Irrigation Leader July 2019

VOLUME 10 ISSUE 6

July 2019

Capital Improvements After Title Transfer: A Conversation With Matt Lukasiewicz

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CONTENTS JULY 2019 Volume 10 Issue 6

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

STAFF: Kris Polly, Editor-in-Chief Joshua Dill, Managing Editor Tyler Young, Writer Nicole E. Venable, Graphic Designer Eliza Moreno, Web Designer 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.

6

Capital Improvements After Title Transfer: A Conversation With Matt Lukasiewicz

5 Financing Irrigation Infrastructure

By Kris Polly

22 Financing Irrigation Projects: Lessons From New Zealand

6 Capital Improvements After Title Transfer: A Conversation With Matt Lukasiewicz

26 Instream’s Radial Gates

12 Funding Water Projects Through WaterSMART

34 How Lindsay’s Remote Pivot Management Software Boosts Efficiency 38 Classifieds

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 © 2019 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. /IrrigationLeader

Coming soon in Irrigation Leader: August: Arizona September: New Mexico’s Acequias 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

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COVER PHOTO: Matt Lukasiewicz, General Manager of the Loup Basin Reclamation District, the Farwell Irrigation District, and the Sargent Irrigation District.

Photo courtesy of Loup Basin Reclamation District.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LOUP BASIN RECLAMATION DISTRICT.

16 Finding the Best Grants for Water Infrastructure Projects

THE INNOVATORS 30 McCrometer’s Pivot-Ready Flow Meters

ADVERTISING: Irrigation Leader accepts one-quarter, half-page, and full-page ads. For more information on rates and placement, please contact Kris Polly at (703) 517-3962 or irrigation.leader@waterstrategies.com.

Financing Irrigation Infrastructure

W

ater infrastructure projects generally involve huge amounts of concrete, miles of canal lining or pipe, or large capital installations. As a result, it is no surprise that they cost large sums of money and are often difficult to plan and pay for. In this issue of Irrigation Leader, we bring you conversations with an irrigation district, a grant-making institution, a grant consultant, an attorney, and a manufacturer that look at funding water infrastructure from every angle.

Our cover interview is with Matt Lukasiewicz of the Loup Basin Reclamation District. Loup Basin, which manages two subordinate irrigation districts, bought the title for its infrastructure from the Bureau of Reclamation in 2002. Mr. Lukasiewicz tells us about the benefits of private ownership and about how he funds his district’s infrastructure projects.

We also speak with Avra Morgan, Amanda Erath, and Josh German of Reclamation’s WaterSMART program about its array of infrastructure grants, and with Tia Cavender of Dig Deep Research about how irrigation districts should go about winning grants like these.

David Stock, a New Zealand attorney, describes the way that his country’s irrigation schemes take out loans based not on the value of their assets, but on the value of the long-term supply agreements they have with their customer-shareholders.

This financing model, so distinct from common practice in the United States, deserves further attention.

By Kris Polly

Alberta-based Instream Water Control Projects, meanwhile, builds the capital projects that irrigation districts save up for.

It recently installed a massive installation of 10 35-foot-wide radial gates at Alberta’s Bassano Dam. Finally, we check in with two established companies that are continuing to innovate. McCrometer is well known as a propeller-meter manufacturer, but many people do not realize that it also manufactures a wide variety of telemetry-ready electromagnetic meters. Lindsay Corporation, one of the world’s leading irrigation equipment manufacturers, is also working to popularize remote telemetry systems. It has created a range of Pivot Control and Pivot Watch devices—some as cheap as $299—that connect center pivots to the company’s FieldNET remote irrigation-management platform.

Every irrigation district in the country has its eye on some sort of improvement project. Funding is always hard, but I hope that this issue of Irrigation Leader piques your imagination and gives you some fresh ideas for how to meet the challenge. IL 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 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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Capital Improvements After Title Transfer: A Conversation With Matt Lukasiewicz Matt Lukasiewicz with Loup Basin employees.

T

he Farwell and Sargent Irrigation Districts of central Nebraska were constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation in the 1950s and early 1960s under the umbrella of the Loup Basin Reclamation District. Loup Basin owns the easements, the water rights, and the facilities, while the other two irrigation districts operate and maintain those facilities. In 2002, Loup Basin had the title for its system transferred to it from the federal government.

Matt Lukasiewicz is the general manager of the Loup Basin Reclamation District, the Farwell Irrigation District, and the Sargent Irrigation District. In this interview, he speaks with Irrigation Leader Editor-in-Chief Kris Polly about his districts’ infrastructure projects and financing strategies 17 years after title transfer.

Kris Polly: Please tell us about your irrigation districts.

Kris Polly: What is the primary method of irrigation?

Matt Lukasiewicz: Sargent, which is a smaller district, lays a lot flatter than Farwell. It is about 70 percent pivot irrigated.

Farwell is hillier, or there’s at least more slope, so gravity irrigation is more common. Pivots are still working their way

6 | IRRIGATION LEADER

Kris Polly: When was the title of the project transferred to you?

Matt Lukasiewicz: The official date was in November 2002.

Kris Polly: How does the district obtain financing for capital improvements?

Matt Lukasiewicz: First and foremost, we try to budget for them. We prioritize projects that will benefit our water users. Occasionally, engineering is required, so we try to plan a year in advance and apply for grant funding. We always keep the worst-case scenario in mind and budget for 100 percent of the cost of the project. Every year, we put $150,000 into a project improvement reserve fund.

Then, every 3 years, we put a lateral or canal system into the ground with PVC pipe. Generally, the $450,000 that accumulates in that fund after 3 years is enough to cover most of the materials for a pipeline. At this point in our pipe burial program, we’re getting to the end of being able to bury many more canals and laterals just because of the size of the laterals and the fact that some of those areas lay too flat. Those factors mean that larger pipe is needed, which is costlier and affects the feasibility of a project.

We’re looking at some potential projects for the future aside from pipe, so we will continue to add $150,000 to that project improvement reserve every year.

Kris Polly: How many employees do you have?

PHOTO COURTESY OF LOUP BASIN RECLAMATION DISTRICT.

Matt Lukasiewicz: As far as size, Farwell has about 53,755 irrigated acres. In a normal year, we will deliver our irrigators an average of 9 inches of water. The total amount of water we actually divert into Sherman Reservoir varies depending on climate, but on average we take about 107,000 acre-feet per year. At Sargent, we have about 14,626 irrigated acres and deliver an average of 10 inches of water annually. The primary crops are corn and soybeans.

in; currently, I think it is about 40 percent pivot irrigated.

The rest is gravity.

Matt Lukasiewicz: I have 20 employees total.

Kris Polly: Do you have three boards of directors or two?

Matt Lukasiewicz: Three. Loup Basin is the primary organization, just as it was when Reclamation was owner.

Loup Basin still owns everything: the easements, the water rights, and the facilities. Reclamation constructed the Farwell and Sargent Irrigation Districts in the 1950s and early 1960s under Loup Basin Reclamation District. Loup Basin has interlocal agreements with Farwell and Sargent that allow them to operate with their own separate budgets and separate boards. The two irrigation districts operate and maintain their respective facilities, while Loup Basin oversees water policy.

All three districts have their own boards, secondary policies, and budgets. I am the general manager reporting to all three boards.

Kris Polly: Do you have three board meetings each month?

Matt Lukasiewicz: Sometimes. The Loup Basin board usually meets about eight times a year; Farwell’s and Sargent’s meet monthly.

Kris Polly: How many folks serve on each of those boards?

Matt Lukasiewicz: The two irrigation district boards have three. There are nine on the Loup Basin board.

Kris Polly: What are some of the capital improvements that the district has made since 2002?

Matt Lukasiewicz: The big thing is trying to advance everything with automation, gate controls, and telemetry.

That technology allows you to pull up water measurements and things of that nature on your cell phone or tablet. As I mentioned, at Farwell, we have also been burying pipe over the years since 2002. In total, we have buried 220 miles of pipeline, including projects we completed before title transfer.

We have also made improvements to Sherman Dam, which is an earth structure. We’ve put some dewatering wells in at the base of the dam to alleviate the hydraulic pressure. They are all automated. We can pull up real-time data on what our monitoring wells are doing and what the saturation level is on our dam.

At Sargent Irrigation District, we’ve put two water screens manufactured by International Water Screens in the Sargent Canal. We’re just finishing up that project, which will hugely improve safety and efficiency. Sargent Irrigation District, being significantly smaller, has a smaller budget. The larger projects, such as the water screen I mentioned, will probably cost over $200,000 total. That’s a big chunk of the budget.

We have nevertheless continually updated our equipment and facilities at both Sargent and Farwell.

