Irrigation Leader July/August 2014

Volume 5 Issue 7

July/August 2014

Irrigating Along the Big River: An Interview With Sonny Hinojosa

Resilience and Innovation on the Rio Grande

By Kris Polly

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wo common qualities among irrigation districts, water managers, and farmers are resilience and innovation. One must be tougher than the problem to survive and innovative to prosper. Such American qualities are prevalent along the Rio Grande, arguably one of the most challenging river systems. This issue of Irrigation Leader magazine focuses on the Rio Grande and begins with an interview with Sonny Hinojosa, general manager of Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2 (HCID2). Sonny is the living embodiment of resilience.

Just look at him. I bet it has been years since anyone has come to work late at HCID2. Sonny is also innovative and was one of the first managers to develop a fabric canallining program to stretch the district’s water supply. The fact that his district has forged its own gates and valves for nearly 100 years speaks volumes about its self-reliance.

The theme of resilience and innovation continues with Subhas Shah, general manager of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, telling us of his district’s efforts to assess the condition of an 80-year-old wooden siphon buried beneath the river. Gary Esslinger, treasurermanager of the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, demonstrates his unique ability to always find a win-win solution. When faced with pressures to provide water for species habitat, Gary worked with lots of folks to create a water contractor relationship to essentially farm

cottonwood trees. Troy Allen, general manager of Delta Irrigation District, shares his clever idea for protecting canal lining from maintenance activity by creating sediment catchment basins.

Explaining an idea that is certainly timely, Scott Cameron tells our readers about the newly created Reduce Risks from Invasive Species Coalition. Truly a model for public-private partnership with West-wide interest, Mike Schwisow provides an update on the Odessa project.

New Mexico State Senators Peter Wirth and John Ryan discuss their legislature’s efforts to develop an active water resource management system. Arturo Cabello Jr., general manager for the Brownsville Irrigation District, shares the unique challenges of being the final irrigation district on the Rio Grande. We learn about irrigated onions and the Franzoy family, who has been farming for generations in the Hatch Valley. Finally, under the category of great ideas, we have an article titled “The Pivot Fence.”

We hope you enjoy this issue of Irrigation Leader magazine.

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.

ProductS & Services Guide Since our debut issue of Irrigation Leader magazine in October 2010, we have followed a simple rule with regard to advertising: We only advertise those projects and service that are already being used by an irrigation district or water-providing entity. Our readers appreciate this standard, and our advertisers have greatly benefited. We have learned that it is important for irrigation districts and water-providing entities to know that others are using a product or service they are considering purchasing.

The Irrigation Leader Products & Services Guide provides an easily accessible, visual listing of those products and services that are used by irrigation districts and water-providing entities today.

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Irrigation Leader

JULY/AUGUST 2014

C O N T E N T S 2 Resilience and Innovation on the

Volume 5

Issue 7

Rio Grande

Irrigation Leader is published 10 times a year with combined issues for July/August and November/December by: Water Strategies LLC P.O. Box 100576 Arlington, VA 22210

Staff: Kris Polly, Editor-in-Chief John Crotty, Senior Writer Robin Pursley, Graphic Designer Capital Copyediting LLC, Copyeditor

Reality

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.

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.

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.

Copyright Š 2014 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.

COVER PHOTO: Sonny Hinojosa, general manager of the Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2.

Irrigation Leader

By Kris Polly

4 Irrigating Along the Big River:

An Interview With Sonny Hinojosa

10 Aging Infrastructure—An Undesirable

By Subhas Shah

12 Irrigating Cottonwoods: Water

Transactions for Rio Grande Habitat Restoration

16 A DIY Sediment Solution in Delta Lake Irrigation District

18 Putting Water Back in the River by Taking Out Tamarisk

By Scott Cameron

22 A Model for Public-Private Partnerships: The Odessa Ground Water Replacement Program

By Mike Schwisow

26 Actively Managing New Mexico's Water

By Peter Wirth and John Ryan

District Focus 28 Brownsville Irrigation District

By Arturo Cabello Jr.

