the state’s most ambitious water blueprint plan to date—the 1968 Water Plan. The 1968 plan grew out of the devastation of the 10year Texas drought of record of 1947 to 1957. It involved developing an astounding supply of water—enough to submerge Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia to a depth of 1 foot (with some left over). The key features of the plan included a canal that would have tapped the Mississippi River below New Orleans, bringing 12 to 13 million acre-feet (1 acre-foot is 325,851 gallons) of water hundreds of miles to Texas. The soil and debris excavated to create the canal in Louisiana would have been used to create a massive levee to act as barrier against inland flooding from hurricanes. The canal, they reasoned, could also be used for barge shipping between New Orleans and the Beaumont–Port Arthur–Orange area. The Sabine River, inconveniently out of place, would be made to run backward to connect to the canal from Louisiana. Once in Texas, the Mississippi River water would enter two cement-lined aqueducts called the Coastal Canal and the Trans-Texas Canal. These canals were to snake 1,200 miles across the northern and southern portions of Texas. The Coastal Canal would extend to the Rio Grande Valley. On the way, it would have had to “duck” underneath four major rivers and 142 minor streams along the Texas Gulf Coast. The second canal, the Trans-Texas, would have transported the Mississippi River water to northeast Texas, then uphill to Lubbock, with one spur veering off to New Mexico and another to the Trans-Pecos and then El Paso. The water would be pumped uphill more than 4,000 feet from the Mississippi River to Lubbock to meet the irrigation needs of the Texas High Plains. (At the time, the Ogallala Aquifer was expected to be depleted by 2020. Thanks to conservation measures, it is now expected to provide water much further into the future.) To pump the water to its final destination, the project would have required 7 million kilowatts of electricity— Irrigation Leader
more than a third of the generating capacity in Texas at the time. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which had its own even larger version of the Texas Water Plan, calculated that 12 million kilowatts would be needed— and that 12 nuclear power plants would be necessary to provide the additional power because nuclear power would soon be “dirt cheap.” In addition to the canals, 62 new reservoirs, mostly in East Texas, would have been constructed to capture another 4 million acre-feet of water for eventual shipment to Lubbock and the Rio Grande Valley. The new reservoirs would have covered 4,500 square miles of land. The Sulphur River in East Texas would have been dammed from the Louisiana border almost to Dallas. The plan also included the elimination of some 60 million acres of waterguzzling brush, including saltcedar and juniper. In 1968, the cost to Texas for the plan was projected by the Texas Water Development Board to be $3.5 billion, with an additional $5.5 billion to come from the federal government. Some estimated that the project would ultimately have cost close to $14 billion in 1968 dollars. For the plan to proceed, an amendment to the Texas Constitution was needed for the state to finance its share of the project. In the end, the plan was defeated at the ballot box—by only 6,000 votes. Thus, it never came to fruition. Today, the 1968 Texas Water Plan stands as a monument to another time, when bigger was always better. It seems hard to believe that such an audacious plan would ever be considered today. However, with the state’s water supply cushion from the 1980s all but gone as population in Texas has mushroomed from 7 million in the 1950s to 25 million today, one wonders what the public might clamor for if the current 1-year drought were to become anything close to a 10-year drought. Todd Votteler is the executive manager of intergovernmental relations and policy at the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority in Seguin, Texas. He can be reached by phone at (830) 379-5822, or by e-mail at tvotteler@gbra.org. 21
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District Focus
Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District Targets Modernization as Mission Grows
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hile New Mexico’s Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) was formally established in 1923, the roots of irrigation in the valley trace back much further— even prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 1540. Today, MRGCD manages an historical irrigation system deeply ingrained in local culture, but targets modernization of its nearly 1,200 miles of waterways. “You’re talking about an irrigation system here that has been used for hundreds of years,” said Tom Thorpe, MRGCD’s public information officer. Founded in 1923, the district was initially charged with taming frequent floods that endangered towns in the valley, including present-day Albuquerque, and had turned 60,000 acres of once-productive farmland into swamp. Over the next decade, MRGCD constructed five dams to divert and store water, as well as hundreds of miles of new irrigation and drainage canals that remain the backbone of today’s system. However, the district is now targeting widespread modernization as it aims to ensure the continued vitality of agriculture in the area. “Aging infrastructure has been a major problem for all districts like us,” said Subhas Shah, MRGCD’s chief executive officer and chief engineer. “MRGCD has an annual plan to upgrade, improve, or replace infrastructure that is critical to its operation.” Beginning in 1996, MRGCD launched a program targeting real-time measurement and automation. “Prior to 1996, measurement was almost nonexistent,” said district hydrologist David Gensler. “The only water we actually measured was what we diverted at the diversion structures.” Since that time, MRGCD has installed nearly 120 measuring stations throughout its system. Additionally, the district continues to install sensors and controllers that allow it to automate critical structures.