I have also looked at ways to improve our bonds. In 2014, we refinanced with a better rate and saved $1 million as well as advancing the sunset date on the last payment to November 2023. I’ve been putting the bug in some of the employees’ ears, asking them about the kinds of improvements the districts could use when those bond payments go away. Even some

of the old-timers say that automation is the way of the future. That’s why we’re looking at Rubicon’s products again, possibly for Sargent, and possibly for some of our smaller canal systems at Farwell.

Kris Polly: Are all your projects self-financed, or do you go to local banks and get additional help?

Matt Lukasiewicz: The only outstanding bonds we have are from when we purchased the project in title transfer. They will be paid off in 2023. At that point, we won’t have any payments or debt to repay. In my tenure, we’ve never had to borrow money. We’ve always relied on ourselves to be able to pay for any projects, unless we’re absolutely desperate. We’re fiscally smart, and we plan ahead.

Kris Polly: Is your capital improvements work done in house, or do you contract with construction companies?

Matt Lukasiewicz: We try to do as much as we can on our own, but it depends on the scope of the work: Do we have the proper equipment to do it safely and efficiently? Do we have the time? If it’s a larger project that might take a considerable amount of time, and we don’t have enough employees to get it done on time, we farm it out to a contractor.

Kris Polly: Are you doing any canal lining?

Matt Lukasiewicz: Just in some spots where we’ve had seepage. We haven’t done any for a number of years. I’m not against it, and I think it works well, but our seepage problems often can be solved by simply reshaping and packing the canal.

Kris Polly: Were there any improvements for your personnel that were directly related to title transfer?

Matt Lukasiewicz: I don’t know how much Reclamation actually regulated personnel, but the situation now is quite flexible. Personnel handbooks and rules and regulations are always evolving. If anything needs to be changed or updated, we meet with our boards at our monthly meetings, present them the changes, and take care of it. We have the flexibility to make those changes on the fly. If it is a major change, we have the time to present it, think about it, come back to it, and possibly take action a month later.

The same is true for a lot of these projects. You don’t necessarily have to ask for permission or do a lot of studies.

You just talk to the board, say that it is a priority, explain why, explain how you are going to approach it, and then do it.

Kris Polly: Would you tell us about some of the things you do for your employees?

Matt Lukasiewicz: We try to offer them competitive benefits, wages, and flexibility. We are family oriented. We want our employees to be able to provide benefits for their families, to have the flexibility to enjoy their time with their families, and not to feel like they’re pinned down with work. We offer IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

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Loup Basin’s settling basin being dewatered and excavated.

good wages and benefits such as vacation, medical leave, holidays, health insurance, cancer insurance, dental and vision programs, a pension, and other fringe benefits.

Kris Polly: How many weeks of vacation do the employees have? Is it a set amount for everyone?

Matt Lukasiewicz: It’s accrued on the basis of how many hours an employee works. Every pay period, an employee accrues a certain number of hours of medical leave and vacation leave. The vacation leave increases the number of days they receive annually, based on their number of years of employment with the district.

Kris Polly: What’s the maximum amount of time people can accrue per year?

8 | IRRIGATION LEADER

that they don’t necessarily see when they’re farming or communicating with us. We’re trying to make efficiency and operational improvements. This year, we worked with Object Partners, a software design company from Omaha, Nebraska, to put our existing water books program into a separate software program. That will allow the farmers to do online ordering. We’re going to have everything done in the cloud. The farmers will be able to log on to the program and see all their turnouts, their history for the last few years, the history for this year, and their water balance.

They will also be able to click on the turnout that they want to turn on for the next day and choose when to have it turn off. They can do that via the program rather than having to call in. The ditch riders will also all have tablets. The goal is to eventually go paperless. They’ll have the equivalent of a ride sheet on their tablets, and they’ll also be able to look up balances and other information out in the field. We’re trying to get away from phone calls and paper and all the other things that can get lost in the confusion. That will be a big transition. Hopefully, 5 years from now it’ll have caught on, and we’ll be glad that we decided to go ahead and do it now rather than later.

Kris Polly: Tell us about your work with Object Partners.

Matt Lukasiewicz: Object Partners customizes and designs everything to our specifications. The company communicates with us as they’re building these programs, asking what is good and what is still missing. Some of its staff came out to do a training and went back to improve some things. Once the system is built, we will own it. We will essentially be able to sell on this program to other irrigation districts that use similar Microsoft Access waterbook programs, including some in Kansas and Nebraska.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LOUP BASIN RECLAMATION DISTRICT.

Matt Lukasiewicz: We allow a maximum of 60 days of sick leave and a maximum of 20 days of vacation leave granted annually after 20 years of employment. We do want our employees to be able to use their vacation; that’s why they have it. At the same time, we want them to be available and not to use all their vacation days during the summertime, which is our busy season. We’ve got a rule that by March 15, you have to use all but 5 of your vacation days, or else you lose them. Of course, there is some flexibility to that if necessary. As for retirement, that’s a percentage-based program, based on how many years an employee has been employed here. Raises are calculated according to a system that the board of directors has adopted, which is based on the percentage rise in the cost of living plus one.

In addition to taking care of employees, we are taking care of water users. We make a lot of improvements

Loup Basin’s settling basin after being excavated.

Kris Polly: Was there a learning curve after the title transfer that other districts considering the same process might want to be aware of?

Matt Lukasiewicz: The title transfer took place before I worked for the district, so I don’t know how much of a learning curve there really was. From what I’ve been told, it was a lot of work.

I’d encourage people to start early and to put in the effort to get their title transferred, because things just seem to be more flexible when you own your system. You can go to your boards, budget projects, and put shovels in the ground in no time, rather than having to go through the rigmarole of asking Reclamation’s permission and doing studies and whatever else is required. These districts have always been doing this stuff, it is just that they’ve been going through a third party.

Title transfer gives you that ownership and allows you to do whatever you and your board think is best for your project.

irrigated or have been irrigated in the past that you would to irrigate again?” We added about 2,000 irrigated acres. In 2016, we applied for additional acres, which were approved at the beginning of this year. That’s a little bit of a different system.

The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regulates our acres and has to approve any additional acres.

The DNR has signed an integrated management plan with the Lower Loup Natural Resources District (NRD) that says that if the NRD allows additional acres, surface water may be allocated to up to one-third of them. Over the last 3 years, the Lower Loup NRD has allowed additional acres in its districts and in its basin. That has opened up some availability for surface water acres, which is why we applied back in 2016.

Those have just now been approved for this year. With roughly 340 acres at each of my districts, Farwell and Sargent, we gained about 680 acres this year. IL

Matt Lukasiewicz is the general manger of the Loup Basin Reclamation District, the Farwell Irrigation District, and the Sargent Irrigation District. He can be contacted at mluk@qwestoffice.net or (308) 336-3341.

Kris Polly: Now that your district is private, what is the process for adding acres? How many acres do you think you’ve added to the project since 2002?

Matt Lukasiewicz: In 2005, we completed a map adjudication.

At that time, the district invited the farmers in and asked, “Are there places on the farms that you own that could be

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Funding Water Projects Through WaterSMART aterSMART is a Bureau of Reclamation initiative aimed at providing federal cost-share funding to local, state, and tribal entities as they plan and execute projects to save water and energy. The WaterSMART umbrella covers a wide variety of funding programs, including the eponymous WaterSMART Water and Energy Efficiency Grants, SmallScale Water Efficiency Grants,Title XVI Recycling and Reuse Program, Basin Studies, and others.

In this interview, Avra Morgan, program coordinator for the Cooperative Watershed Management Program and the water marketing portion of the WaterSMART Grants Program, Amanda Erath, program coordinator for Title XVI and for Basin Studies activity, and Josh German, program coordinator for the WaterSMART Grants portion of WaterSMART, speak with Irrigation Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill about the funding available through WaterSMART and the initiative’s accomplishments so far.

W

Avra Morgan: WaterSMART was established in 2010 as a secretarial initiative with the aim of working collaboratively with our stakeholders to make improvements to water management in order to conserve water, cope with drought conditions and other causes of water shortages, and avoid water conflicts. Many of WaterSMART’s subprograms, including the WaterSMART Grants Program, the Water Conservation Field Services Program, the Title XVI Water Recycling and Reuse Program, and the Drought Response Program, have roots in earlier initiatives.

Since 2010, new programs and activities have been added to those, including the Cooperative Watershed Management Program, the SmallScale Water Efficiency Grants program, which is focused on smallerdollar water conservation projects, and the water marketing part of the WaterSMART Grants Program. Title XVI has also been updated by the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act.

Joshua Dill: Would you give us an overview of WaterSMART and its history?

Joshua Dill: Would you briefly explain what kind of projects are eligible?