IRRIGATED CROPS 32 Hatch Valley Onions THE INNOVATORS 34 The Pivot Fence

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The HCID2 pumping plant along the Rio Grande.

Irrigating Along the Big River: An Interview With Sonny Hinojosa

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he Lower Rio Grande Valley is an extremely productive and varied agricultural center. There are 26 irrigation districts that pump Rio Grande water to service growers and municipalities. Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2 (HCID2) is one of those districts, supplying a reliable source of water for irrigation, municipal, industrial, and domestic uses to the lands within its boundaries. The district dates back to the 1920s, when it was formed as a water improvement district.

HCID2 has a system of 46 miles of earthen canals, 21 miles of lined canals, and 227 miles of concrete pipelines to deliver water to 40,000 irrigated acres. For drainage, there are 74 miles of open ditches and 80 miles of underground pipeline. HCID2 diverts 75,000 acre-feet of water annually, approximately 50,000 acre-feet for irrigation and 25,000 for municipal use. Growers in the district flood irrigate

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grain sorghum, cotton, corn, citrus, sugar cane, and an assortment of vegetables. The district supplies raw water to six municipalities.

Sonny Hinojosa has managed the HCID2 system and its 42 employees with a steady hand for 19 years. He knows water; prior to becoming general manager, Sonny was assistant Rio Grande watermaster for 8 years and a U.S. Department of Agriculture soil and range conservationist for 5 years.

Irrigation Leader editor-in-chief, Kris Polly, spoke to Sonny about the unique challenges of running a district along an international border, his efforts to optimize HCID2’s delivery system, and operations along the Rio Grande.

Kris Polly: Please describe how you get the water from the river to your growers.

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Sonny Hinojosa: We pump directly out of the Rio Grande. We are two and a half days downstream of Falcon Reservoir. We lift the water anywhere from 28 to 40 feet to our reservoir, which feeds the rest of our district through our canal system. When you divert from the Rio Grande in our area, everything flows away from the river. We are not a basin down here; we are a delta. If you draw water, it flows in a northeastern direction. All the irrigation districts down here have placed their main lateral along their west boundary line and gravity feed the rest of the district.

We have 10 vertical pumps that are 42 inches in diameter powered by 400 horsepower electric motors. We have a secondary pumping plant that lifts water 22 to 24 feet out of the river. The cost of powering the plants is a significant portion of our budget.

When we re-line a canal, we have to dewater it and bypass it in order to continue to provide water to our farmers.

You end up doing about a thousand feet at a time.

We would like to do another 5 miles of canal lining.

We’ve been waiting for some cost-share funding that hasn’t materialized yet. So we are patching up as we can.

We may have been the first district to use Huesker lining here in the Rio Grande Valley.

Kris Polly: One of the unique components of your district is its foundry. Please tell our readers about it.

Sonny Hinojosa: I think we are the only foundry south of San Antonio. We’ve been manufacturing our own gates and valves since the early 1900s. Our predecessor, the Louisiana-Rio Grande Canal Company, was created

Some of the HCID2 crew pouring molten metal at the foundry.

Kris Polly: How long is the growing season in the Lower Rio Grande Valley?

Sonny Hinojosa: We have continuous water use throughout the year. Our growers plant row crops in February. They grow vegetables in the fall. Someone always needs water. We don’t have a down time.

It makes it very challenging to conduct any maintenance. Most of our maintenance involves patch-ups.

For work on longer stretches of the canal, we do a bypass.

Irrigation Leader

in 1911, and I think our foundry was created at the same time.

It is a coal-fired facility, so we only operate in the wintertime due to local temperatures. In some ways it is a recycling operation—we accumulate cast iron year round from local salvage yards and broken valve or gate parts from other districts and melt them down. Originally, we used it for our own purposes, but now we do sell to other irrigation districts, including one up north on the Red River.