MRGCD’s efforts to modernize have already prompted water savings, as both remote measuring devices and automation allowed staff to gain water delivery efficiency. For example, after measuring devices were installed, MRGCD noticed that significant amounts of water were moving into return flow points at night. District staff soon realized that some customers who placed orders were only irrigating during the daytime, resulting in losses as water destined for fields was swept downstream. Additionally, automation allows staff to better regulate the amount of water in a canal, instead of basing flow decisions purely on estimates made by on-site staff. “We managed to go from the 19th century to the 21st century without going through the 20th century,” said Gensler, noting that prior to the modernization initiative, it was very difficult to tell how much water was in a canal at any given time. While delivering water for agricultural use remains MRGCD’s central mission, urbanization and recreation on and around its waterways have prompted the district to take on additional roles. Around Albuquerque, 73 percent of district water conveyances are used recreationally. Overall, 414 of the district’s 1,200 miles of waterways have a recreational function. Of primary use for recreational purposes is the largest continuous cottonwood forest in the world, known as the Bosque, which MRGCD is charged to
MRGCD diverts water from the Rio Grande River using the Angostura Diversion Dam, which was originally constructed in 1934. 24
Irrigation Leader
maintain. “MRGCD has allowed multiple uses of its rights of way for recreation and wildlife activities, as long as they do not adversely impact its operation and maintenance requirements,” said Shah. Additionally, many in the valley view the preservation of the historical acequias— waterways dating back to Spanish colonization—as paramount. “Protection and preservation of the century-old acequias system is dear to taxpayers of the Middle Valley,” said Shah. “MRGCD’s continued survival depends on providing services to the urban and rural ratepayers.” MRGCD, along with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is also contractually bound to service six Middle Rio Grande Pueblos. Each pueblo is a sovereign country and has the primary rights to water. “The district makes sure that 8,847 acres of prior and paramount lands are served first, even during drought, by storing adequate flows at El Vado Reservoir [the district’s primary storage site],” said Shah. Despite MRGCD’s diverse responsibilities, it remains a gravity-fed district with little ability to supplement supply with ground water. “Our farmers are not equipped to pump,” said Thorpe. Efforts to modernize and save water are made all the more important given the lack available ground water. “The water supply is dependent on upstream snowpack, rainfall, and reservoir storage,” said Shah. “It is a run-of-the-river system.”
MRGCD has worked to modernize its infrastructure be installing measurement technology throughout its system.
For more information on New Mexico’s Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, visit its website at www.mrgcd.com.
Measurement devices and automation promote water savings by allowing staff to gain water delivery efficiency.
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District Focus 26
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s calls for modernization of aging infrastructure increase, many districts aim to supplement their revenues through alternative means to ensure long-term water project viability. Idaho’s North Side Canal Company recognized the need for a supplementary source of revenue in the 1980s, when it began to explore hydropower opportunities throughout its 1,100-mile irrigation system. North Side is a private canal company and its shareholders are wholly responsible for system maintenance. Foreseeing the need to modernize its resources, the company built its first hydropower plant in 1988 and followed up with the construction of three more over an 8-mile length of canal in the next six years. The four plants total 25 megawatts of generating capacity and have helped the company to prevent major year-to-year increases in shareholder maintenance assessments. In fact, the company actually lowered its annual assessment in 2009. Following the success of its previous hydropower initiative, North Side is now considering the addition of five new low-head hydropower generating sites. “We are in the process of selecting a consultant engineer to work on a feasibility study for the five different sites,” said Alan Hansten, the company’s assistant general manager. “We’re looking at the hurdles we need to clear to make these projects happen.” The driving force for the installation of new hydropower units is the additional revenues they will bring to update the canal system. Specifically, the company is targeting automation of its facilities and other water conservation improvements. The company’s general manager, Ted Diehl, believes that similar hydropower opportunities exist throughout the West, and project operators have a significant opportunity to augment their revenues. “There are a lot of them out there; it is a great thing for the nation,” he said. The company hopes that if it is able to install five new hydropower generating units, it will be able to produce 15–20 megawatts of additional electricity. However, it is unclear whether North Side will be able to completely develop all of these sites, and other hurdles remain. Specifically, the company will have to apply for a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission conduit exemption from the formal hydropower licensing process, as well as determine how it will manage construction costs and obtain an agreement for the sale of the power it generates. Additionally, the company faces an engineering
challenge in its efforts to ensure irrigation operations are not impacted should one of its hydropower units become inoperable. “We’ve got to consider when a hydro plant goes offline, the water has to bypass the plant and continue down the canal to deliver water to farmers,” Hansten said. “There is a time delay when a plant goes down to get water over the spill gate. We have to design our plants to minimize the hole when a power plant goes offline to make sure irrigation water flow continues.” Diehl noted the importance of this engineering issue by highlighting the primacy of irrigation in company operations. “We operate the system for irrigation, and energy comes second,” he said. North Side Canal Company is responsible for delivering water to almost 160,000 acres in southern Idaho. As with many districts operating large, nearly 100-year-old canal systems, maintenance expenses represent a major component of the company’s annual expenditures. Further, North Side is already working toward the installation of SCADA systems and updating automated gates to provide more centralized control. The company believes new hydropower generation is integral to ensuring that these improvements are affordable for its shareholders. Assuming positive results from planned studies of the potential hydropower locations, the company hopes it will increase its generating capacity in the coming years. “If a couple of the projects look promising and come to fruition, we hope to be online by January 2014,” said Hansten.
