Irrigation Leader Washington Edition November/December 2018 by Water Strategies

Volume 9 Issue 10 Washington State Edition

November/December 2018

TOM TEBB OF THE OFFICE OF COLUMBIA RIVER

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CONTENTS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 Volume 9, Issue 10

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 Parker Kenyon, Writer Tyler Young, Writer Nicole E. Venable, Graphic 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. 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.

Tom Tebb: Improving Water Supply in the Columbia River Basin

Washington State Edition 5 A Survey of the Irrigation Industry By Kris Polly

28 Aiding Groundwater Recharge in Central Nebraska

6 Tom Tebb: Improving Water Supply in the Columbia River Basin

34 Why Solar Is an Intelligent Investment for Irrigators

20 New Expertise at UPI: A Conversation With Cory Greer

40 The High-Tech Way to Fight E. Coli

SAFETY

44 Security at Kennewick Irrigation District By Shelbea Voelker

Copyright © 2018 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

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COVER PHOTO:

26 Lessons From Madera Irrigation District’s Logo Redesign Campaign

Tom Tebb. Photo courtesy of the Office of Columbia River.

IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF COLUMBIA RIVER.

14 Fremont Madison Irrigation District: Helping Manage Idaho’s Rivers and Aquifer

THE INNOVATORS

CIRCULATION: Irrigation Leader is distributed to irrigation district managers and boards of directors in the 17 western states, Bureau of Reclamation officials, members of Congress and committee staff, and advertising sponsors. For address corrections or additions, please contact our office at Irrigation.Leader@waterstrategies.com.

A Survey of the Irrigation Industry

n this last issue of 2018, Irrigation Leader takes a look around the U.S. irrigation industry. Our articles cover river basin management, aquifer recharge, surface water management, agrichemical sales, branding and design, pipeline construction, solar power, pathogen detection, and security. If the U.S. irrigation industry has it, you will probably find it in this issue. In our cover story, we speak with Tom Tebb, the director of the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Office of Columbia River, which is charged with multiple major water-management projects in eastern and central Washington. Mr. Tebb brings long experience, dedication, and a philosophy of problem solving to this impressive and important task. We also speak with Aaron Dalling, who succeeded the legendary Dale Swensen as executive director of Idaho’s Fremont Madison Irrigation District in 2018. In addition to providing water to its area’s canal companies, Fremont Madison is responsible for surface water management and aquifer recharge over a significant area. Cory Greer was just hired as an account representative at UPI. We talk with Mr. Greer about his extensive background in conservation and irrigation and his experience as a former end user of UPI’s chemicals and what he brings to his new position as a result. Madera Irrigation District of California recently commissioned a new logo and has used it to revamp its image in the broader community. We take a look at the design process and the lessons it can provide to other irrigation districts.

By Kris Polly

Turning to Nebraska, we interview Tyler Thulin, a civil engineer at Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, about the pipeline his district is building in conjunction with the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program for the purpose of groundwater recharge. We also look highlight two tech companies whose products are of interest to irrigators. Michael Shonka of Omaha’s Solar Heat and Electric explains in his interview with Irrigation Leader why solar-panel arrays are an excellent investment for irrigators. And Nisha Sarveswaran and Jamal Zeinalov of Ecoli-Sense tell us about their innovative new system, which can monitor E. coli contamination in real time at one one-hundredth the cost of traditional methods. Finally, Shelbea Voelker of Kennewick Irrigation District takes us on a tour of KID’s new building and its extensive safety features. 2018 has been a rewarding year for Irrigation Leader, and we are grateful for your readership. I hope you find this issue inspiring and informative. 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.

IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

Tom Tebb, director of the Office of Columbia River at the Washington State Department of Ecology.

Improving Water Supply in the Columbia River Basin

Kris Polly: Would you tell us about your background and how you ended up in your current position? Tom Tebb: I have a degree in engineering geology and a license in the same profession from the State of Washington. I have been working for the Washington

State Department of Ecology for 27 years and worked my way up through the ranks in five different environmental programs. I started my career in 1992, working in the nuclear-waste program at the Hanford Site. Most recently, in 2015, I was promoted from Department of Ecology central regional director to director of the Office of Columbia River. The Office of Columbia River is charged with running a relatively new program called the Columbia River Water Management Program, which was created in 2006 by bipartisan legislation. The program is designed to aggressively pursue water supplies to meet multiple water needs in eastern Washington, both instream and out of stream. A $200 million bond authority allowed the Office of Columbia River to begin working on projects: Since 2006, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve worked on close to 100. In developing new IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF COLUMBIA RIVER.

om Tebb is the director of the Office of Columbia River at the Washington State Department of Ecology. His office is tasked with several major water management projects designed to increase water flows in central and eastern Washington, both for instream and out-of-stream uses. In this interview with Irrigation Leader Editor-in-Chief Kris Polly, Mr. Tebb discusses flow augmentation, aquifer restoration, and other infrastructure improvements his office is responsible for.

water supply, one-third of any new water developed is dedicated to fish and other aquatic ecological functions; the remaining two-thirds is for out-of-stream uses, including municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses. One of the key priorities of that bipartisan legislation was to develop water supplies in the Odessa Subarea of the Columbia Basin. Farmers in that area had tapped into the groundwater with the permission of the State of Washington, essentially on the promise that the second half of the Columbia Basin Project would be built and allow them to turn off their groundwater wells. Thirty years later, approximately 100,000 acres are in jeopardy due to severely declining groundwater levels and the threatened failure of these wells. We are working on a project called the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program to provide surface water from the Columbia River to replace the groundwater used by those farmers. In developing that water supply, we also created 27,000 acre-feet of additional instream flow for fish in the Columbia River main stem. We accomplished that through the Lake Roosevelt Incremental Release Program, which allowed us to take an additional foot off Lake Roosevelt during normal years and a foot and a half during drought years. That provided water for the Odessa subarea and for instream flow for fish, as well as an additional 25,000 acre-feet of water for municipal and industrial uses. Since 2006, the various projects of the Office of Columbia River have created about 413,000 acre-feet of additional supply for

eastern-central Washington. We are very proud of this accomplishment, but believe we have much more to do. We’re looking at new ways of doing water supply and watershed-improvement projects, which are epitomized in our Yakima Basin Integrated Plan. Our strategy there is to advance seven key elements: habitat conservation and fish passage, water supply, water conservation, groundwater use, structural modifications, new storage, and the development of water markets. Individually, those projects probably wouldn’t move, but as an integrated resource strategy, they’re having success. We have received national and international recognition for this integrated water-resource management approach. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation presented the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan to an audience in Brazil during the recent World Water Forum held there. I’ve also presented it to the United Kingdom Irrigation Association in London. We’re very proud of it and we continue to work hard at it. In total, it’s a 30-year, $4.1 billion program. Right now, we are in the first of three 10-year phases. In 2013, the State of Washington adopted the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan and provided $134 million to jump-start it. We have received generous state investments totaling about $167 million since then. The governor’s budget that was just released provides several million dollars of additional funding to the end of the 2019–2021 biennial budget. At the same time, we’re working hard to get a federal partner. There is proposed federal legislation that would achieve

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS CAMPBELL.

The Columbia River near Pasco, Washington.

IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

View of the Columbia River, looking towards Kennewick, Washington.

IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTO COURTESY OF PAUL WHITNEY.

this, namely Senate Bill 714 out of the office of Senator the backbone of the groundwater replacement program. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and House Resolution Bill 4419 The Yakima Basin Integrated Plan and the Odessa out of the office of Representative Dan Newhouse (RGroundwater Replacement Program within the Columbia WA). We’ve been working with the members and staff of Basin Irrigation Project are the key projects that take the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy up the bulk of our state funding, and and Natural Resources to streamline rightly so: They’re federal infrastructure “The Yakima Basin the House version for an amendment projects that the state is investing in and to try to reduce the potential for Integrated Plan and the because of their substantial economic, earmarks. We’ve been very busy the last social and ecological benefits. Odessa Groundwater 3–4 weeks working to get something in Replacement Program the omnibus bill. We are hoping for a Kris Polly: For your office, are within the Columbia Christmas miracle! groundwater management and In addition, we are still continuing Basin Irrigation Project surface-water management completely to work on a federal partnership in integrated? are the key projects that the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project take up the bulk of our to support the $90 million that Tom Tebb: Not completely, but we Washington State has invested into the have a legislative mandate to do a state funding.” expansion of the East Low Canal and water supply-and-demand forecast the construction of the Weber Canal, every 5 years, and our most recent — TOM TEBB the Lind Coulee Siphon complex, and report, which was published in the Warden Siphon complex. We have 2016, identified 10 or 11 geological also recently received funding to complete the last two areas within eastern-central Washington where we’re siphons on the East Low Canal—the Kansas Prairie 1 and having groundwater declines. We’re trying to think 2 siphons—and the associated radial gates. That will form through how to manage that, keeping in mind prior

View of the Horse Heaven Hills area, near Dead Canyon.

appropriation and the interruption of surface water and groundwater rights. In Washington State, surface water is regulated through laws developed in 1917, while groundwater laws were not developed until 1945. As a result, groundwater rights are typically junior as compared to surface water rights, but they aren’t always regulated as such. In the Yakima Basin, we’re trying to manage surface water and groundwater conjunctively. Elsewhere in eastern and central Washington, we’re working toward it. It takes time.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK LEVISAY.

Kris Polly: You discussed developing new water supplies. Where does that water come from? Tom Tebb: It’s not really new water—there’s no such thing as new water. We are trying to retime the water that exists. We invest in infrastructure where we can. For example, there was a reservoir on Lake Sullivan in Pend Oreille County, in the very northeast corner of Washington State. It was a small hydropower project associated with Seattle City Light. Seattle City Light was getting ready to relinquish its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license and discussing the removal of the dam. We were able to get involved, and with some creative thinking and additional funding, we were able to renovate this structure IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

so that it could continue to store 14,000 acre-feet of water. We’ve been able to use that water for towns and communities that are at their water-right limits in the five northeast counties of our state. As part of the project, we also did environmental restoration for the creek below the structure. Similarly, the Lake Roosevelt Incremental Release Project involves adjusting the lake level to provide additional supply. We are also considering the construction of new reservoirs. We are scoping for a potential project called the Switzler Reservoir in the Horse Heaven Hills area of eastern Benton County. The idea is to take water off the Columbia River when it’s flooding or flowing high, store that water, and then release it later in the summer, potentially for new permits. We are also looking at aquifer storage as a mechanism to retime water with a smaller environmental footprint than traditional surface water storage. We also invest in water conservation. Much of the infrastructure here is dated. Modernizing it would make it more efficient. We use public money to improve water conveyance infrastructure and delivery systems; in exchange, we use a portion of the water that is conserved to augment instream flow or to shore up water supply for irrigation districts.

Kris Polly: What are your methods for recharging the aquifer? Tom Tebb: In the Odessa subarea, we’re not really recharging the aquifer. Right now we have major agricultural groundwater users pulling over 900,000 acre-feet of water a year out of the aquifer. We want to slow the decline of the aquifer by getting these big groundwater pumpers to use replacement surface water instead. Because it is a regional aquifer that serves many towns and communities and homes, it’s imperative that we look at this initiative as an aquifer rescue program. Once we get those big users off the groundwater, we can look for ways to protect that water and, hopefully, someday to recharge it. This groundwater dates back to the Ice Ages, so there is no easy way to replace it other than to pump it in, which is expensive. However, we’re looking to pair a project like that with a pump storage project, which would involve a multifunction, multiuse facility that could take advantage of fluctuating energy prices and cheap power. We would like to use the fluctuations in hourly energy prices to pump water up from the river and potentially into an aquifer when power rates are low and to release it when power rates are high. Kris Polly: Would you tell us about the Bateman Island project? Tom Tebb: That project is associated with our Yakima Basin Integrated Plan. Bateman Island is an island at the mouth of the Yakima River that was farmed in the late 1930s and early 1940s. A causeway was created to get equipment over there—essentially an earthen dike that

connects the shoreline of the City of Richland to the island. There is no known permit for the causeway, and it blocks one of the passages of the Yakima River Delta as it empties into the Columbia, creating a temperature as well as a flow impediment. We’ve been working with Kennewick Irrigation District (KID), the Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group, the City of Richland, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and local marina owners to begin developing a strategy and plan to try to reduce that barrier while still guaranteeing access to the island and protecting the marina. We’re going to be embarking on the first level of feasibility analyses and then move on to the funding strategy and subsequent implementation. The Army Corps owns this island and much of the shoreline around the McNary Pool as a result of the construction of the McNary Dam. The Army Corps has just adopted what is called a tier-one step, allowing them to begin work on this project, which is very exciting. Kris Polly: Would you talk about urbanization in your area of service and its effects? Tom Tebb: Many of the irrigation districts in our area were formed in the early to mid-1900s, primarily for agricultural purposes. The Yakima Irrigation Project and the Columbia Basin Project are both federal irrigation projects authorized by Congress through the Reclamation Act. The Yakima Irrigation Project, which was developed sooner, was essentially designed with snowpack in mind. Snowpack is a component of our water supply, but as the climate warms and we get more rain and less snow, that source is less and less reliable. An irrigation system whose rights are junior or proratable—meaning that the Bureau of Reclamation provides it a prorata of its normal water

The Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FLICKR USER BREWBOOKS.

IRRIGATION LEADER

supplies during drought years—may receive half or less of Kris Polly: Would you tell us about your problem-solving the amount of water it would usually get. That really affects philosophy? high-value crops like cherries and other fruits. Urbanization has had several effects, particularly in the Tom Tebb: That is what makes us unique. It is easy to say, case of the Kennewick Irrigation District. Urbanization in “No.” It is harder to say, “Maybe, yes, but we have to do KID’s service area has placed more demands on its system these things.” What I try to do, and what I coach my staff in unpredictable ways. We definitely need more customers to do, is to think of these problems as opportunities, and to be knowledgeable about their water supply and where it to ask how we can use our current infrastructure and water comes from. People in the Tri-Cities live right next to the law to address them. Columbia River, but in many cases, their water comes from In this office, I have the opportunity to solve problems the Yakima River system, which is much more susceptible that in some cases have been tied up in litigation for years. to drought. There is an incongruity A good example is what we’re trying to do between what residents see out in the Icicle Creek area of the Wenatchee “The Office of their windows and the actual watershed. We are working with the Columbia River is also origin of their water. Chelan County Natural Resources Urbanization also creates Department and a group of stakeholders a place where irrigation opportunities. For example, KID districts can come in and to try to replicate what we did with the was able to provide surface water Yakima Basin Integrated Plan. That little talk about their ideas irrigation to the Red Mountain watershed is important because in it is wine-growing region because of the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, and dreams.” the construction of the Columbia which is reparations for Grand Coulee Center Mall in the 1960s. This Dam. It also is home to an important — TOM TEBB area was once irrigated orchards tribal fishery area as well as important but is now urbanized. The water degraded instream flow areas. Working that had been used there was moved to with the Icicle Peshastin Irrigation District, we’re trying Red Mountain. to develop a strategy to invest in their infrastructure in exchange for water for instream-flow purposes. If people Kris Polly: What role does water conservation play in your come to the table with open minds and some creativity, we work? can develop a strategy to put that basin or community in a sustainable posture for the next 20–30 years. Tom Tebb: It is important. We’ve been working with irrigation districts in the Yakima and Columbia Basin Kris Polly: What is your vision for the future? Projects and other Office of Columbia River projects to modernize their equipment and conveyance systems. In Tom Tebb: My vision for the future is to grow our capacity some cases, we provide public money in exchange for the here and to reach out to other basins. We’ve been asked to saved water. These projects benefit both the irrigation participate in the Walla Walla Basin and to try to provide district and the environment. an example of how government can provide creative solutions to water supply issues. My vision is also for Kris Polly: What should irrigators know about your work? Washington State to be a leader in this effort. I’m proud of the momentum we have built to date and what we’re trying Tom Tebb: They should know that we’re working hard both to do. I’d like to continue that. for them and for the environment. It is natural for farmers I feel very privileged to do this work. I’m a native of to be somewhat suspicious of the Department of Ecology: eastern Washington, and I grew up on the ditch bank of a We are a regulatory agency, and one of our missions is canal. I value agriculture and our natural environment. We to manage the state’s water resources. But the Office of are blessed to call Washington State home. IL Columbia River is also a place where irrigation districts can come in and talk about their ideas and dreams. If they Tom Tebb is the director of the Office of Columbia River at the are willing to consider environmental and other social Washington State Department of Ecology. He can be contacted benefits, we can partner with those districts to further our at (509) 574-3989 or at thomas.tebb@ecy.wa.gov. mission of developing new water supplies for instream and out-of-stream uses. I encourage districts to get a hold of us. We are easy to contact and to talk with. I participate in many irrigation district conferences. We also have quarterly public meetings. I invite anyone to come to those. Get involved and see if we can be helpful. IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