12 | IRRIGATION LEADER

Avra Morgan: WaterSMART is an umbrella initiative that has included seven or eight programs over the course of its existence. They have all been focused on ways to improve water management, whether that’s through water conservation and efficiency, water reuse, planning, watershed restoration projects, or even science-oriented projects—we have a category that’s referred to as Applied Science Grants. It is a combination of on-the-ground projects and planning projects that help improve water management across the West.

I would characterize the program and the projects it funds as highly collaborative. We work together with stakeholders to leverage federal and nonfederal funding. There’s always a cost-share requirement for these programs. We encourage people to identify partners to support their projects and we require them to explain the planning efforts that have been undertaken so as to prioritize projects, that are based on collaboration among local stakeholders.

Joshua Dill: What niche was WaterSMART designed to fill? Was

it difficult for smaller-scale efficiency programs to get funding?

Josh German: WaterSMART Grants were initially focused on partnering with and providing cost-share funding to stakeholders to provide incentives for conservation and efficiency projects that might not otherwise be undertaken.

The WaterSMART Grants Program includes Water and Energy Efficiency Grants, Small-Scale Water Efficiency Grants, and Water Marketing Strategy Grants. The Water and Energy Efficiency Grants are our largest funding category other than Title XVI, both in terms of dollar amount and the number of applications that we get. They fund water conservation and efficiency projects, including canal lining and piping, metering, automation, turf replacement, and improvements to supervisory control and data acquisition systems. That category of funding has gotten popular and competitive.

We realized that we wanted to provide an opportunity for smaller entities and districts to apply for funding for water conservation and management projects as well, so in 2016 we introduced Small-Scale Water Efficiency Grants, which are limited to a total cost-share amount of $75,000. The Water and Energy Efficiency Grants, by contrast, cover much higher amounts— applicants can request up to $1.5 million for a larger project. The response has been overwhelming. We’ve received a lot of proposals for Small-Scale Water Efficiency Grants projects. We also tried to make the application process easier by streamlining some aspects of it. Because these are smaller-dollar projects, we’re able to make the application process a little simpler.

Amanda Erath: The Title XVI Water Recycling and Reuse Program has existed since 1992. For many years, only projects specifically authorized by Congress were eligible for construction funding under the program. In 2016, the WIIN Act was passed. That act included amendments to Title XVI that opened the program up. Now, instead of needing a congressional authorization for construction funding, project sponsors just have to meet some threshold requirements, mainly by submitting a Title XVI feasibility

study to Reclamation. That was a big development for the program. We’ve seen funding levels for the program increase pretty dramatically. Last year, we had $54 million in fiscal year 2018 appropriations for Title XVI. This year, we have a little over $58 million. Those are pretty substantial increases from previous years, when the program had $20–30 million available.

Joshua Dill: What is the breakdown of the cost share?

Avra Morgan: With only a couple of exceptions, all WaterSMART projects that are funded through competitive funding opportunities require a 50 percent nonfederal cost share. That can include in-kind contributions, like staff time, or contributions from third parties.

Amanda Erath: Title XVI requires a 75 percent nonfederal cost share.

Reclamation provides up to 25 percent.

Title XVI projects are large and tend to take a long time to complete, so unlike all our other funding opportunity announcements, in which an entity applies once and, if successful, receives its 50 percent cost share and completes its project in 2–3 years, Title XVI entities apply year after year until the federal funding that they are awarded reaches 25 percent of the total project cost or $20 million, whichever is less.

These entities have to meet that 75 percent nonfederal cost share each year they apply, and the project as a whole also has to be 75 percent funded by nonfederal money.

Avra Morgan: I’d also like to mention our collaboration with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). We are trying to incentivize our stakeholders to leverage funding from both agencies to try to maximize water conservation benefits. NRCS’s programs are focused on on-farm water conservation, while Reclamation’s are focused on water delivery systems. Our applicants can get extra points in their applications for our grants if the proposed project will also help improve water management on farm through NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). NRCS likewise gives extra

prioritization to WaterSMART awardees for funding through EQIP. Joshua Dill: How many grants do you award per year?

Avra Morgan: In 2018, we selected 54 Water and Energy Efficiency Grants, 59 Small-Scale projects, and 7 water marketing projects, for a total of 120 WaterSMART Grants projects. We selected a total of 200 projects for award under all the activities included within WaterSMART. Joshua Dill: What is the application time frame?

Avra Morgan: We have a release cycle for the application process, which depends to some degree on when we get a budget and on ongoing developments within the programs. Typically, we try to post our funding opportunities in the first and second quarters of the fiscal year. The response to those funding opportunities is at least 60 days later, and we do our best to award the funding before the end of the fiscal year.

Joshua Dill: What’s the overall amount of funding you provide through WaterSMART in a given year?

Josh German: The average for fiscal years 2017, 2018, and 2019 was around $103 million.

Joshua Dill: Would you give an overview of the results that WaterSMART has achieved?

Josh German: The primary focus of WaterSMART’s Water and Energy Efficiency Grants over the years has been on quantifiable water savings.

Those savings constitute one of the primary benefits of the program. Since the inception of the priority goal in 2010, the Water and Energy Efficiency Grants and a handful of other programs have saved hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of water.

Amanda Erath: Our Basin Study Program has also achieved significant results. Basin studies are intended to foster collaboration in basins with conflicts or water supply and demand imbalances. As part of a basin study, IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

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Reclamation works to help bring all the parties in a basin together to identify potential solutions. We’ve seen a lot of success in building collaboration that outlasts the basin study itself. The Colorado River is a great example of that.

Reclamation funded the Colorado River basin study back in 2009. The collaboration that was fostered by that effort is ongoing today through the Ten Tribes Partnership and the Drought Contingency Plan. Another example that comes to mind is the Republican River basin study. When the study began, the two states involved, Nebraska and Kansas, were engaged in active litigation against each other. The basin study proved to be a great forum for the states to come together and work collaboratively on the challenges they faced without focusing exclusively on the litigation, partly because the study was focused on the future rather than on the present. The two states weren’t talking when the basin study started, but by the end, they were working together.

Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your vision for WaterSMART. Avra Morgan: We work continually to improve the programs that we have, and we try to identify needs that we’re not addressing. One of our goals for next year is to try to identify parts of the West that have not received as many grants

under the WaterSMART initiative and to try to do some outreach and workshops in those areas. We also try to adjust our programs to fit needs that haven’t been met.

The Small-Scale Water Efficiency Grants and the water marketing grants are good examples of that. One of our new programs is the Cooperative Watershed Management Program, to which entities can apply to form a watershed group. The response to phase I of the program has been good. We recently started funding phase II, which funds on-the-ground watershed management projects. The response to that funding offer hasn’t been as big. We would like to explore why and see if we can get the word out.

Joshua Dill: What should our readers do if they are interested in applying for a WaterSMART grant?

Avra Morgan: We encourage people to reach out to us if they’re interested in the program and have questions about how to apply, or if they want to understand why they weren’t selected. We also do a lot of debriefings about why particular applications were not successful. We’re happy to talk to people who are interested in programs and want to apply. I would also recommend that people visit our website, www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART. IL

Avra Morgan is the program coordinator for the Cooperative Watershed Management Program and the water marketing portion of the WaterSMART Grants program. She can be reached at (303) 445-2906 or at aomorgan@usbr.gov.

Amanda Erath is the program coordinator for the Title XVI program and for basin studies. She can be contacted at (303) 445-2766 or aerath@usbr.gov. Josh German is the program coordinator for the WaterSMART Grants portion of the WaterSMART program. He can be contacted at (303) 445-2839 or jgerman@usbr.gov.

14 | IRRIGATION LEADER

W A T E R

S E M I N A R

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WESTERN

2019

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Finding the Best Grants for Water Infrastructure Projects

The City of Newport, Oregon, received an emergency grant form Business Oregon to repair landslide damage on Big Creek Road.

T

here are a wide variety of federal and state-level grants in existence to fund major investments in water infrastructure. However, it is difficult to identify the most appropriate grant for a given project, to prepare application materials in a thorough and timely manner, and to draw up a successful application. That is where Dig Deep Research steps in.

A boutique consulting firm founded in 2010, Dig Deep focuses on helping agencies pursue funding options for infrastructure projects.

In this interview, Tia Cavender, chief executive officer (CEO) of Dig Deep Research, speaks with Irrigation Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill about how her company helps municipal agencies successfully obtain grant funding.

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

Tia Cavender: I was trained as a clinical researcher, and later decided to specialize in capital funding research. I founded Dig Deep Research in 2010, when I recognized a need in the industry for expertise in pursuing funding options for capital and infrastructure projects. Ever since, the company has helped clients identify creative funding solutions for capital improvement projects throughout the West.

Joshua Dill: Do your clients hire you to look at specific projects that they are considering, or do they work with you on a longer-term basis?