Ted Diehl and Alan Hansten are, respectively, the general manager and assistant general manager of North Side Canal Company in Jerome, Idaho. They can be reached by phone at (208) 324-2319. Irrigation Leader
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Nebraska Supreme Court Upholds Water Use Tax:
Water Law
Kiplinger v. Nebraska Dept. of Natural Resources
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By Don Blankenau n September 16, 2011, the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected arguments from a group of landowners who challenged the constitutionality of a Nebraska water use tax. The Supreme Court’s ruling affirmed a lower court ruling that allowed local natural resources districts to levy the tax for limited purposes directly related to water management. The litigation had its genesis in 2007, when the Nebraska Legislature adopted Legislative Bill 701, codified as NEB. REV. STAT. § 2-3226.05. The law was heralded by policy makers as a critical management tool because it allowed local entities to raise revenue from local sources to address limited local water management needs. The statute contained two distinct taxing components: a property tax and an occupation tax. With regard to the occupation tax, the statute authorized Nebraska’s natural resources districts (NRDs) to levy an occupation tax of not more than $10 per irrigated acre of agricultural lands. The occupation tax was further limited in its purpose to repaying principle and interest on any bonds or refunding bonds that were specifically issued for limited water management activities. Shortly after passage of this legislation, three of the NRDs located in Nebraska’s Republican River basin voted to exercise their authorities and levy both the property tax and the occupation tax. In August 2008, certain landowners within the Republican Basin made written requests to the NRDs asking that they cease levying both taxes and refund all money paid on the grounds that the taxes were unconstitutional and illegal. Those requests were declined by the NRDs, and the landowners brought two separate legal actions in the Lancaster County District Court naming the NRDs, the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, and other state office holders as defendants. The first case was limited to the property tax portion of the law. The second case, brought after the property tax case had been decided by the district court, sought to invalidate the occupation tax. The remainder of this article deals solely with the occupation tax proceeding. In their complaint, the landowners argued that the occupation tax violated Nebraska’s Constitution on three separate grounds: first, the tax was a “property tax for state purposes,” prohibited by Nebraska Constitution article VIII, § 1A; second, the tax resulted in a commutation of taxes favoring other parties in violation of Nebraska Constitution article VII, § 4; and third, that the authorizing legislation violated Nebraska Constitution article III, § 18, because it created two closed classes from which the taxed group could never be expanded. In March 2010, after extensive briefing, the district court rendered a detailed opinion rejecting all three claims and entered its judgment in favor of the defendants. The landowners promptly appealed the case to the Nebraska Court of Appeals. As has become the practice in Nebraska
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for cases involving water management, the case was bypassed by the Court of Appeals and elevated to the Nebraska Supreme Court docket. The Nebraska Supreme Court rejected all three of the constitutional claims of the landowners. First, the court explained that “a property tax is levied on real or personal property, with the amount of the tax usually dependent upon the value of the property. Property taxes, by their very nature, target the value of that which is being taxed. An excise [occupation] tax, on the other hand, is imposed upon the performance of an act.” 282 Neb. 251. In this case, the court observed, the tax was tied exclusively to the activity of irrigation. The court specifically noted that the tax could be avoided upon representation to county officials that the taxed property would not be irrigated in the coming year. For