The renegotiation of the Columbia River Treaty is critical to irrigators in the Columbia River basin. The Greater Wenatchee Irrigation District supports efforts to ensure that the interests of farmers who rely on water from the Columbia River to grow crops in arid central Washington have a seat at the table and maintain their water rights.

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Aaron Dalling.

Fremont Madison Irrigation District: Helping Manage Idaho’s Rivers and Aquifer

remont Madison Irrigation District (FMID) serves 285,000 acres of land in Eastern Idaho, and is also responsible for groundwater recharge and surface water management in its area. In this interview, Irrigation Leader’s editor-in-chief, Kris Polly, speaks with Aaron Dalling, the executive director of Fremont Madison Irrigation District, about his district’s role in managing the region’s rivers, recharging the aquifer, and delivering water to agricultural users.

Aaron Dalling: I grew up on a small farm just outside of St. Anthony, Idaho, where our office is located; we grew wheat, barley, and alfalfa and raised cattle. I went to school at Brigham Young University–Idaho and obtained a degree in agricultural science and natural resources. I then worked for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for 12 years in both Idaho and Utah. In January of 2017, I was hired by Fremont Madison Irrigation District as the assistant executive director. I shadowed Dale Swensen for a year, and then took over as executive director when he

Kris Polly: How many years did Dale Swensen spend at the district? Aaron Dalling: He was with the district for a full 40 years. He started in January 1978 and retired in January 2018. Kris Polly: Please describe the district and its service area. Aaron Dalling: Fremont Madison Irrigation District was established in 1935 in order to contract with the Bureau of Reclamation to build storage reservoirs in the Henrys Fork of the Snake River watershed. Our total service area is approximately 285,000 acres. It covers parts of 3 counties. The main cash crop is potatoes, followed by wheat, barley, and alfalfa. Kris Polly: Where does your water come from? IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FREMONT MADISON IRRIGATION DISTRICT.

Kris Polly: Please tell us tell us about your background.

retired. I learned a lot from Dale. People often commented on how good he was at working through conflicts. He had a calming presence and was able to talk people through issues.

Recharge land off the Egin Bench Canal.

Aaron Dalling: Our water is stored in Island Park Reservoir on the Henrys Fork and Grassy Lake Reservoir on the Fall River. We also deliver water from the Henrys Fork to the Teton River through the Cross-Cut Canal. FMID does have some groundwater rights; we have 9 deep wells that we can use to pump over 100 cubic feet per second. We only use these wells in dry years—if our allocation in the reservoirs is low, we can use them to supplement our needs. Other than that, FMID is a surface-water entity. We do work closely with the groundwater districts in our area, and actually manage the Henrys Fork Groundwater District out of our office. The Henrys Fork Groundwater District was formed to allow groundwater users to mitigate for their use of groundwater. Groundwater users are responsible for renting surface water and recharging it into the aquifer or delivering it downriver; they can also mitigate through simple reductions in pumping. Kris Polly: How many employees does FMID have? Aaron Dalling: We have three employees. We are set up a little differently than most irrigation districts. We don’t hold natural-flow water rights. We provide supplemental storage water to about 40 canal companies, which have their own natural-flow water rights, ditch riders, and water masters. We do work closely with the water masters from the canal companies—we’re talking to them daily and they’re in our office all the time—but they’re not actually employees of FMID. Our job is to deliver storage water from the reservoirs to their headgates on the river. We’re IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

the only irrigation district on the Henrys Fork, so we work closely with Reclamation to manage river levels on the Henrys Fork and its tributaries, the Fall River and the Teton River. Kris Polly: What are FMID’s top issues? Aaron Dalling: One issue at the forefront in Idaho is the 2015 settlement agreement between the surface water users in south-central Idaho and the groundwater users throughout the Eastern Snake River Plain. The surface water irrigators in that area benefit from large springs that return water to the river, so they have the same water source as the groundwater irrigators. The settlement agreement requires groundwater users to reduce pumping or to offset it by recharging water into the aquifer. The Idaho Water Resource Board has stepped in to help make this agreement successful by funding aquifer-recharge projects and providing financial incentives for surface water irrigation entities to run water for the purpose of recharging the aquifer. We oversee most of the aquifer recharge within Fremont Madison’s boundaries. We completed over 130,000 acre-feet of recharge in 2017 and another 90,000 acre-feet in 2018. Kris Polly: How does the recharge take place? Aaron Dalling: A lot of the recharge is funded by the state. There’s also private recharge, in which groundwater districts contract with us to run recharge water to offset their required pumping reductions. During the canals’ off

Inundated recharge land off the Egin Bench Canal.

season, when they’re not irrigating, they can divert water into their canals and allow it to sink into the ground as aquifer recharge. They receive some payment for that, which helps them with operations and maintenance and in keeping assessments as low as possible.

IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FREMONT MADISON IRRIGATION DISTRICT.

belonging to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that we have a right-of-way easement for. That 200-acre area has been full of water for most of the past 2 years. We are coming off of a couple of good water years, but since the middle of November 2018, we haven’t had water available for aquifer recharge. We are also working with Kris Polly: What other methods are used BLM to expand the right of way. We should for recharge? Are the canal companies “Something we’re be able to flood about 300 acres in coming flooding farmland? It’s currently sagebrush. That’s something always working on, years. we’ve done to try to make the settlement Aaron Dalling: They normally don’t flood and that has been an agreement work. farmland; they recharge through the issue ever since the canal channels themselves. A lot of canal failure of the Teton Kris Polly: What are other top issues for the systems also have ponds connected to district? Dam, is managing their system that were used historically irrigation on the to bring up the subwater levels for flood Aaron Dalling: Something we’re always working irrigation. Now we put water in these on, and that has been an issue ever since Teton River.” ponds and canal channels during the the failure of the Teton Dam, is managing off season and allow it to sink into the — AARON DALLING irrigation on the Teton River. It seems to have ground and recharge the aquifer. become an even bigger challenge over the past We also recently worked with Egin Bench Canal few years. The upper waters of the Teton River are just Company to obtain funding from the state’s Water across the mountain from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Resource Board to build a canal approximately 3 miles the town has started to sprawl into the Teton Valley on long with a capacity of 120 cubic feet per second to the Idaho side. Historically, a lot of that area was flood run water out into the desert and allow it to sink into irrigated. The farmers there had junior water rights, but the aquifer. The water floods an area of about 200 acres they would flood irrigate during high water in the spring.

Construction on the Marysville pipeline.