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Well gates forged at the HCID2 foundry.

Kris Polly: What is the top issue for your district?

Sonny Hinojosa: The rapid pace of urbanization. Ten years ago, we were losing 800 acres of prime farmland per year. The recession halted development for about five years, and now it is slowly starting to pick up again.

Urbanization causes fragmentation in our farmland. So you will have a subdivision that pops up around a district canal or pipeline. Protecting those facilities is a challenge.

Once a property is developed, it is excluded from the boundaries of the district and they are entitled to receive irrigation water. We’ll take the water that was associated with that development, convert it to municipal use, and provide it to the municipal supplier.

Kris Polly: As a result of that development, does the district have issues with encroachment?

Sonny Hinojosa: Most of the issues that arise are resolvable. We are very involved in the plat approval process. We have agreements with all our municipalities— they send us plats for our approval. It is at that time that we can provide comments about our easements and rightsof-way.

Kris Polly: Given the challenges you are facing, what would you like to see the district accomplish in the near future?

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Sonny Hinojosa: A high priority for us right now is to install automated gates. That has been tremendous for us.

We’ve installed Rubicon automated gates on two laterals.

That cuts down a lot on our personnel having to manually manipulate the check structures in the canal system.

Now we can monitor and manipulate those structures via smartphone or tablet. In fact, one of those laterals is on Total Channel Control, so the lateral really takes care of itself. As you open up a sublateral and the pool between the two check structures drops, the control box will automatically signal an upstream gate that will release more water. We don’t see a dry canal, and on the flip side, we don’t see the canal top over and spill. We would like to implement this kind of automation with all our open channels.

In the past, we had applied for, and successfully obtained, WaterSmart grants for the automation of the first two laterals. However, we have been unsuccessful the last couple of years, so we are going to tackle the rest on our own through our reserve fund.

Kris Polly: Please tell us about the Rio Grande watermaster program, which regulates water allocations between the United States and Mexico.

Sonny Hinojosa: That jurisdiction begins at Fort Quitman, Texas, and ends at the mouth of the river. We do not rely on any of the water coming from upstream— Irrigation Leader

New Mexico only releases enough for the Rio Grande Valley. Our water can be traced back to the confluence of the Rio Conchos and the Rio Grande. We get 100 percent of the Pecos in Texas, but that doesn’t bring a whole lot of water. So we rely heavily on the water that we get from Mexico.

Treaty compliance is a huge issue—Mexico has no penalty for noncompliance. If Mexico incurs a water deficit, as calculated within a five-year cycle, the 1944 treaty provides for an additional five years for Mexico to make it up to the United States. Mexico is using water that is rightfully ours to grow crops within its country to market in the United States. There is something very wrong with that picture.

Kris Polly: How has the border-crossing situation affected your district?

Sonny Hinojosa: It hasn’t really affected our district.

It is a daily occurrence that immigrants are crossing our system. Our crews will be working on the canal, and a group of immigrants will walk or swim across. What is a shame is that this is a normal occurrence. But this has been going on for years. It is only recently that the issue has been getting publicity.

Sometimes, I’ll be watching “Border Wars” on television, and I recognize our facilities from their helicopters. I know exactly where people are crossing.

Alfalfa valves.

Kris Polly: Do you have counterpart districts on the Mexican side of the border?

Sonny Hinojosa: There are two irrigation districts in Mexico across the river from us. Their situation is very different from ours. In Mexico, the state government releases water for the districts and those districts get what they get. Whereas here in Texas, as long as you have a water right, you have a right to call on that water from storage. Every acre-foot belongs to somebody.

Kris Polly: Given the circumstances with Mexico, has there been any effort to pump groundwater to augment surface deliveries?

Sonny Hinojosa: As part of our regional water planning group, we have discussed the feasibility of a brackish desalination plant. But right now, 98 to 99 percent of our needs are met by surface water.