this reason, the court concluded that article VIII § 1A had not been violated. The court then explained that while the class of parties subject to the law is presently limited, it could be expanded in any number of ways. But even if the class could not be expanded, the court noted that the “closed class” in this case was not enjoying any “special favors” as a result of the legislation, and the constitutional prohibition was created to prevent a limited class of persons from receiving a special benefit. In this case, the class of persons subject to the law was subject to a tax—which the landowners most certainly didn’t perceive as a favor. Lastly, the court observed that while the constitution does prohibit releasing either persons or property from contributing a proportionate share of a tax, no such commutation occurred here. The court opined that while Nebraskans generally benefited from good water management in an area subject to the Republican River Compact, the record failed to show that such management somehow relieved other Nebraskans from their share of the obligation. The Nebraska Supreme Court’s decision is important because it validates a funding source for future water management in Nebraska. Because persons making use of the water could ultimately bear the burden for managing the resource, political concerns raised by nonirrigators have been alleviated. The decision also strengthens the role of NRDs in taking the lead in local water management by empowering their funding abilities. Don Blankenau is an attorney with Blankenau Wilmoth LLP in Lincoln, Nebraska. He can be reached by phone at (402) 475-7081, or by e-mail at don@aqualawyers.com Irrigation Leader
The Innovators
Marketing RAAFT Tracks Pivot Accessory Is a Family Affair
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hile a relatively new product, RAAFT Tracks traces its history to the decadeslong career of Keith Rogers. A Nebraskan by birth, Rogers travelled the globe as an irrigation professional, eventually representing major American irrigation manufacturers to Middle Eastern nations that hoped to develop agricultural land with the wealth they gained by selling oil. However, when foreign agriculture spending slowed in the 1980s, Rogers returned home and began working in the plastics industry. This ultimately led to the creation of RAAFT Tracks in 2005, a polyethylene-based product that helps farmers eliminate tracks and ruts created by pivots, to keep them from getting stuck. Now retired, Keith Rogers sold his business to his children, Jeff Rogers and Lisa Alvarez, last year. The siblings have since expanded their company, Polytech, into new markets. “As a family business, he comes in and gives us the knowledge of being in the field,” said Alvarez about her father’s continued involvement in the company. An abbreviation for rotating, auto-aligning flotation tracks, RAAFT Tracks was originally developed as a lightweight, but durable, alternative to heavy steel tracks that are expensive and difficult to manipulate. The family turned to polyethylene and worked to develop a new process to mold it without creating a hollow cavity. “We developed a machine that is our own unique process,” said Rogers. “We can build molds for an order of magnitude less than an injection system.” The resulting product is robust, ensuring it is capable of carrying increasingly heavy pivot loads. “It isn’t the prettiest product . . . but for our target audience it doesn’t need to be pretty; it needs to be strong, it needs to be durable,” said Rogers. RAAFT Tracks are wrapped around a pivot’s tire and allow it to roll independently. The tracks’ flat surfaces provide five times the surface area of the tire itself, enabling the product to prevent rutting. Additionally, they protect pivot tires from tears, helping to cut down on maintenance time and expense. The polyethylene is failure tested to 40 degrees below zero. At that temperature, cracks can appear in the material, but Jeff Rogers points out that RAAFT Tracks are not likely in use when it is that cold. “There are not many people trying to drive pivots when its 40
Irrigation Leader
From left: George Smith, Nancy Prochaska (seated), Keith Rogers, Lisa Alvarez, Jeff Rogers, Becky Benson (seated), David Durfee, Dave Rezabek.