16 | IRRIGATION LEADER

Tia Cavender: I would say the main challenge municipalities and water districts face is coordinating the timing of everything.

Specifically, they must successfully manage the time it takes to find the right grant, to pursue and win the grant, and then to make sure that the design and construction of the capital project coincides with the timeline trajectory of the grant program.

Many agencies that have unsuccessfully tried to secure capital grants eventually give up trying because of the complications.

Even more common is that the agency ends up spending more money to pursue, secure, and manage a government grant than the amount of cash the grant brings in, which dissuades them from pursuing grants altogether. The result is often that agencies go back to relying primarily on cash revenues to finance projects.

Alternatively, we help introduce clients to public financing options that provide lower interest rates (e.g., annual percentage rates of 1–2.5) than what is currently available on the municipal bond market. With this approach, we can help communities leverage their projected revenues to qualify for low-interest loans and then use their revenues to pay back the loans.

Once they secure the public financing to continue the design and permitting phase, we help secure grant funds for the construction phase, which decreases the amount of loans they need to finish the project.

Joshua Dill: What kinds of entities and agencies are your clients?

Tia Cavender: We work with municipalities, water districts, county agencies, and park districts. We also work with engineering firms, environmental firms, and businesses that work in research and development. We haven’t worked much with irrigation districts yet, but that’s mainly because there is such a high demand for services in the municipal sector.

However, we are certain that the Dig Deep model for capital

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DIG DEEP RESEARCH.

Tia Cavender: Typically, clients bring us in for one specific project that needs funding, but they quickly see the value of these services and decide to invest on a long-term basis.

Nearly all clients receive a 100 percent return on investment within 12–18 months, and those that hire our firm for multiple years average an annual rate of return of 4:1. Many times, the costs of our services either count as matching funds or are eligible for reimbursement as a grant-funded planning expense, which makes for an excellent investment of water revenues.

Joshua Dill: You founded your company to help agencies find funding. What is the main obstacle that you help them overcome?

fundraising can be applied to irrigation districts to help them find and secure untapped sources of capital funding.

Joshua Dill: Which grantmaking entities do you work with?

Tia Cavender: Mostly government entities, including state agencies, like state departments of environmental quality and water resource departments. For instance, in Oregon we work with the Oregon Water Resources Department, the Office of Emergency Management, and the Department of Environmental Quality. At the federal level, we work the most with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Joshua Dill: What is the biggest misconception about applying for grants that you have to correct?

Tia Cavender: People think grants are free money. Although some of it is free in a certain sense, there are often many strings attached—grant requirements, expensive monitoring requirements, or additional planning activities that need to be conducted or committed to before agencies can pursue the funding. It often ends up costing too much money to pursue, secure, and administer a grant. We spend a great deal of time talking our clients out of pursuing grants they are not competitive enough to win. Just because an agency is eligible for a grant doesn’t mean that its project is competitive enough to beat out the competition. For instance, one of our clients needs to build a new dam and was thrilled to learn about a couple of new grant programs recently announced by FEMA that fit with its project.

But because the evaluation criteria are linked to planning documents that haven’t been prepared, the client must carefully consider the time, energy, and resources it would take to even be eligible for funding.

Joshua Dill: Would you go into more detail about how you give recommendations about what a plan should include?

Tia Cavender: We use a membership model. Clients start out with our basic membership package, which allows us to evaluate the funding potential of a multiyear capital improvement plan or one particular project in need of funding. First, we determine which aspects of the project or the capital improvement plan are the most fundable. Next, we evaluate the government grant programs that are most likely to yield success for the client. Our deliverables provide a roadmap for the client so they can plan ahead and know which grants to pursue before the funding cycles are publicly announced. This approach affords them the time to engage with the funding agency, craft a competitive application, and program matching funds into the next capital budget.

Joshua Dill: Please tell us about the importance of relationships in the work you do.

Tia Cavender: A large component of achieving success with grant-related strategic planning involves establishing and cultivating relationships with funding agencies during the early phases of a project. Engaging the funders in the planning

process before asking them for money is the best way to start.

That way, the funder can become an informed advocate from the ground up. We coach our clients to understand that funding agencies want the same thing that they do: to produce a good project they can showcase to constituents.

Joshua Dill: What developments do you see today in the grantmaking field?

Tia Cavender: Recently, we have seen more new grants intended to address resiliency issues than in previous years, although unfortunately what exists is still only a fraction of what is actually needed. Perhaps the resiliency trend is in response to the increasing awareness of aging infrastructure, which is a critical issue that every single city in every single state must address and finance independently. Unfortunately, however, there are few federal funding sources available to help replace aging infrastructure, which puts substantial pressure on local water providers.

While national news often conveys the idea that funding for infrastructure is an important bipartisan issue at the federal level, it is important to note that the focus of federal infrastructure is on transportation infrastructure (highways, bridges, railways, and byways) rather than water infrastructure.

With this in mind, communities must continue fighting for water infrastructure funding through whatever means as possible.

Joshua Dill: If you were giving advice to an irrigation district, what would you identify as the one key factor that would make a grant application successful?

Tia Cavender: I would say having enough time to plan, because that’s often where things go wrong. Applicants may only have 45–60 days to prepare a grant application, and they’ll invest a few weeks throwing together the best application they possibly can, but it’s unlikely to be strong enough to beat out the competition. More time to plan means more competitive grant applications, which is imperative in the current funding climate.

Joshua Dill: What is your vision for the future?

Tia Cavender: My vision for the future is that more communities will consider implementing water reuse and recycling programs. Especially in the West, we need to consider innovative ways of building new water supplies and eliminating the stigma associated with using recycled water. Water reuse projects are fundable, especially if the project involves monitoring data about the quality, cost, and outcomes of using reclaimed water. Although there are really smart solutions to addressing drought and depletion of water supplies, they are expensive, which is another reason Dig Deep is so committed to helping people learn how to Tia Cavender is navigate the world CEO of Dig Deep of capital grants. IL Research. She can be contacted at tia@godigdeep.com or (720) 785-4155.

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Financing Irrigation Projects: Lessons From New Zealand

The Rakaia River crossing the agricultural land of the Canterbury Plain on New Zealand's South Island.

N

ew Zealand’s irrigation schemes are structured and financed differently from most American irrigation districts or projects. Rather than selling water to customers on a year-by-year basis, New Zealand irrigation schemes sell their customers shares that also involve long-term water supply arrangements. Those arrangements, often valid for a term of 30 years or more, guarantee schemes a steady source of income.

In fact, it is that steady cash flow that constitutes the schemes’ most valuable asset. When banks lend money to schemes, they do it on the basis of this cash flow.

David Stock is a privately practicing commercial barrister in Christchurch, New Zealand, who has special expertise in water distribution projects. In this interview, Mr. Stock speaks with Irrigation Leader Editor-in-Chief Kris Polly about the structure of irrigation schemes in New Zealand and how they raise money.

distribution infrastructure and deliver a specified volume of water to the farmer, subject to availability.

Kris Polly: Please tell us about yourself and your work with irrigation schemes.

Kris Polly: So irrigation schemes do not have the ability to tax.

David Stock: I am a New Zealander commercial barrister. I specialize in commercial work. I used to be a partner at the largest law firm in New Zealand, but I have been working on my own for a few years now. I’ve been working with irrigation schemes in New Zealand for around 25 years, drafting contracts for them and doing their corporate and commercial work.

Kris Polly: How are irrigation schemes in New Zealand structured?

22 | IRRIGATION LEADER

David Stock: No, they are not. In 1990, the existing government-owned schemes were bought by the farmers who used them for a nominal sum. The government recognized the importance of continued investment in infrastructure, and about 5 years ago, it set up a fund of NZ$90 million (US$59.66 million) to support the establishment of new irrigation schemes on commercial terms. However, that fund has not been used widely because it has been difficult for newer irrigation schemes to establish themselves and obtain the correct financial structure to proceed.

David Stock: They have no ability to tax at all, but they have the ability to make charges under the water supply agreement, and if those charges are not paid, then they have the right to cut off the water and also to forfeit the shares of the shareholder or to take action to recover any monies that are owed. That is a strong covenant, because cutting off the water supply would significantly diminish the value of the farm.

Kris Polly: How do the schemes obtain financing?

David Stock: I’ll give you an example. I acted for a new scheme that had a right to take 17 cubic meters per second (around 600 cubic feet per second) of water out of a river.

It was a costly scheme to establish, requiring around NZ$90 million (US$59.66 million), because the water had to be pumped 90 meters (295 feet) from the river up onto the plains to be piped and distributed to the farmers. At the time, that scheme covered 12,000 hectares (29,653 acres); today it has expanded to more than 20,000 hectares (49,421 acres).