That water would recharge the aquifer and slowly make its way back to the river late in the summer. A lot of that ground has now been developed and is no longer irrigated, so the water comes down the river in the spring and we don’t see it again. When late summer comes, that water is long gone, so the late summer flows in the Teton have diminished. The only means we have to deliver storage water to the Teton River is through the Cross-Cut Canal. It delivers water from the Henrys Fork and can be used to pull storage water from Island Park Reservoir and Grassy Lake Reservoir and send it to the Teton River, but it hasn’t always been adequate over the last several years. One of our biggest ongoing issues is trying to figure out a way to better manage the Teton River. Kris Polly: Tell us about the Marysville pipeline being installed in your area. Aaron Dalling: The Marysville Canal Company has been installing gravity-pressured pipelines for several years to replace earthen canals. There are 5 phases to the project: 3 have been installed and the 4th phase is going in now and should be done by June 1. There will be one more after that. To date, they have installed over 30 miles of pipeline. This 4th phase will include close to 20 additional miles of pipeline. The pipelines range from 54 inches in diameter IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

down to 4 inches at the end. The total cost of the 4th phase is about $11 million. Marysville Canal Company partnered with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and obtained some funding for the project through them. For the remaining portion, they have obtained a loan through the Idaho Water Resource Board, which they will repay over time. The overall purpose of the pipeline is to conserve water in a leaky system and to save energy by eliminating several pumps. The whole area is underlain with basalt rock, which comes right up to the surface and contains a lot of fractures. Marysville Canal loses a lot of water as a result. This will really help. Kris Polly: As a relatively new manager, what has been the most helpful thing you have learned? Aaron Dalling: One thing I learned from Dale Swensen was to pay attention to the little things. There are so many things coming at you that it’s easy to miss the little things. If you can pay close attention to them, it will help you anticipate what might be coming next. IL For more information, contact Aaron Dalling at aaron.fmid@myidahomail.com.

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Cory Greer.

New Expertise at UPI: A Conversation With Cory Greer

PI Aquatics is an agrichemical manufacturing company with over 3,000 employees worldwide. It is perhaps best known to irrigators for its aquatic chemicals Cascade and Teton. In October of this year, Cory Greer joined UPI as an account representative with responsibility for all or part of nine western states. In this interview with Irrigation Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill, Mr. Greer discusses his extensive prior experience, which includes working for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the South Columbia Basin Irrigation District; the skills he brings to UPI; and what he hopes to accomplish in his new position. Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your personal and professional background and how it brought you to your new position.

IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROBYN SANDERS.

Cory Greer: I was working in marketing and going to trade school here in the Tri-Cities in Washington State, but I didn’t like the work very much, so I applied for a grant to go back to school. While I was studying for my bachelor’s in environmental science at Washington State University (WSU), I started working with the biological systems engineering department as an undergraduate

researcher, and they offered me a position to continue on with my master’s. I got my master’s in biological systems engineering, or ag engineering for short. My focus was on hydrology, specifically winter soil erosion. After that, I worked for the NRCS, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in Oregon and then in North Dakota. In Oregon, I spent most of my time working with irrigation districts on systems improvement, grant writing, compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policy mandates, and things like that. Additionally, I worked with individual landowners—ranchers and farmers—on system upgrades to meet federal and state guidelines related to environmental issues. They would apply for grants through the NRCS and I would be, essentially, a free compliance officer and engineer. I did that in Oregon for 4 or 5 years, and then I moved on to North Dakota and worked there for just 2 years, again with the NRCS. While I was there, North Dakota had two of the top five floods in its history, so I started working in what they called emergency watershed protection. I worked on dam rehabilitation and dam monitoring. North Dakota has thousands of watershed dams just for flood retention. That was right when the housing market crashed, so I wasn’t able to move my family out. I moved back to Idaho

and took a job with the NRCS there. I worked mostly out a crash course in doing that. As project agronomist, I was of the state office in Boise, on stream restoration projects in charge of all the aquatics for South District and was and things like that, including a lot of Department of tasked with being the consultant for the other two districts, Environmental Quality–mandated projects and fish and so if something odd came up, a chemical wasn’t working game projects. properly, or they wanted to try something different, I was Later on, my family needed to move back to their assistant and would come over and troubleshoot and Washington State, and a project agronomist position try to figure out different ways to use the herbicides. opened with the South Columbia Basin Irrigation I have a research-oriented mind: I like to look for District. That position made use of a better, easier, and more efficient ways to lot of the skills I had gained studying use chemicals and to be diligent about the environmental science at WSU. I actually “I have a research- environment. So during my time at the worked for the South Columbia Basin South Columbia Basin Irrigation District, oriented mind: I like to Irrigation District, Quincy-Columbia I started working extensively with UPI look for better, easier, on different ways to use the two main Irrigation District, and East Columbia Basin Irrigation District—the three products that the irrigation districts in the and more efficient major irrigation districts in the Bureau western United States purchase from it, ways to use chemicals of Reclamation’s Columbia River Project, which are Cascade and Teton. We worked and to be diligent about with a couple other agencies or companies, which combined are in the 600,000– 800,000-acre range. In that position, I including Alligare with its Chelated the environment.” was also responsible for the Bureau of Copper and Magnacide. We routinely did —CORY GREER Reclamation’s scattered tracts. A lot of miscellaneous research and trials, trying its terrestrial ground is in miscellaneous to find more effective ways to use aquatic spots all over the project area. My office chemicals. I got to know UPI’s products and was in charge of terrestrial invasive or noxious weed representatives well. A lot of those guys would come out reports and spraying activities. When I started working and do research projects with us, which was helpful. I did for the irrigation district, I was introduced to aquaticthat for going on 4 years. Within the past 6 months or so, vegetation management, a field I didn’t know, even though there was a shift at UPI: The territory manager I’m taking I had worked with irrigation for nearly 17 years. I had no over for, Joe Vassios, had the opportunity to move over idea that irrigation districts in the western United States to the ag side of the company. I had a couple of meetings needed to spend so much money and work so diligently with them. I like the company, I like what it’s doing, and I to control noxious and invasive species in waterways. I got have enjoyed working with the team, so it was a pretty easy switch to move over to UPI. Joshua Dill: Tell us about your new role at UPI and the things you’ll be working on there. Cory Greer: My title is account manager for the Aquatics Division for the Southwest region. I’ll be covering Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Utah, and part of Texas. We have a diverse and responsive team that we can help out in our areas. It’s wintertime, so irrigation districts in the western United States are shutting down their systems. There won’t be any applications happening during the winter, so we spend most of the season going to conferences, weed schools, and pesticide-applicator training schools. Joshua Dill: It sounds as though you have quite a range of experience, both in terms of geographical location and the kind of work you’ve done. What kind of advantage does that give you in your new position? Cory Greer.

IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

Cory Greer: One of the things that came up quite regularly during interviews and talks with UPI is that it is a company, especially the Aquatics Division, that’s really

Joshua Dill: How does your background in environmental management intersect with your new work? Cory Greer: I think it works really well. As an end user at the South Columbia Basin Irrigation District, I got to interact with quite a few different herbicide sales companies. One of the things I noticed is that not a lot of them paid attention to what each state requires for the use of those chemicals. In Washington State, all our water is returned to the main water body, so all our chemicals fall under our National Pollutant Discharge Permit. With my environmental science background, I’m very familiar with those documents and how they’re developed, how environmental impact statements are developed, and how biological opinions are read. What I bring to UPI is the knowledge of how those processes function, their timing, when it would be appropriate to have industry input into those permits, how to aid irrigation districts with those permits, and how to help users make sure that their permits are written successfully.

Cory Greer.

focused on lake and pond management. I have knowledge of the western United States, how irrigation companies work, and how irrigation districts run. I’ve also used UPI’s products as an end user for 5 seasons, so I can tell customers that I’ve had my boots on the ground; I’m not just coming in as a salesperson. Joshua Dill: What kind of clients will you have at UPI? Do you have ideas for new clients based on your experience?

