Yuma Irrigation District: Enabling All-Year-Round Ag in the Arid Southwest
Desert lettuce being grown in the Yuma area.
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gricultural producers in the Yuma, Arizona, area produce around 90 percent of North America’s winter produce. In the summer, they produce significant amounts of field crops as well. Yuma Irrigation District (YID), irrigating 10,600 acres, is one of the smaller local irrigation districts that make this possible. In this interview, YID General Manager Rex Green tells Irrigation Leader about the district’s operations and top issues. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position. Rex Green: I was born in Yuma and grew up in our service area. I left to attend the University of Arizona, where I received a degree in agronomy and plant genetics. After graduation, I returned to Yuma. I’ve always been involved in agriculture. The position of manager of YID became available in 1989. I was one of several candidates interviewed and was likely selected because of my experience in production agriculture and maintenance. The board directed me to focus on the operation and maintenance aspects of the district. We’ve made significant advances in efficient water delivery and conservation in the last 30 years. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about YID.
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Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about YID’s infrastructure. Rex Green: YID’s infrastructure consists of seven turnouts off the Gila Gravity Main Canal, which services the districts in the Gila Project. The South Gila Canal is an 8‑mile concrete-lined canal that, along with 30 miles of underground pipeline, constitutes YID’s distribution system conveyance facilities. The depth of our supply pipelines allows for right-of-way cultivation, which reduces maintenance expense. Our system also includes 90 metered field turnouts. Accurate metering of water delivered is important in water use efficiency and conservation. The challenges of meeting supply needs in a 365‑day growing cycle frequently test our operational capacity to the limit, and perhaps a bit beyond. Irrigation Leader: Where does your water come from? Rex Green: Colorado River water is diverted at Imperial Dam to the Gila Gravity Main Canal and then to our turnouts. The OM&R costs of Imperial Dam and the Gila Gravity Main Canal are pro rata shared among the districts. Irrigation Leader: Does your flow get restricted during droughts on the Colorado River? irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF YID.
Rex Green: In 1919, the lands in the district were organized into an electrical power district that supplied power to pump groundwater for irrigation. YID was formed in the mid-1960s and was operated by the Bureau of Reclamation until 1973, when the landowners in the district formed a board and took over operations. Under the contract with Reclamation, the service area is 10,600 acres. The district covers the south side of the Gila River and the Colorado River east of Yuma, Arizona. There are seven irrigation districts in the area, of which YID is the fourth largest. We have seven employees, including three ditch riders, two maintenance personnel, a water master, and me. We deliver water to about 25 growers.
We’re part of the Yuma Mesa Division of Reclamation’s Gila Project. The three districts of the division share an undivided entitlement to 250,000 acre-feet of priority 3 Colorado River water. The district levies a per-acre assessment for operations, maintenance, and replacement (OM&R). Irrigation assessments in the area vary somewhat, but compared to those in other areas are relatively low. Most of our growers farm in several irrigation districts. YID’s board of directors is elected from landowners who are water users. The board has demonstrated decades of leadership in efficient water use and conservation.