When the scheme approached banks to obtain funding, it said that it expected at least 30 percent of the total cost to

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDREW COOPER.

David Stock: Irrigation schemes in New Zealand are typically companies or cooperative companies. They are normally structured so that a farmer who owns a farm and wants to acquire water for it will take up shares in an irrigation company and concurrently enter into a water supply agreement. That means that there is a complete tie-in: The farm to which the water is to be supplied holds shares in the irrigation company that owns the irrigation distribution system and invests in that company to enable it to invest in

Kris Polly: Are the irrigation schemes governmental entities?

be covered by shareholders. The banks secured the other 70 percent against the covenants under the water agreements that the scheme held with the farmers, in which the farmers agreed to take water and pay water charges. In other words, the banks banked a 35-year cash flow under the water supply agreements against lending money to the scheme on the basis that those charges would repay most of the capital and meet interest over 35 years.

The banks understand that the farmers have to pay those charges for water to be delivered. Based on their experience of also having banked those farmers, they know that the farmers are earning enough to pay those charges and that the contracted supply of water is critical to the value of the property.

Generally, the banks have a good understanding of the dynamics of the industry and the long-term cash flow established by a water supply agreement.

Kris Polly: It sounds like farmers have agreed to pay their water bills not just for this year and next year, but for a period of many years. Is that standard?

David Stock: Yes. One scheme I work with had a 33-year water consent. The banks are prepared to lend against that because they are confident that the farmers will be making their payments for the next 33 years, and they also know that there is a 95 percent chance that the consent will be extended. They will leave some residual debt at the end of the 33 years because they are confident that the water will continue to flow, given how critical it is to New Zealand’s farming economy.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID STOCK.

Kris Polly: That is interesting—it is less like an annual bill than it is like a mortgage.

David Stock: Some of these schemes actually take mortgages or encumbrances against the properties to secure the water charges with that charge ranking after the bank, but it’s a tail-end security so that if a farmer doesn’t pay, the banks can access that security through the irrigation company against the farm. That is rarely exercised.

Kris Polly: In the United States, it is my understanding that farmers often pay

their water bills at the beginning of the season, and then there is some settling up at the end of the season if needed.

How are things different in New Zealand?

David Stock: In New Zealand, farmers build a budget for the year and determine what water charges need to be paid for the entire year. Those base charges are paid monthly to assist with farmers’ cashflow. In addition, during the time that the farmers are actually taking water, they may in some schemes pay a top-up charge for the direct costs relating to the volumes of water they’re actually taking. All the agreements require a direct-debit agreement by which the money is transferred directly from the farmers’ bank accounts to the irrigation company.

Kris Polly: Would you give us an idea of the amount that farmers in New Zealand pay?

David Stock: Charges in an openrate scheme tend to be around NZ$90 (US$59.66) per hectare per annum. For a piped scheme in which water is delivered under pressure, meaning that pressure will power farmers’ pivots without additional power, the annual charge could be around NZ$750 (US$497) per hectare per annum.

Kris Polly: What is the typical pressure at which the water is delivered in a piped scheme?

David Stock: The minimum would typically be 4 bar, or 58 pounds per square inch. Some of the farmers also have artesian bores. Those farmers may use part irrigation water from the irrigation scheme and also use bore water, which they have to pump from a significant depth (up to 100 meters, or 328 feet). In addition to that, one of the schemes I act for insists that every farmer have 400 cubic meters (105,669 gallons) of on-farm storage to cover any shortages in supply.

Kris Polly: When irrigation schemes borrow money, do the banks consider their assets, or do they focus mainly on the water supply agreements?

David Stock: The banks understand that schemes have assets, which are quite valuable and costly to install or secure, especially the rights to take water, but they also understand that if the farmers are not taking water, those assets have no value whatsoever. The banks are banking the monthly cash flow provided for by the water supply agreements, and the rights to take water, not the value of the irrigation assets.

Kris Polly: Would you elaborate a bit on the share system and how it works?

David Stock: First, a company will look at how much capital is needed for a project and decide what percentage of the money can be obtained from a bank and how much must be obtained from the farmers. On that basis, the company will determine how many shares it needs to issue. The farmers will look at that offering and determine whether the cost and the amount of water included in those shares would benefit their farms.

Buying shares in the company, of course, also implies an annual charge. The farmers have developed sophisticated models to show the economic effect that buying additional shares will have on their farms.

I was recently in discussions with a farmer regarding his highly productive 120-hectare (296-acre) farm farm.

He wants a more reliable supply of water. To get it, he is prepared to take up shares at a cost of about NZ$250,000 (US$165,735). The farmers are well aware of the high value that additional reliable water supplies and shares in the company bring to their farming enterprises. Farmers will consult with their accountants to determine whether they should take up additional shares, with future profits in mind. It is all about the business. IL

David Stock is a commercial barrister and solicitor working in Christchurch, New Zealand. He can be reached at djs@davidstock.co.nz or +64 3 353 1036.

IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

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INSTREAM’S RADIAL GATES

The new spillway at Bassano Dam.

I

nstream Water Control Projects is a Lethbridge, Alberta– based water control gate company that has been building and maintaining water control gates across the United States and Canada since 2006. It specializes in overshot and radial gates and has recently installed 10 gates of truly gargantuan proportions in an emergency spillway at Alberta’s Bassano Dam. In this interview, Frank Stang, Trevor Hazell, and Ryan Morgan of Instream Water Control Projects speak with Irrigation Leader Editor-in-Chief Kris Polly about Instream’s history and its recent projects.

Kris Polly: Tell us about your backgrounds and how you came to be in your current positions.

26 | IRRIGATION LEADER

Kris Polly: Tell us about your work with large radial gates.

Frank Stang: That’s probably one of the most common types of gate we do. Radial gates go back hundreds of years, and every district has one.

Kris Polly: How large are the gates you build?

Frank Stang: We just completed the largest single project that I’ve ever done in my 35 years in the business at Bassano Dam, which is one of the biggest reservoirs in southern Alberta for the storage of irrigation water. It is about 2½ hours from our plant. We built 10 epoxy-coated gates, each 35 feet wide and 14 feet high, complete with electric cable-driven hoist systems, stainless-steel embedments, 10 emergency stop logs, and the lifting device. We just completed the installation of all these components. The owner, Eastern Irrigation District, commissioned them in April of this year. The total investment cost was in the $50 million range.

Kris Polly: What was the gauge of steel?

Trevor Hazell: The front skin plate was 3/8 plate—that’s probably the most significant measurement for a radial gate.

There are also some really large I-beams that reinforce the back side of the gate, which is 18 inches deep. It involved a massive amount of steel.

Kris Polly: Approximately how much does one of those gates weigh?

Trevor Hazell: About 42,000 pounds.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JEFF HINMAN PHOTOGRAPHY.

Frank Stang: I grew up on a farm. Having left the farm when I was 18, I hope that at 64 I still have a little farm background. By schooling, I am an engineering technologist.

When I graduated from college, I realized that I was not really an 8-to-5 type of guy. I love being independent. When the opportunity arose to get into the sales side of things, I didn’t think I was cut out for it, but I ended up embracing it.

I worked for Armtec, a Canadian supplier of water control gates, for 20 years. A water control gate business is tough to maintain if you’re working only on sales, not service, because water control gates need constant service. The company decided they didn’t want to go in that direction.

In 2006, I started Instream to do that work. We design and manufacture water control gates. It started with the irrigation industry, and now we’re getting into the municipal sector as well. It was just me in 2006, but as the company grew, I hired more employees. Today, there are seven of us.

We are based in Lethbridge, Alberta, a city of about 100,000 people about 3 hours north of Great Falls, Montana.

We operate out of a building that we’ve been in since 2012.

The reason that I started the company here is that southern Alberta has the highest concentration of irrigation districts anywhere in Canada. There are 13 irrigation districts in this area with something like a million and a half acres of irrigated land. It is a dry, arid area; without water, we wouldn’t be growing the crops that grow here. As a result, this is a

hotbed for irrigation supply equipment.

During the first 6 years, all the business I did was based in the United States. I did gates in California; Central Florida; Idaho; Port Arthur, Texas; and Utah. There’s one gate that we do, and that nobody else really got into, called the overshot gate.

The new spillway at Bassano Dam.

Kris Polly: How many pieces do those gates break down into for shipment?

decided that it needed to incorporate another structure.

The district built this emergency spillway for that reason.

Trevor Hazell: The radial gate itself was actually built in one piece. Two arms are bolted onto that, and those two arms are bolted onto the trunnion beams that are attached to the wall. Instream completed everything from the fabrication of the components to their installation, commissioning, and testing. I was on site as the supervisor for the installation of all 10 gates. From start to finish, each gate took 10 days, including all the bottom sills and side-rubbing plates that were embedded in the concrete structure, all the secondary concrete, and the lifting in of the gates, hoists, and hoist decks. It took us about 100 days in total.