Cory Greer: I’m covering a pretty large area. I like working face to face, so covering such a large area while making sure that all the end users within my territory feel like they can count on me at any time will be a challenge. I’m a technical person, so I want to have my feet on the ground. If there’s a problem or a concern, or if a user would like assistance, I’d like to be there. Doing that with 9 states might be a bit tricky, but it’s definitely my goal to be an on-the-ground technical representative and technical aid for all of my territory’s end users. Joshua Dill: What message do you have for our readers? Cory Greer: The fact that I have been an end user of products from UPI and have used a ton of other products from other chemical supply companies means that I have had to deal with the same things as a lot of irrigation users. I’ve had to deal with EPA guidelines, including restrictions and discharge limits. It’s important to me to get on the ground with all those users and work with them face to face to make them feel confident in what they’re doing in the field. It will be important to me to make sure that I’m there as a technical rep and assistant for them. IL You can contact Cory Greer at cory.greer@uniphos.com or (208)-407-7678. For more information about UPI, visit upi-usa.com.

IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROBYN SANDERS.

Cory Greer: They are predominantly irrigation related. I thought Washington was a little stricter with its Department of Ecology guidelines, but working with irrigation districts within their current permits in all the states I mentioned will be interesting. They all have a different twist on how they use chemicals, discharge permits, and things like that. Based on the increasing population of the western United States, there is going to be a water shortage that will require the building of new irrigation-storage and water-storage reservoirs. Lake, pond, and reservoir management will continue to increase in the western United States. I have noticed that a couple irrigation districts even in the Columbia Basin Project in Washington State have added irrigation-storage reservoirs for flow augmentation within their canal systems just to meet the National Marine Fisheries Service’s requirements to keep water in the main water bodies for migratory steelhead and migratory salmon.

Joshua Dill: What are the main challenges you expect to face at UPI?

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Friant Dam.

Lessons From Madera Irrigation District’s Logo Redesign Campaign

MID's old logo.

MID's new logo.

Public feedback on the logo redesign decision, the contest, and the finished product was highly positive. Mr. Greci was even contacted by numerous contractors and personnel from other government agencies about the process. Since 2015, MID has continued to expand its public outreach efforts. MID has revamped its website to make it more user-friendly and has become increasingly active on social media. Staff are also going to local elementary schools to present on canal safety. MID has also stepped up its presence in the water world, speaking at more events and interacting with other water agencies in the region. Public outreach continues to be a major focus at MID. MID has seen significant benefits from the logo redesign and all the other forms of public outreach it has engaged in over the last several years. The logo redesign was a key step in the public outreach campaign for MID, and the benefits of the project will last well into the future. IL For more information about Madera Irrigation District, visit madera-id.org. IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTO BY JOHN BOHRMAN, COURTESY OF THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION.

adera Irrigation District (MID) services 140,000 acres of land in north-central California, most of which is used for growing almonds, grapes, and pistachios. MID contracts with Central Valley Project, pulling water from the Friant Dam and Hensley Lake, and also holds pre-1914 water rights to local surface waters. Madera, California, a city of some 65,000 people, is primarily located in the district and relies 100 percent on groundwater for its municipal water supply. In 2012, when Thomas Greci took over as the general manager of MID, the district had a problem with how it was being perceived by the water industry and its local customers. Over the next few years, MID embarked on a campaign of public outreach within the community to improve its image. In 2015, after some initial outreach success, the district decided it was time for a rebrand. MID’s logo looked generic and featured crops that had not been grown in the district for years. Seeing a great opportunity for meaningful public outreach, MID invited Madera County’s high-school students to participate in designing the new logo through a contest. The students were provided with several criteria, including a specific color palette, and a cash prize of $250 was established for the winning submission. The contest also provided an opportunity for Dina Nolan, MID’s assistant general manager, and Andrea Sandoval, its board secretary, to give presentations at several area high schools about MID and its operations. The winning submission came from Madera High School student Elizabeth Romero. Her logo was shaped like a water droplet and featured scenery unique to the Madera area—making it distinct from those of other agencies. In a complete image overhaul, the new logo was applied to MID’s signage, clothing, and web designs.

Pipeline being installed between the Phelps Canal and the Cottonwood Ranch complex.

Aiding Groundwater Recharge in Central Nebraska

or many irrigation districts throughout the United States, groundwater recharge has become an increasingly important element of water management. Such is the case with the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (CNPPID), which is partnering with the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program (PRRIP), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Tri-Basin Natural Resources District, and the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources to mitigate the negative effects of low water levels in the Platte River. In this interview, Joshua Dill, the managing editor of Irrigation Leader, speaks with Tyler Thulin, a civil engineer at CNPPID, about his district and its groundwater recharge program. Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your background and how you ended up in your current position.

Joshua Dill: Please tell us about CNPPID. Tyler Thulin: CNPPID delivers surface water through three irrigation canals (the Phelps Canal, E65, and E67) and a

Joshua Dill: Would you tell our readers about the pipeline you are currently installing? Tyler Thulin: It is a 42-inch PVC pipeline that runs a little over 1½ mile from the Phelps Canal to the water retention area at the Cottonwood Ranch Complex, where it is used IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CNPPID.

Tyler Thulin: I studied civil engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The summer before I graduated, I was offered an internship with the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District. A couple months after the summer internship ended, the district offered me a full-time job. Water was something I was always interested in college, so I took the job. Seven years later, I am still there.

supply canal to just under 108,000 acres across Nebraska’s Gosper, Phelps, and Kearney Counties. Our main storage reservoir is Lake McConaughy, which is located in the western part of the state and is the largest reservoir in Nebraska. Water is released from Lake McConaughy and diverted into our supply canal from the North Platte River at North Platte, Nebraska. From there, the water flows through three hydropower plants before either being diverted into the irrigation canals Tyler Thulin, civil engineer toward the tail end of the at CNPPID. supply canal or being returned to the Platte River near Lexington, Nebraska. Water that is diverted into our irrigation canals is either delivered to fields for irrigation or to recharge the groundwater. Our irrigation canals consist of approximately 350 miles of open laterals and 140 miles of pipelines.

for groundwater recharge and for habitat creation for

the endangered whooping crane and other migrating waterfowl. When the Platte River flow exceeds the target flows set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, water can be diverted for groundwater recharge. The target flows are set based on current hydrologic conditions. Those targets vary by time of year but are set the lowest during the winter months, meaning that that is when there is the best chance that they will be exceeded and that water can be diverted for groundwater recharge. Joshua Dill: Would you describe the groundwater recharge process?

Tyler Thulin: They will not affect irrigation at all. Most of the water deliveries we envision will occur during the nonirrigation season. We may also deliver water to the property during the irrigation season if river flows exceed target levels, which is not common for that time of year. However, our Phelps Canal has enough capacity to deliver irrigation water and serve the Cottonwood Ranch Complex at the same time.

“This is the largest-diameter pipeline we have installed for the purpose of groundwater recharge.”

Joshua Dill: Has this project faced any special challenges? Tyler Thulin: The only special challenge we have had to face is installing the pipeline down a county road ditch. That means we have to deal with existing utilities, including buried power lines, pipelines, and phone lines, that either parallel or cross the ditch. In addition, we usually shoot for about 3 feet of cover on top of our pipes, so when you factor in the depth of the ditch and diameter of the pipe, the pipeline trench will be quite deep.