below,” he said. However, polyethylene works well in wet conditions. In fact, water acts as a lubricant to help the product’s joints move more smoothly. “The wetter the track is, the better the track is working,” said Rogers. Initially selling largely by word-of-mouth advertising, the siblings have expanded RAAFT Tracks’ reach since taking over in October 2010. “We’ve gotten lots of sales in areas within the United States that we had not sold to before,” said Alvarez. The young company has also made inroads into Canada and Australia, where soil density has made it difficult to use center pivot irrigation in the past. “We’re finally getting big enough that we have dealers and people are working to sell the product for us,” said Alvarez, noting that sales are now extending throughout the year instead of being frontloaded at the beginning of each irrigation season. Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, Polytech’s manufacturing facility is in Friend, Nebraska. The local economic development council helped the company to open its facility in the small town of just 1,100 people. “Friend has very much been our partner,” said Rogers. “The town really supported us and saw the potential in what our dad was creating.” For more information on RAAFT Tracks, visit its website at www.RAAFT.com. 29
The Innovators
Goat Grazing Program Offers Invasive Species Removal Alternative to Burning, Herbicide Use
By Bruce Peterson
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s the safety and environmental concerns associated with controlled fires and herbicides continue to grow, grazing goats represents a safe and affordable alternative for removing invasive plant species, particularly in areas that are difficult to mow. In many cases, using goats for invasive species removal is also less costly than other means. Before 2009, volunteer firefighters in Wauneta, Nebraska, set controlled fires each spring to eliminate invasive plants growing along the banks of the Frenchman River. Beyond the risk of potentially losing control of the fires, nearby residents suffered the inconvenience of billowing smoke rolling through town, and at least one resident with a health condition had to leave each year as the fires approached. Citing these concerns and apprehension about applying herbicides near water, Village Utilities Superintendent Bill Bischoff approached my father and me prior to the scheduled 2009 burn to discuss our alternative. For generations, the Peterson family raised cattle, but we set upon a new venture in 2006 as we observed the growing potential for the sale of goat meat. We had already been grazing a portion of our goat herd nearby to remove invasive plants from land owned by the Maddux Cattle Company, and Bischoff believed a similar approach could work in Wauneta. Now in its third year, the program remains a success as we move the herd—currently around 120 Boer goats—along the river near Wauneta. The goats are penned in using a movable electric fence and protected from predators by Great Pyrenees livestock guard dogs that may look and act treacherous to coyotes, but are safe to use near humans. We raise our Great Pyrenees alongside the goats, which ensures a special bond. In 30
Bruce Peterson and Wauneta Village Utilities Superintendent Bill Bischoff.
one case, we actually found a dog with pups nursing baby goats as if they were her own. The goats generally begin by eating flowering plants, but then turn to other weeds in the fenced-in area and ultimately begin working over small trees. They are particularly effective against phragmites and Russian olives, and they especially like saltcedar. Using goats for invasive plant control is a particularly strong alternative when dealing with rocky soil or an incline that cannot be easily mowed. For example, decades ago Wauneta left unused concrete in an area that began to overgrow Irrigation Leader
with invasive plants. While mowing was difficult given the hard ground surface, the goats were able to navigate the terrain and remove the invasive species in the same manner as they would anywhere else. Of further benefit, goat manure does not create the same problems as that of a cow; it is similar to deer manure and largely dissolves after a couple rainfalls. Additionally, concerns that goats eating seeds may actually spread invasive plant growth are unfounded, as less than 3 percent of the seeds are still fertile after going through a goat’s digestion process. While not traditionally a component of the average American’s diet, 65–70 percent of the red meat consumed worldwide is goat. Additionally, many are beginning to promote goat meat as an alternative to beef in the United States, and the growth of ethnic communities that traditionally consume it is driving increased demand. As domestic goat herds grow, entities responsible for invasive plant species removal have the opportunity to use this important resource in place of historical methods that are beginning to raise concerns. Bruce Peterson is the co-owner of Peterson Boer Goats in Imperial, Nebraska. For more information on Peterson Boer Goats, visit its website at www.petersonboergoats.com. Peterson uses pairs of Great Pyrenees dogs to guard goats.
Effects of goats grazing for several days (on right) before moving to next river segment (on left). Irrigation Leader
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Integrated Water Planning, Permitting, Design, Optimization & Construction Services
2011 CALENDAR
John Maxwell, P.E. 360.570.4400 www.hdrinc.com/water
Oct. 12–14
Texas Water Conservation Assn., Fall Meeting, San Antonio, TX
Oct. 13–14
Oregon Water Resources Congress, Water Law Seminar, Bend, OR
Oct. 19
Columbia Basin Development League, Annual Meeting & Conference, Moses Lake, WA
Oct. 26–28
Wyoming Water Assn., Annual Meeting, Casper, WY
Nov. 3–4
Idaho Water Users Assn., Annual Water Law Seminar, Boise, ID
Nov. 6–8
Irrigation Assn., Irrigation Show, San Diego, CA
Nov. 16–18
National Water Resources Assn., Annual Conference, Tucson, AZ
Nov. 29–Dec. 2 Assn. of California Water Agencies, Fall Conference, Anaheim, CA Nov. 29–Dec. 2 Oregon Water Resources Congress, Annual Conference, Hood River, OR Dec. 8–9
Washington State Water Resources Assn., Annual Conference, Spokane, WA
Dec. 14–16
Colorado River Water Users Assn., Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV
For more information on advertising in Irrigation Leader magazine, or if you would like a water event listed here, please phone (703) 517-3962 or e-mail Irrigation.Leader@waterstrategies.com. Submissions are due the first of each month preceding the next issue. Past issues of Irrigation Leader are archived at www.WaterandPowerReport.com