Kris Polly: I understand that you’ve done a lot of work on similar gates for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers in the United States. Is that correct?

Ryan Morgan: We also supply a full, ready-to-install hoistframe assembly. These hoists are sent out fully assembled; we don’t send them out in pieces. The contractors can basically pick them up with their cranes and set them right on top of the decks. This takes the guesswork out of trying to make sure all the cross shafts and gear boxes are aligned properly. We do it all in a controlled shop environment.

Kris Polly: What was the motivation behind the installation of these large radial gates?

Frank Stang: These gates are a part of the emergency spillway for the dam. About 5 years ago, there was a lot of rain and a lot of flooding. They just about lost this dam because they couldn’t spill enough water through the ordinary gates, of which there are about 25. After this emergency, Eastern Irrigation District, which is one of the biggest irrigation districts in this area, along with the Alberta-based irrigation consultant MPE Engineering,

Ryan Morgan: We are working on two or three projects with Reclamation in Colorado and Idaho, and we’ve done a fair bit with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a project outside of Salt Lake City called the Bear River Refuge.

Kris Polly: Approximately how many projects do you think you’ve done in the United States?

Frank Stang: I’ve been working in the United States for over 15 years, and I did about a dozen jobs a year there for a while.

I would say the total has got to be around 75–100.

Kris Polly: What is your message to irrigation district managers and their boards of directors?

Frank Stang: My top message is that you can rely on us. We will give you straightforward answers to help you get on with your business. We’re not here just to sell. We’re here to make sure that when people call, they get the advice that is most useful to them and their business, not the advice that will help us sell the most.

We want to let our clients know that there are solutions to their problems and that we are trying to be that solution.

We’ve got good people, we’ve got good staff, we’ve got good knowledge, and we’d love to be able to do your work, wherever and whenever you need us, whether that is in Alberta, in Great Falls, or across the United States. IL

Frank Stang is president, founder, and senior partner of Instream Water Control Projects. He can be reached at fstang@instreamwcp.com or (403) 330-9218. Trevor Hazell is managing partner and project manager at Instream. He can be reached at thazell@instreamwcp.com or (403) 831-2935. Ryan Morgan is the major projects design lead and partner at Instream. He can be reached at rmorgan@instreamwcp.com or (403) 669-2227.

IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

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THE INNOVATORS

McCrometer’s Pivot-Ready Flow Meters

M

cCrometer and its engineering team have built flow meters for over 60 years, refining and improving them along the way.

From mechanical propeller meters to electromagnetic meters with signal outputs, McCrometer has products for a wide variety of uses and situations. As center-pivot irrigation becomes more technologically sophisticated and draws on a wider range of data, flow meters are becoming an integral part of a center-pivot system. McCrometer’s flow meters can easily send data to a center-pivot control panel, providing a reliable measure of water flow on a continuous basis.

In this interview, Ken Quandt, the government relations specialist for McCrometer, speaks with Irrigation Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill about how flow meters can help any center-pivot irrigating farmer.

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

30 | IRRIGATION LEADER

Joshua Dill: Please tell us about McCrometer as a company.

Ken Quandt: McCrometer was founded in 1955 in Southern California, manufacturing flow meters for the agriculture industry. The water districts in California needed a durable, affordable meter to measure water for their customers, so a couple of brothers and a brother-in-law started manufacturing the McCrometer propeller meter. The design is basically the same today, although it has been continuously improved over the decades, meaning that we’ve been building the McCrometer propeller meter for agriculture for over 60 years.

Over that time, however, McCrometer has also branched out into the oil and gas, municipal, and industrial markets, as well as developed other meter technologies. Today, McCrometer has 189 employees worldwide.

Joshua Dill: How can McCrometer meters be used with center pivots?

Ken Quandt: McCrometer has a line of telemetry-ready meters for the agricultural market. The way I look at it, that also means that the meters are pivot ready. They have built-in digital or analog signal outputs that can be entered into a farmer’s pivot panel. A digital signal is a pulse that’s normally used for totalization of flow; an analog signal, which can be a 4–20 milliamp (mA) signal, is used to monitor flow rate. Our technology is capable of transmitting a farmer’s irrigation flow data into the pivot panel, so that

it can be used for irrigation water management.

Joshua Dill: Does that data give the farmer a better sense of how fast water is entering the system?

Ken Quandt: Yes. The output of the meter provides information that allows the farmer to record and monitor water application. That is important because a

The McCrometer propeller meter.

well’s flow rate can fluctuate over time, even within the season, for a number of reasons. These data assist the farmer in making changes to pivot speed or in setting times for precise application rates. If farmers assume a constant flow rate, they could be significantly underirrigating their crops.

Joshua Dill: Is the information from the meter automatically incorporated into the data displayed in the center pivot’s control panel?

Ken Quandt: Yes. Most center pivots are capable of taking inputs from devices like flow meters, which have

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MCCROMETER.

Ken Quandt: I live in Aurora, Nebraska, and have lived in Nebraska my whole life. I went to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and got a degree in natural resources and water science.

I also received a master’s degree in legal studies. After that, I went out to Sidney, Nebraska, and worked as the water programs manager for the South Platte Natural Resources District for 11 years. Then I moved to Aurora, where I started working for what was then Great Plains Meter, which was subsequently acquired by McCrometer.

I worked as a regional sales manager for 6 or 7 years. Since then, I have been in a government relations position, working with conservation districts on their meter programs and developing grant proposals for special projects.

In this position, I also work with McCrometer’s agricultural regional sales managers across the United States on regional meter programs.

THE INNOVATORS Joshua Dill: Are your meters widely used for center pivots today?

Ken Quandt: We do a lot of business with center-pivot dealers. Our meters are more and more in demand as the center-pivot industry becomes more technologically sophisticated. Farmers want meters with signal-output capability so that they can better manage their water. In addition to our propeller meters, we also have a couple of electromagnetic meters that are used pretty widely in the agricultural market.

The McMag 3000.

a pulse output that is used to monitor totalization. McCrometer has made the propeller meter for over 60 years, and most people think of it as a 100 percent mechanical device with no outputs. We do still manufacture meters like that, but for over a decade now McCrometer has also manufactured a propeller meter with a digital register, the FlowCom Register, which has signal output capabilities. It is becoming more popular, partly because of that signal output technology, which sends data to devices like center-pivot panels. It could also go to telemetry or into a data logger. Another advantage of the FlowCom Register over a mechanical register is that it has no moving parts and requires less maintenance. It’s a more streamlined device, without the traditional transmitters that are used with a mechanical register. It’s also battery powered, and when it is used in conjunction with a pivot panel, it can be externally powered, with the battery serving as a backup power source.

Joshua Dill: Are your meters compatible with most existing centerpivot technologies?

Ken Quandt: Yes. The signal outputs I mentioned, the digital pulse or the 4–20 mA signal, are industry standard.

They’re used with most devices like this in the industry.

Joshua Dill: Have there been any changes in pivot technology or meter technology that have recently increased the demand for these meters for use with center pivots?

Ken Quandt: Electromagnetic meters have become more popular in the agricultural market for a number of reasons. They have fewer moving parts, require less maintenance, and have a digital output. McCrometer produces a few electromagnetic meters, which also have those industry-standard digital pulse or 4–20 mA analog signals. One of those is the McMag 3000, which has been on the market for 5–6 years. In 2014, it was named one of the top 10 new products at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California. It is a batterypowered electromagnetic meter with a stainless-steel saddle. It installs much like the propeller meter, but it has an epoxy-coated stainless-steel probe with multiple sensors on it, which inserts into the customer’s pipe to measure flow. It has the same standard signal outputs that can go into the pivot panel.

We also manufacture the McCrometer Dura Mag, which is a battery-powered full-bore electromagnetic flow meter. It is essentially a flanged flow tube with nothing to obstruct the flow and uses electromagnetic technology to read the flow of the water through the pipeline. Again, it

has the same standard output signals.

Both of these mag meters are pivot ready and telemetry ready. They also have built-in data loggers, which can be used to record flow events and could be used as a backup for the measurements of the pivot system.

Joshua Dill: Are there certain irrigators for whom this product is especially appropriate, or is it appropriate for any irrigator with a center pivot?

Ken Quandt: The nice thing about these three types of meters that I’ve described is that they fit a wide range of customer preferences. Some customers prefer the more traditional prop meter because they’re familiar with it and they’ve used it for years. Others are more interested in the newer electromagnetic meters because they have no moving parts, require less maintenance, and have the signal output.

Joshua Dill: What is your message for our readers?

Ken Quandt: In my opinion, conservation starts with the flow meter.