Tyler Thulin: When flows in the Platte River exceed target levels, we are able to divert water into our irrigation canals for groundwater recharge. Once in our canals, the water is either diverted to an offcanal site, such as the Cottonwood Ranch Complex, or allowed to seep through our — TYLER THULIN canals and recharge the local groundwater. Water that is recharged will eventually flow back to the river and increase the river’s flow. The hope is that the Joshua Dill: What are the advantages of using PVC pipe water flows back to the river during times when flows are for this project? below target levels and reduce the shortage. Tyler Thulin: The biggest advantage is that the pipe friction Joshua Dill: Who are the other parties involved in loss is lower than with other pipe materials, which means the project? you can get more water through PVC pipe than through a pipe of the same diameter made of a different material. Tyler Thulin: The Platte River Recovery Implementation It is also cheaper and easier to handle and install. You do Program is the other entity involved. It manages the not have to weld joints or deal with heavy, short sections of Cottonwood Ranch Complex property and has hired a concrete pipe. contractor to install the pipeline and do the earthwork on the property itself. The portion of the pipeline that we are Joshua Dill: As an engineer, what other kinds of projects in charge of installing runs from our Phelps Canal to do you work on? the Cottonwood Ranch Complex, a distance of about 1½ miles. The PRRIP has hired a contractor that will hook Tyler Thulin: I primarily work on projects related to onto our pipeline at the edge of the property and extend the irrigation side of the operation. We have a lot of the pipeline another ½ mile. That pipeline will include two pipelines to install during the nonirrigation season. Our outlets that will go into the separate recharge cells. structures are aging, so there are a lot of rehabilitation and replacement projects as well. What we do is evolving. We Joshua Dill: How does the scale of this project compare to used to focus only on irrigation, but in the last 6 or 7 years, other projects that CNPPID has done? we have started to do a lot of recharge projects during the winter. It is a lot of work to ensure that our pipelines are Tyler Thulin: This is the largest-diameter pipeline we watertight and that our gates and structures can handle the have installed for the purpose of groundwater recharge. ice. This year, we are also installing five other pipelines from our irrigation canals to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Joshua Dill: Do you remember when the need for recharge Waterfowl Production Areas around the region for similar started to become a priority? purposes. They contribute to groundwater recharge as well as to habitat creation, which improves recreation Tyler Thulin: That began with the Platte River Recovery opportunities and benefits waterfowl hunters. Implementation Program about 6 or 7 years ago. One of the goals of the PRRIP is to retime water in the Platte River to reduce the shortages to target flows by Joshua Dill: How do these projects affect irrigation? IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

A section of PVC pipe being installed by CNPPID.

Joshua Dill: What kind of plans does CNPPID have for next year? Tyler Thulin: We are always looking for more recharge opportunities. We have discussed putting water in reuse pits and sending it farther down our canal system to increase recharge to other areas of our irrigation system.

Tyler Thulin is a civil engineer at the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District. He can be reached at tthulin@cnppid.com. IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CNPPID.

130,000–150,000 acre-feet per year. A lot of the groundwater recharge projects in our system serve to help them meet their goals. The pipelines to the Waterfowl Production Areas are being built in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and our local Tri-Basin Natural Resources District. The Tri-Basin Natural Resources District’s goal is to maintain or increase groundwater levels in the area. The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service's goal is to fill the Waterfowl Production Areas to create habitat for migrating waterfowl and provide recreation opportunities.

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THE INNOVATORS A solar-panel array installed by Solar Heat and Electric.

Why Solar Is an Intelligent Investment for Irrigators

s a state with cool weather and a lot of sun, Nebraska is an ideal location for solar-energy installations. Michael Shonka, the founder and president of Omaha-based Solar Heat and Electric, has been in the solar industry for over 30 years. In 2013, he installed a 25-kilowatt solar power installation on a center pivot for the first time. Since then, he has installed a number of other water pumping applications. In this interview with Irrigation Leader Managing Editor Joshua Dill, Mr. Shonka discusses why solar power is a wise investment for irrigators, how it helps the environment, and the ways in which solar power stands to benefit Nebraska’s energy future. Joshua Dill: Please tell us about your professional background.

IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MICHAEL SHONKA.

Michael Shonka: I started in solar in 1983 at the encouragement of my father. We worked with solar-thermal at that time—warm air and hot water systems. That was the predominant technology in the 1980s, especially because there was a 40 percent tax credit available at the time. Once the tax credit expired under the Reagan administration, the entire solar industry imploded and almost completely disappeared by the end of 1986. I continued to work in the solar field, installing the occasional system and doing repairs, but I also took on other positions. I went into the telecom industry and

stayed there until about 1998; then I transitioned back to solar full time. I’ve essentially been working in the solar industry for over 30 years. The technology in the 1980s was predominantly solar-thermal. The hotwater controllers, pumps, and solar collectors used in solar-thermal energy have Michael Shonka, president of not changed significantly Solar Heat and Electric. in design since then. Some initial solar-electric systems existed back in the 1980s as well, but those have been developed continuously since that time because of advances in the basic sciences, physics, and chemistry. There were developments in the materials in the United States and developments in manufacturing methods that were made in Germany during their solar revolution in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In the late 1990s, I installed a system in my home in preparation for Y2K—it was one of my subspecialty areas at the phone company to vet all our vendors for Y2K—and I was amazed at how much the technology had evolved. Photovoltaics (PV) have become the dominant force since that time.

THE INNOVATORS The solar industry really began picking up in the United States with the Asian invasion of modules around 2010. In the Midwest, we are about 3–5 years behind anything that happens on the coasts, whether it’s a fashion statement or a technology—it just takes a while to get to the middle of the country—and so 2013 was when I designed and installed the first solar-assisted center pivot at a client’s farm. I had been installing a lot of solar grid tie-in systems prior to that, but this was the first 25-kilowatt system I had installed on a pump. This is a grid-tied system, not an off-grid one, and we selected this particular site because the electrical infrastructure was easily accessible, right next to the pump and the transformer. We installed 100 solar modules. In terms of layout, we spread the racks out a bit to reduce wind load, because there is no windbreak at the site and the owners often get winds in excess of 40, 60, or 80 miles an hour. The system is resisting the winds without a problem and has continued to operate virtually maintenance free since then. Their initial return on investment has been paid off at this point: After about 5 pumping seasons, they recovered their initial investment with the aid of tax depreciation and tax credits. It’s been a good investment for them. I was motivated to install this system because I come from a farm family myself; my father sold center pivots and did a lot of farming. We had one of the largest farm operations in the state back in the 1980s: In fact, we did about a third of Cracker Jack popcorn’s production for a decade. Since then, I have since installed a number of similar water pumping applications, as well as other larger-scale community solar-electric installations.

Joshua Dill: Tell me about your company. Michael Shonka: Solar Heat and Electric does pretty much all things solar, including applications for solarelectric and hot-water systems. I teach classes on solar technology at the local community college and university, and I have a North American Board Certified Energy Professionals (NABCEP) certification as a PV Installation Professional, which is one of the highest ratings you can get that recognizes your solar expertise. Joshua Dill: So you provide solar setups not only for irrigation but for other applications as well? Michael Shonka: Yes, we do commercial and residential applications as well. Joshua Dill: What about your product makes it especially suited for irrigators? Michael Shonka: A couple of things are important here. The solar installation works year-round, even though the typical farmer in the Midwest only irrigates for about 2 months of the year. For soybeans or corn or whatever it might be, our growing season is about 5 months; a farmer irrigates for about 2 of those. With a solar installation, a farmer will build up credits all year long and start to draw down those credits during the irrigation season. At the end of the year, depending on whether it was a dry or wet year and how much irrigation the farmer actually had to engage, the farmer will either have a smaller check to send to the utility or will get one back for the balance of the

A solar panel array installed by Solar Heat and Electric.

IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

THE INNOVATORS

A solar-panel array installed by Solar Heat and Electric.

Michael Shonka: A greater use of solar energy reduces the amount of electricity that you have to buy, and our predominant form of electricity generation in Nebraska is coal. So solar energy actually reduces the amount of coal needed. Nebraska is an all-public-power state, which is great because our economic costs would be higher for everything otherwise. Public power has set a rate preference in which lower rates are provided for irrigators if they turn on their pumps after 11:00 at night, when demand on the grid is low, and shut them off around 7:00 in the morning. The nighttime energy consumption helps balance out the generation needs of the public power system. It works to the betterment of the farmers and public power. So, in addition to the direct environmental impact of reducing the amount of coal needed, solar energy helps with the management of the grid and lowers the costs of operation for both public power and the farmers.

Joshua Dill: Tell us about the environmental benefits of your product.

Michael Shonka: As with many businesses, marketing is probably our biggest challenge. Our cost of customer

Joshua Dill: What are the main challenges you face in your business?

IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL SHONKA.

credits. It’s a wise investment for farmers. Farmers are used to writing big-ticket checks for equipment, and they’re pretty good at business planning—otherwise, they wouldn’t still be operating—so they’re pretty sharp with the pencil when it comes down to investments. If they have a good year, they’ll need depreciation to offset some of their gains. Solar is also an intelligent investment because it lowers a farmer’s operating costs and makes him or her more competitive in the market. There are other compelling reasons for farmers to engage with solar, not only in the case of irrigation-related applications. We’re seeing a turn toward solar-thermal again for radiant floor heat in shops. When you build a large shop, it usually has a 12- or 15-foot ceiling, and when you heat it, all the heat rises to the ceiling. With radiant floor heating, however, the tubes are in the concrete of the floor itself, and the flow of solar-heated hot water is very effective. It’s an excellent way to heat a structure. We’re seeing more uses of solar in agriculture now. That will continue in the coming years.

THE INNOVATORS acquisition is pretty high. There is a learning curve, because people are less aware of solar in this state, even though we’re in the top 10 in the country for solar and wind. We still have a long way to go to educate people about the benefits of solar energy and why it is a wise investment. That is probably our biggest expense. Joshua Dill: What are your aims and prospects for the future?

in other parts of the state to expand the wind network out there as well. That’s part of the tradeoff with these new technologies. In the meantime, we’ve got to balance the costs of current generation with retiring some of our older equipment, which will change the economics of operation and how much revenue can be generated from existing infrastructure. One growing concern is stranded investment. If renewable energy sources are expanded, traditional coal-fired plants may not be used up to capacity or at their efficiency level. We are embarking on a transition in which we will have to blend what we’ve got with new technologies.

Michael Shonka: We continue to work on consumer outreach and educational programs. We’ve done a number of seminars, not just for the general public but also for public power, to get “Not only does them comfortable with the technology. Joshua Dill: How well suited is Nebraska to solar this technology They’ve had a monopoly for a long energy? benefit individual time, so it’s new to them. It has been interesting to see their attitude shift to users, it benefits the Michael Shonka: Solar technology marries a more positive acceptance of solar in well with agriculture in Nebraska for environment and the up the recent past. That has been helpful. several reasons. We’ve got a high level of solar general economy of availability, we’ve got the demand, and we’ve got We’re optimistic about the future, although I think it’s going to be a slowlow temperatures. Electrical resistance goes down the state.” growth period. Because we have no as the temperature drops; with that in mind, our —MICHAEL SHONKA solar-energy production on an annual basis is state tax incentives to help reduce the up-front cost of installation, we’re going actually better than that in Southern California to continue to be one of the lower-penetration and lowerand the Mojave Valley. Depending on how this all rolls out, gross-sales states in the country. For those states that do we could be looking at being a renewable generation state have incentives like sales-tax or property-tax forgiveness, that exports its energy. This will evolve in rural areas rather market penetration increases much more rapidly. We’re a than urban ones, and the agricultural market will benefit pretty conservative state, so it’s difficult to get those things from those infrastructure investments. through. Being a public-power state, it is critically important to our economic future to have a way for private capital Joshua Dill: To what would you attribute the recent shift to inject power into the system. We’re not a carbon state; in the perception of solar power? Has solar power become we import 95 percent of our energy. So we have a trade more affordable or more efficient recently, or is there just imbalance in energy of billions of dollars per year, which better knowledge? is unsustainable. We’ve got to change that. Solar energy is one way that we can reduce that trade imbalance and Michael Shonka: I’d say it’s a combination of all of those promote a healthier economic future. I think it is going factors. As the technology continues to improve, the costs to be the farmers who are the first movers in this kind have continuously decreased, although the costs have of infrastructure investment, and it’s going to carry with essentially bottomed out at this point; we’re working on it benefits for the entire state. I think that’s the critical soft costs now, like permitting, marketing, and education. point that people miss on the macro level: Not only does Similarly, awareness is growing that Nebraska’s highly this technology benefit individual users, it benefits the centralized system of coal-based power generation and environment and the general economy of the state. IL high-line-based distribution is not going to serve us well in the future. We need to look at a more distributed Michael Shonka is the founder, owner, and president of Solar generation. With our current system, as demand for Heat and Electric. He can be reached at electricity gets higher, power quality becomes an issue, michael@solaromaha.com. especially for users who are farther away from generation sources. We are looking at growth areas for wind energy as well as for solar. Right now there are new wind projects going up in the north-central and northeastern parts of the state. These projects are going to take up a lot of the capacity on the lines in those areas. New lines will have to be added IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

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The High-Tech Way to Fight E. Coli

Ecoli-Sense’s handheld E. Coli monitor.

coli-Sense is a startup company that has invented a nanomaterials-based device for instantaneously checking water supplies for E. coli contamination. Working either on the basis of a hand-held testing device or buoys that stay in a water body continuously, Ecoli-Sense’s system is both high tech and more affordable than traditional methods. In this interview, Ecoli-Sense’s chief executive officer Nisha Sarveswaran and Chief Technical Officer Jamal Zeinalov talk to Irrigation Leader writer Parker Kenyon about their company’s origins, its product, and its potential benifits for irrigation districts and water users. Parker Kenyon: Please tell us about your backgrounds. Nisha Sarveswaran: My background is in aerospace engineering. I also have experience in another startup that does real-time air-quality monitoring. I was exposed to a lot of E. coli–related market analysis when I was doing business development for the other startup. When I realized the scale of the problem, and what a large project it would be to fight it, I started talking with Jamal about it and we came up with this solution.

Parker Kenyon: How did your company get started? Nisha Sarveswaran: I Nisha Sarveswaran, chief was looking at ways in executive officer of Ecoli-Sense. which pathogen detection could be changed from culture-based analysis to more instantaneous monitoring, and Jamal has a PhD in nanomaterials. Together, we talked to a team at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, that is especially focused on the development of nanosensors that are able to detect pathogens instantaneously. We started working with them through funding from the Canadian government, focusing on E. coli and particular strains of it. The initial output was good, so we pursued the technology further. To build the business aspect of it, the Business, Research, and Entrepreneurship in Water (BREW) accelerator program at The Water Council in Milwaukee helped guide us in market development and in understanding customer expectations and showed us how we could implement or technology in other people’s systems. We then went to the Southern Ontario Water Consortium, which helped fund further research. We are ready to launch our product; we are very excited to bring it to the market. IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ECOLI-SENSE.

Jamal Zeinalov: My background is also in aerospace engineering, but I am more on the materials side; that is the area in which I did my doctorate. I have always had an interest in this problem, and when we started to talk about it, we had the idea of looking into the research and development in the field of nanomaterials as a way of

possibly addressing the problem. That is how I got involved in the business. Now I am heading up the technical side of things.

THE INNOVATORS Parker Kenyon: Could you please describe the product?

are excited about this market, but up until now, we have been focused on other areas of water monitoring. We didn’t realize how large an opportunity the irrigation market is, and we are excited to get into it.

Jamal Zeinalov: The product is basically an antigen nanosensor that works on the basis of a few technologies fused together. That is one of the strengths of the company: We have brought technologies together that in this market Parker Kenyon: What has been your client base so far? are not usually combined. On one end, you have the antigen-based nanosensor that allows us to detect an Nisha Sarveswaran: We are a new startup and are just E. coli presence almost instantaneously, within a minute coming into the first production; we have just launched the of exposure, which is paired with a hand-held Android product out of lab trials. We are looking at presales to work device connected through Bluetooth. This device can send with various clients. We will be providing support to our information to our cloud-based processing network. On first set of clients and learning from that. our cloud, we have a learning algorithm that has a lot of different information based on our various trials, and based Parker Kenyon: Would you please tell our readers about on that living algorithm we are able to almost what they would be getting if they immediately tell if there is E. coli present purchase your product? and how much there is if it is present. This “Ecoli-Sense enables the Nisha Sarveswaran: They’ll get information is then processed and sent to your real-time monitoring of a hand-held app, which works hand-held device, cell phone, or tablet. The information is provided to you in about pathogens at about one with both Android and Apple 2 minutes. one-hundredth the cost devices, paired with our disposable cartridges. The cartridges are just of traditional systems.” like a pH strip: You put the strip in Parker Kenyon: Is the E. coli–detection device highly portable? the hand-held device and it syncs — NISHA with your phone to immediately SARVESWARAN Nisha Sarveswaran: Yes, it is. The first model show you what is happening with that we have coming out is a hand-held device the water. When you run out of that can analyze a droplet of water and detect strips, you can simply order more, the actual number of E. coli bacteria in it. We are also going along with your monthly subscription giving you access to to be launching a real-time automated buoy system that the dashboard monitoring. With the device, you can detect uses a disposable cartridge in a self-mechanized monitoring levels of E. coli in less than a minute, and you can solve your system. That system will be able to do more processing problems more quickly than by testing on a regular basis. than our hand-held device does and is in research and development right now. Parker Kenyon: What is the price of your hand-held device? Parker Kenyon: So the buoy device could be placed in a permanent location and be used to constantly monitor E. coli levels in the water?

