Streamlining Sargent Irrigation District's Canals and Pipelines Matt Lukasiewicz of Sargent Irrigation District
Debris can get into an irrigation system in any number of ways—through intakes that are open to the rivers they draw from or through open canals—but it always causes a headache for irrigation districts and the farmers they serve. After being plagued with debris in its system for many years, Sargent Irrigation District in central Nebraska turned to the experts at International Water Screens to solve its problems. With nearly 30 years of experience, the International Water Screens team helped Sargent Irrigation District select and install self-cleaning, traveling water screens to meet its specific needs. In an interview with Kris Polly, editor-in-chief of Irrigation Leader magazine, Matt Lukasiewicz, general manager at Sargent Irrigation District, spoke about the solution and the benefits it has brought to him and his district’s water users.
Matt Lukasiewicz: I have been at the district for 71/2 years. I spent 2 1/2 years as assistant general manager for Tom Knutson. Since his retirement, I have been a general manager. Kris Polly: Please tell us a little about Sargent Irrigation District.
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Kris Polly: How do you use the products from International Water Screens? Matt Lukasiewicz: We started using the company's water screens about 4 years ago. We decided to start using them because of the trash entering our system via the direct flow from the river. We have some trash racks along the way that catch larger debris, but the smaller stuff still gets by. Toward the end of the bottom third of the canal system, the debris started to become more concentrated. With over half of our irrigation district being covered in center-point pivots, a lot of the pivot screen systems were getting clogged. We knew we needed to do something about it. One year, when we were at the Irrigation Leader Operations and Management Workshop, we visited with International Water Screens about the issue we had. While we knew we had more of an issue upstream with larger debris, we wanted to start on a small scale toward the bottom where we were having a lot of the issues. Fortunately, the company was able to help us. IRRIGATION LEADER
PHOTO COURTESY OF MATT LUKASIEWICZ.
Kris Polly: How long have you been the manager of Sargent Irrigation District?
Matt Lukasiewicz: We have a direct flow permit that allows us to divert up to 260 cubic feet per second (cfs) of water from the Middle Loup River, which we use to irrigate 14,287 acres of land. We have 40 miles of open canal irrigation and about 44 miles of buried laterals.