Too many people think of the flow meter merely as a regulatory tool, but it is a water conservation tool and a diagnostic tool for the irrigation system. You can invest in a lot of new technologies and save a lot of water, but if you don’t measure it, how can you know how much you saved? Flow meters should be integral to centerpivot technology. If readers would like to get more information about our meters, they can visit our website at www.mccrometer.com. IL

Ken Quandt is the government relations specialist at McCrometer. He can be reached at kenq@mccrometer.com or (402)694-6443.

IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

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THE INNOVATORS

How Lindsay’s Remote Pivot Management Software Boosts Efficiency

L

indsay Corporation has been innovating in the irrigation and infrastructure worlds for over half a century. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, the company has a global presence.

Lindsay’s innovative tools for irrigated agriculture include its FieldNET integrated remote monitoring and management software and its full line of FieldNET hardware devices.

In this interview, Reece Andrews, a product manager at Lindsay, speaks with Irrigation Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill about FieldNET and how it has affected growers and irrigators across the country.

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

Joshua Dill: Please tell us about Lindsay Corporation.

Reece Andrews: Called Lindsay Manufacturing Company at the time, it was established in 1955 as a farm equipment repair business. The founding Zimmerer family designed and built its first irrigation equipment in the 1960s. Today, Lindsay is one of the top two center-pivot companies worldwide,

34 | IRRIGATION LEADER

but our primary manufacturing plant is still located in the small community of Lindsay, Nebraska. Our focus has been on automating and innovating the center pivot to come up with solutions to meet food and fiber needs. Around 2006, we started to diversify into road safety and infrastructure products. Agriculture and infrastructure products are actually similar in that both industries have to react to a rapidly growing world population.

Lindsay’s irrigation equipment brand is Zimmatic, which includes our mechanized center-pivot and lateral-move systems used in broadacre agriculture applications. FieldNET, launched in 2007, is our remote irrigation management technology. It can actually monitor and control irrigation systems of any brand; we feel it’s important to automate and modernize any mechanized irrigation system out there.

On the transportation side, Lindsay’s key offerings include road-safety equipment and the Road Zipper, a moveable barrier system that adds flexibility and safety to roadways like bridges and tunnels, including the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Lindsay also acquired an Italian company called Snoline, a European leader in road marking and safety equipment. We also manufacture products for the rail, oil and gas, and lighting industries through our Olathe, Kansas–based industrial Internet of things business, Elecsys.

Joshua Dill: How many people work for Lindsay?

Reece Andrews: Around 1,100 globally.

Joshua Dill: Please give us an overview of Lindsay’s FieldNET product range.

Reece Andrews: FieldNET by Lindsay is a broadly integrated software solution for remote irrigation monitoring and management, and it also includes a full range of FieldNETready Zimmatic controllers. The system is web based and can

PHOTO COURTESY OF LINDSAY CORPORATION.

Reece Andrews: I started at the Lindsay Corporation right out of high school back in 1987 and worked in general production. I attended college at night, as a nontraditional student, and studied business administration with an emphasis on marketing. I moved up through the company, working in engineering, information technology, and industrial automation. In 1994, because of my computer background, I was asked to help develop our first digital control panel.

We didn’t have a product manager for technology yet at that point, and I was asked to take on that role. Today, I continue as a product manager for our FieldNET brand of remote monitoring and control solutions, as well as our Zimmaticbranded controllers. I have been at Lindsay for 31 years and have been in product management for the past 21 years.

A Zimmatic center pivot.

THE INNOVATORS be accessed using mobile apps, which is convenient for our users, who are mobile by the nature of the work they do.

We also have decision-support applications like FieldNET Advisor. We can also add sensors and other types of monitoring hardware to center pivots, as well as pumps, flow meters, and fertilizer injectors. Our platform gets information from equipment in the field, processes that information, and makes recommendations on a high level about what equipment should be running, when it should be irrigating, how much a farmer should irrigate, and how much water should be placed in specific areas of a field.

Joshua Dill: Why do farmers use FieldNET Advisor, and what does it do for them?

Reece Andrews: One of the biggest reasons that growers use FieldNET Advisor is that it takes the guesswork out of irrigation. FieldNET Advisor helps growers automatically collect all the critical inputs that would otherwise be too laborious and complicated to collect and performs complex calculations with those inputs to provide highly accurate recommendations.

FieldNET Advisor can be broken down into four subcomponents. There’s the irrigation part, which gives recommendations on when, where, and how much to irrigate. It provides high-resolution soil and water depletion maps of the entire field and allows a farmer to set customized irrigation alerts.

The second subcomponent is a crop advisor. That provides dynamic crop-growth models and estimates of crop canopy development, stage of growth, and root growth, as well as crop stress predictions. It can also estimate the yield impact of various decisions, which can include running simulations ahead of time. A farmer can look at a forecast and ask, “If I don’t irrigate today, what will happen?” If the impact is minimal, it might be better to take a slight yield hit and save the water, fertilizer, fuel, and electricity.

Third, there is the weather advisor, which provides fieldspecific weather data: a 15-day outlook of hourly and daily weather forecasts. Again, it can be used to set customized weather alerts.

With the irrigation advisor, the crop advisor, and the weather advisor, a farmer can move beyond just turning on thier pivot with a single application amount and instead irrigate specific zones in the field based on the crops’ actual needs. A farmer can use our variable rate irrigation (VRI) advisor, which autogenerates and continuously updates VRI models depending on changing conditions in the field. We can save water and increase yields by using these different tools and turning the data they provide into actionable recommendations. That is the key.

Joshua Dill: So your system integrates the farmer’s own data, weather data, and data pulled from other sources?

Reece Andrews: That’s right. At the time a customer sets up a FieldNET Advisor field, data can be imported from other mapping tools, like the John Deere Operations Center. But a farmer can also enter data regarding the specific crop and hybrid they are growing and when they planted it. Then we add our weather data, which includes historical information as well as forecasts. We have GPS on our pivots, so we can provide exact information about where water has been applied. Those models run continuously, making adjustments dynamically and updating the irrigation plan. A lot of complex stuff happens, but we keep it simple for the users and turn it into actionable information for our growers. At the National Farm Machinery Show this year in Louisville, Kentucky, FieldNET Advisor on mobile devices won an AE50 award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers for an outstanding innovation in products or services.

Joshua Dill: Do you have in-house software engineers who developed this program?

Reece Andrews: We do. A while ago, we kept seeing people in the industry being crushed by obsolescence and dependent on third parties for their software. In 2007, we decided that if we were going to do this, we wanted to do it right. We wanted to have control over our own destiny. So we have hardware engineers, firmware engineers, software engineers, and agronomists on staff. We develop our own wireless communication systems, irrigation control systems, and apps.

That puts us in a good position to deliver the functionality and support our customers need and expect.

Joshua Dill: Is FieldNET Advisor out on the fields right now?

Reece Andrews: It is. We released FieldNET Advisor for corn and soybeans 2 years ago, during the growing season of 2017. This last growing season, we added 20 additional crops as well as several enhancements. We’re going into season 3 and adding more crop models and enhancements.

Joshua Dill: What have the results been like?

Reece Andrews: The results have been really good. One of the first big case studies we did was on corn. We were able to show a 17 percent savings in both water and pumping costs, as well as a 3 percent increase in revenue on that field. Some of the new case studies that haven’t been published yet are showing even better results. We have also documented results from precision VRI plans and have seen some huge doubledigit yield increases. FieldNET Advisor, which only costs $450 per year, easily pays for itself.

Another benefit is ease of use. There are tools that people don’t use just because they’re so complicated. In theory, they can create savings, but if people don’t know how to use them, or if they misuse them, they either gain nothing or end up IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

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THE INNOVATORS with negative results. I pride myself on having focused on ease of use for years.

Lastly, I think FieldNET Advisor’s innovative design is a game changer. It allows a farmer to reduce or eliminate a lot of peripheral equipment that otherwise adds complexity and maintenance. With our system, a farmer doesn’t need to use moisture probes. Of course, they could use them as a check and balance, just to increase their confidence in our system, especially when getting started. But results show that our models are good enough that they don’t require those additional tools, which are expensive and require constant attention and maintenance. We’re seeing this with our customers right now: Simply because they trust our data so much, they are weaning themselves off of some of that extra equipment.

Joshua Dill: Please tell us about Pivot Watch.

36 | IRRIGATION LEADER

the market right now. While remote monitoring in itself is a useful function, we’re confident farmers will see the value in the remote control capabilities FieldNET offers and eventually decide to upgrade to full control.

Joshua Dill: What is the current penetration of remote management tools like Pivot Control and Pivot Watch?

Reece Andrews: We think around one-third of pivots in North America today use remote telemetry. That means that there are a lot of pivots that are not being monitored and a lot of opportunities to help growers be more efficient.