Nisha Sarveswaran: We don’t have a final price nailed down yet, but I can tell you that it will be a fraction of current E. coli testing methods. It is a renewable pricing model.

Nisha Sarveswaran: Absolutely. It uses an onboard cartridge that needs to be changed out approximately every 3 months. It has Wi-Fi on board to communicate with the cloud in real time. You can log in and tell it that you want it to test the water once a day or once every hour; you can change your frequency and adjust the testing times. You do not have to manually send out samples to the lab so often. Our technology is designed not only to assist current methods but also to make them faster. That way you can treat much earlier and avoid the development of a larger problem.

Parker Kenyon: What is your message to our readership?

Parker Kenyon: Have you done any work with irrigation districts? Nisha Sarveswaran: We have not gotten into irrigation yet, but it is one of the avenues we are looking to pursue. We IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

Nisha Sarveswaran: Ecoli-Sense enables the real-time monitoring of pathogens at about one one-hundredth the cost of traditional systems. We are trying to give the power back to the customer to understand their water at a minute level. That way they can treat locally and manage issues that arise much more quickly. Parker Kenyon: What is the best way for our readers to get in contact with Ecoli-Sense? Nisha Sarveswaran: The best way to contact us is to e-mail us at info@ecoli-sense.com. IL

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SAFETY

Security at Kennewick Irrigation District by Shelbea Voelker

KID’s new building.

A third part of KID’s training program is a tabletop exercise for leadership staff who would be directly involved in an emergency such as a canal breach. The exercise ensures that each staff member understands his or her role and the communication that would need to take place during such a situation. It also provides an opportunity to practice using KID’s disaster manual. During the Shelbea Voelker, public relations corrdinator at exercise, staff adopted the Kennewick Irrigation District. roles that they would play in an emergency, including incident commander, public information officer, liaison officer, safety officer, operations section chief, and finance/ administrative section chief, and learned about the tasks appropriate to each position. This exercise helped KID management identify any weak spots in the district’s organizational structure, in its internal communication, and in its communication with public saftey agencies. As a follow-up to the tabletop exercise, KID developed an emergency-response trailer structured for emergency IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KENNWICK IRRIGATION DISTRICT.

t Kennewick Irrigation District (KID), security is top of mind. In recent years, the district has participated in several staff safety trainings and implemented important new safety measures in its new building. KID has twice hosted Officer Philip Ball, a policetraining specialist and owner of the Situational Awareness Institute, to train KID staff on active-shooter prevention and survival and verbal de-escalation. These training sessions educate employees on the importance of safety and how to stay protected during a crisis. The activeshooter training teaches staff what characteristics and signs to look for in a potential active shooter, how to report the problem, how to stay protected while waiting for authorities, and what the authorities will do when arriving to the workplace to ensure staff safety. The verbal de-escalation portion of this training teaches staff how to speak to an upset or angry customer in a way that will help calm them down. In the past, customers have become angry over malfunctioning irrigation systems or because they have not understood how their system works; these situations have sometimes escalated to yelling. In the exercise, each employee has to practice calming down the trainer, who plays the role of the angry customer. At the end, the trainer provides feedback and tips, such as what words to use or not to use when calming down a customer.

SAFETY

KID’s emergency trailer.

events in the field, such as a canal breach or canal overtopping. The trailer is designed to be used as a central command center and onsite meeting place for staff during an emergency. It is equipped with all the safety gear and equipment that would be necessary in an emergancy situation, including backup equipment, lights, signs, and radios, as well as management business cards to use if members of the media approach staff for story coverage. This helps staff to stay safe, organized, and prepared for any emergency that may arise. KID management also holds an annual staff training on the district’s disaster preparedness and recovery plan. Staff are broken into groups with department managers and receive a disaster-preparedness and recovery plan manual, which addresses potential disasters such as bomb threats, fires, power failures, the release of toxic chemicals and fumes, and natural disasters. The manual includes information on possible incidents, checklists for how to report and respond to threats, and maps of where staff should meet after an evacuation. It also lists the members and points of contact of KID’s disaster action team, which is responsible for reporting and responding to emergencies. KID also paid close attention to security during the design of our new building in 2015. Our building is a hard target, from the concrete benches placed outside the building to doors that are kept locked at all times. Employees are required to wear name badges with photo ID and enter with a key through the employee entrance. IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

All visitors who enter the building are escorted. The building also has a security system that is activated after all staff leave at the end of each day. An unauthorized entrant who does not enter the security code in the allotted amount of time triggers an alarm, which then alerts our security company as well as the police. Automatic control gates were also installed to protect KID’s building material, work trucks, and field equipment. Finally, KID has installed a panic button system. This consists of wireless buttons placed in strategic locations in the building that activate a transmitter that alerts authorities that danger is present. The panic buttons can be mounted anywhere: under a desk or counter, on a wall, behind a door, or anywhere staff can easily access during an emergency. When the buttons are pressed, they send a message to the control panel, alerting the security company. The security company will then call the office. If possible, staff will verbally verify the cause of the alarm. If there is no answer, the security company will dispatch the local police. The KID board of directors has invested in a new building, annual trainings, and security measures because employee safety is its number-one concern. These necessary and effective steps have educated our staff to be as prepared as they can be. IL Shelbea Voelker is the public relations coordinator at Kennewick Irrigation District. She can be reached at pr@kid.org.

JAN 23 & 24, 2019

Join us for the 7th Annual

OPERATIONS & MANAGEMENT TRAINING WORKSHOP

About Our Workshop

Workshop Details

This year’s theme is Constant Improvement Through Training with increased emphasis on training and assisting irrigation districts and water agencies to foster cultures of safety and constant improvement.

Date: January 23–24, 2019 Price: $425 Location: Crowne Plaza Phoenix Airport Hotel 4300 East Washington Street Phoenix, Arizona 85034

Topics Covered Include: • • • • • • • •

Creative hiring, training, and employee retention programs Conflict resolution and avoiding litigation Irrigation Leader Magazine’s International Exchange Program for Irrigation District Employees, Managers, and Farmers Improving manager and board communications Stress management & employee wellness Security training Technology presentations Chile Tour door prizes

Who should attend? Our workshop is designed to provide an opportunity for general managers and directors of irrigation districts and water agencies to discuss ideas and exchange information on a variety of district operations and management-related issues, to build out-of-state working relationships, and to learn from their peers. The issues and topics selected by general managers and board directors pertain directly to the management and improvement of irrigation districts and water agencies.

Hotel Information Book your room NOW at a rate of only $149 per night. Call (855) 729-6011 to make your reservation no later than Wednesday, January 12, 2019 to take advantage of the special Irrigation Leader Workshop rate. Weather: Sunny, 72°

How to Sign Up Space is limited, so register on our website today! Learn more at waterstrategies.com/omt-workshop or purchase your registration at shop.waterstrategies.com. If you have any questions, please contact Kris Polly at (703) 517-3962 or Kris.Polly@waterstrategies.com.

Irrigation Leader Washington Edition November/December 2018

Articles inside

Improving Water Supply in the Columbia River Basin

A Survey of the Irrigation Industry