The Stewart Ditch and Reservoir Company’s Piping Project
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he Stewart Ditch and Reservoir Company (SDRC) is a Colorado-based agricultural water provider serving 235 shareholders. It recently completed a project, funded mainly by a Bureau of Reclamation grant, to pipe a portion of its historic ditch with pipe manufactured by Diamond Plastics. In this interview, SDRC President Karl Burns tells Irrigation Leader about the project and the benefits it will bring. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position. Karl Burns: My family moved to the Paonia, Colorado, area in 1970. In 1990, I bought my ranch, which is just up the road from my mom’s ranch. When I bought the property, I ended up getting elected to the board of the SDRC. After a year, I was elected to serve as its president, and I’ve served in this position for 30 years. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the SDRC. Karl Burns: The SDRC was incorporated in 1898. There are 235 shareholders. Most of the water is used for irrigation purposes, but some shareholders just water a yard and garden. Most of the water is used on fruit trees, hay, or grain crops. Irrigation Leader: Have you been using the same ditch since 1898? Karl Burns: Yes, the ditch is still the original takeout from the river. The ditch has long been an important part of the local economy. We hold the third-oldest water right on the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Irrigation Leader: What irrigation techniques do your water users use? Karl Burns: A lot of people use drip systems. There are close to 500 hundred acres under sprinklers, now that we’ve started piping the ditch. A lot of users still use furrow irrigation or gated pipe. Irrigation Leader: What is the source of your water?
Irrigation Leader: How much storage do you have in your system? Karl Burns: We have no storage. We own a small share of a lake, but we leased that to the mines in the early 1980s for
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augmentation water. Right now, that water is still being used under that agreement. Irrigation Leader: What was the motivation behind starting your current piping project? Karl Burns: We had a lot of infrastructure on our ditch that was in need of repair. I heard that the Bureau of Reclamation had a salinity program, and because Reclamation had done a salt study in our area, we met the requirements to apply. Our first-round funding application was tied to approximately 13 miles of open ditch. The second round of funding involved an additional 3 miles of pipe, all of which is 48 inches in diameter. The main motivation between the piping project was to eliminate the water loss associated with open-ditch systems. It gives us more control over our supply. Under drought conditions like we experienced last summer, we are better able to deliver water to our users, even when the supply is less than normal. irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE SDRC.
Karl Burns: The water comes out of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Ultimately, it comes from snowpack runoff.
Pipe manufactured by Diamond Plastics being installed in the SDRC’s system.