Joshua Dill: Would you tell us about your vision for the future for Lindsay?

Reece Andrews: We have the industry-leading platform and a solid foundation to continually develop innovations like FieldNET Advisor. Now we’re building on that with new services and partnerships that help a grower’s bottom line.

We’re going to continue to expand and enhance irrigation, fertigation, and analytics to help growers become more efficient. The growers are trying to get more out of the water they apply through their center pivots, because land expansion is a constraint. All our software tools and decision-support tools are helping them do that. IL

Reece Andrews leads Lindsay Corporation’s remote irrigation management and irrigation controls development. He can be reached at reece.andrews@lindsay.com.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LINDSAY CORPORATION.

Reece Andrews: Pivot Watch is an ultra-low-cost pivot monitoring solution. It’s the latest addition to FieldNET’s aftermarket solutions. In 2015, we released a product called FieldNET Pivot Control. Since then, everybody’s tried to copy it! With Pivot Control, growers can put a small programmable controller on any pivot. It ties into the equipment’s original pivot controller to get power and essentially takes over control. The list price is around $1,595. We also have a Pivot Control Lite product, which has a little bit less control but only costs $995. These devices report information about where the pivot is and how much it is irrigating to the FieldNET platform. Taking it to the next level, growers can then use FieldNET Advisor to help develop a better VRI prescription.

In order to help make FieldNET Advisor even more accessible, we decided to develop something near the $299 starting price point. That is Pivot Watch. Pivot Watch is truly a universal pivot monitor. Unlike Pivot Control, it does not control a pivot, it just monitors it. The low price point removes cost barriers that until now have prevented many growers from taking advantage of the benefits of pivot telemetry—benefits like knowing that 20 minutes after they left a field, the pivot got stuck and is sitting there irrigating in one spot—something that could damage that area’s yield potential for the rest of the season.

Pivot Watch can be held in the palm of one’s hand and is simple in terms of design. It has a solar panel and a battery. It is not electrically installed, so our dealers can literally sell these over the counter and the grower can go strap it onto the pivot.

The monitor can tell when the pivot starts running because it can sense the pivot moving. It reports when the pivot is running or not and whether it’s got water or not. It also has GPS built into it to know pivot position in the field. It works with pivots of any age or brand, even nonelectric pivots like hydraulic pivots.

We are getting tremendous feedback from our beta testing customers. We are in the process of releasing Pivot Watch to

Pivot Watch, Lindsay's ultra-low-cost pivot monitoring device.

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CLASSIFIEDS Office of Columbia River (OCR) Operations Manager (WMS Band 2)

Does your irrigation district have a job listing you would like to advertise in our pages?

Irrigation Leader provides this service to irrigation districts free of charge.

E-MAIL: Kris Polly kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

HENRY MILLER RECLAMATION DISTRICT #2131: WATER MASTER Deadline: Open until filled Salary: Range depends on qualifications DESCRIPTION: + Position provides direction and oversight, and personally performs professional skills in multiple areas including but not limited to, water delivery (both in and out of the Company), water scheduling, water accounting, financial accounting and resolution of complex customer concerns and issues. The position will assist and oversee, with environmental clearance documents, annual Company Shareholder elections and landowner water right/ownership documents.

APPLICATION ADDRESS: + Henry Miller Reclamation District #2131

Attn: Ann Umphenour

11704 W. Henry Miller Ave.

Dos Palos, CA 93620

209-826-5112 - Office APPLY AT: SLCC.net, mail, or E-mail: ann@hmrd.net or fax (209) 387-4237 THE FORT SHAW IRRIGATION DISTRICT: IRRIGATION DISTRICT MANAGER Salary: Dependent upon skill DESCRIPTION: + We are looking for an energetic individual to manage a 13,000-acre irrigation project.

QUALIFICATIONS: + Have knowledge with water distribution and supervision. + If not already skilled, ability to learn quickly on financial record keeping.

E-MAIL: Alan Rollo at arollo7@msn.com for additional information.

38 | IRRIGATION LEADER

Located in Union Gap, WA. DESCRIPTION: + The Operations Manager position is responsible for the administration and management of the OCR staff in the Central and Eastern Regional Offices of the Department of Ecology. + This position is directly accountable for direction, management, and performance of OCR staff in consultation with OCR Director.

DUTIES: + Plans, leads, organizes and controls the work performed by OCR staff. + Assures appropriate and optimum use of the organization's resources and enhance the effectiveness of employees through timely appraisal and professional development opportunities. + Implements, enforces, and ensures compliance with laws, rules, policies, and develops procedures to protect and manage the ground and surface waters of the Columbia Basin in the best public interest.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: + Bachelor's degree in engineering, environmental science, public administration, or other qualifying disciplines, + At least two (2) years of supervisory experience. + Four (4) years of professional level environmental analysis, control, or environmental project management experience.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: + Advanced degree in engineering, environmental science, public administration or other qualifying disciplines. + Four or more years of supervising a work unit.

APPLY AT: careers.wa.gov. Please include the following documents attached to your application: A cover letter and resume.

Carlsbad Irrigation District: Manager Deadline: Open until filled Salary: $70K-$84K DOE QUALIFICATIONS: + Preferred BS in agriculture, hydrology, or business administration. May be substituted for training and experiences in water operations.

BENIFITS: + 100% Paid Healthcare plan + Optional dental, vision and life insurance + PERA retirement benefits + Earned vacation CONTACT: Call (575) 236-6390. Or visit the office at 5117 Grandi Road Carlsbad, NM.

CLASSIFIEDS ENNR10-10210-RIVER BASIN COORDINATOR- CHEYENNE Deadline: Open until filled Salary: $4,506.00 - $5,100.00/ Monthly DESCRIPTION: + Support and implement the State Engineer's Offices mission to protect the interstate waters of Wyoming + Support two of Wyoming's interstate compacts (Yellowstone and Bear River Basins), provide critical data and information to the ISS Administrator and the Governorappointed Commissioner + Serve as the primary representative concerning interstate policy issues pertaining to the Upper Missouri River Basin and greater Missouri River Basin. + These are some but not all of the duties required.

QUALIFICATIONS: + Preference given to Master's degree in civil engineering (water resources), hydrology, water planning, or other natural resources field PLUS three years of work experience in water resource management. + Bachelor's Degree (typically in The Sciences) + 1-2 years of progressive work experience with acquired knowledge at the level of a(n) Natural Resources Analyst + Knowledge of and ability to read, research, interpret and apply Federal, State, Local environmental laws and regulations. + Knowledge of and ability to read, research, interpret and apply state policies and procedures. + Knowledge of hydrogeologic processes. + Knowledge of multiple science and engineering disciplines. + These are some but not all of the qualifications required.

CONTACT: Rachael Reinhardt, (307) 777-6143, rachael.reinhardt2@wyo.gov.

South Columbia Basin Irrigation District: District Assistant Engineer, Pasco Office Deadline: June 28th, 2019 Salary: $32.14–35.39 per hour, DOQ DESCRIPTION: + Provides general engineering support for operation and maintenance activities and modifications of irrigation facilities.

QUALIFICATIONS: + Knowledge of basic engineering and construction practices and principles. + Strong math skills. + Superior oral and written communication skills. + Knowledge of AutoCAD, Microstation, or equivalent drafting software. + Ability to generate plans, charts, and graphs using word processing and spreadsheet software. + Ability to create, interpret, and communicate engineering plans and specifications. + Understanding of GIS and GPS a plus. + Valid Washington State driver’s license required. + Bachelors degree in Agricultural or Civil Engineering required. + EIT with 2 years of experience preferred. + Recent graduates with limited experience are welcome to apply.

BENIFITS: + medical, dental, retirement, paid vacation, holidays and sick leave CONTACT: Submit a resume and letter of interest to the District’s Pasco office (PO Box 1006, Pasco, WA 99301), attention Mylan Muhlestein, Human Resources Manager.

QUINCY-COLUMBIA BASIN IRRIGATION DISTRICT: SECRETARY-MANAGER POSITION Deadline: 4:00pm July 19, 2019.

Salary: $4,506.00 - $5,100.00/Monthly DESCRIPTION: + The Secretary-Manager is responsible for managing the internal and external affairs of the District and is the District’s primary spokesperson. + The Secretary-Manager is also responsible for the hiring, administration, and discipline of the District’s 120 employees.

QUALIFICATIONS: + Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Agricultural related field is required + Professional Engineer certification desired + Minimum of 10 years’ experience in an irrigation district is required + Minimum of 7 years’ supervisory experience is required + Knowledge of the Columbia Basin Project preferred APPLY AT: Additional information and complete job description available at www.qcbid.org or email humanresources@qcbid.org

IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

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