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Border crossings have not posed a safety threat to our crew. These people are not looking to rip anything up; they are just looking to get into the United States. Just last week, we had a group of 40 women and children stop one of our men doing a repair job at our pumping plant and ask where the border patrol station was.

Kris Polly: This issue of Irrigation Leader is focusing on the Rio Grande. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers about the river?

Sonny Hinojosa: A lot of people have the perception that this is a free-flowing river. It is not. The only water that is in the river below Falcon Dam is water that is being released for someone’s needs. In a perfect world, there would be no water going out the mouth of the river.

All that water in storage belongs to somebody. The only water released is to meet someone’s request.

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Aging Infrastructure —An Undesirable Reality

By Subhas Shah

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he Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) was created in 1923 by the Conservancy Act of New Mexico. In the late 1920s and the 1930s, the irrigation, drainage, and flood control structures were constructed by the MRGCD. The MRGCD has over 1,200 miles of ditches and drains, over 250 miles of levees, 4 diversion dams, and a storage dam/ reservoir at El Vado. There are several thousand structures on its facilities, including dams that are over 80 years old and in need of major rehabilitation or replacement.

The MRGCD’s aging infrastructure is placing a major financial strain on taxpayers.

The Corrales Siphon is one example, having been

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constructed onsite by MRGCD employees in 1933. It is an inverted siphon that conveys irrigation water into the Corrales Main Canal from east to west under the Rio Grande at the north end of the village of Corrales.

The Corrales Main Canal supplies irrigation water to the community of Corrales and a portion of lands within the city of Albuquerque on the west side of the Rio Grande.

Over 1,000 acres are currently being irrigated from the Corrales Main Canal. The siphon has effectively and efficiently served these farmlands for over 80 years, and its continued reliability is critical to the MRGCD and its customers.

While performing river rectification and west bank protection in 2005, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation noticed some ripples in the river where the siphon exists.

Irrigation Leader

Aerial view of the Corrales Siphon.

One can see that the westerly portion of the siphon has been scoured and the original 8 to 10 feet of cover has been eroded. The Rio Grande continues to scour its bed, which may impact the structural integrity of the siphon.

During Reclamation’s fieldwork, the interior condition of the siphon was inspected using CCTV technology by entering the pipe from the west bank. However, a significant blockage was encountered approximately onethird of the way into the crossing, and further inspection was halted. Consequently, the MRGCD is initiating a project to complete the siphon condition assessment, conduct siphon cleaning, and determine the actual riverbed coverage over the siphon.

The length of the siphon that crosses beneath the river channel and flood plain is 1,200‑feet long and was designed for approximately 8 to 10 feet of alluvial fill cover above it. The siphon pipe is 5 feet in diameter and is composed of 2.5-inch-thick wooden stave pipe enclosed in a sand/mud blanket. Surrounding this sand/mud blanket is a timber protection box (7.5 x 8.5 feet) constructed of 4‑by‑12‑inch wooden planks. The end sections are concrete. It was designed to carry 100 cubic feet per second, and currently, the MRGCD is diverting 20 to 40 cubic feet per second, which has met current flows necessary to serve irrigators in Corrales.

This is a rare and unique siphon. The MRGCD wants to protect and preserve it. The MRGCD has retained HDR Engineering as a consultant to evaluate its condition and provide alternate scenarios to protect, rehabilitate, or replace the existing siphon. The feasibility study includes evaluating river morphology, environmental Irrigation Leader

impacts, risk analysis, permitting requirements, maintenance, technical feasibility, constructability/ construction impacts, system hydraulic requirements, and construction cost. Further, this effort requires close coordination with the Six Middle Rio Grande Pueblos and several federal and state agencies that are responsible for managing the flows, water quality, and environmental conditions of the Rio Grande River. The consultant will complete the study within five months and recommend a preferred alternative. The feasibility study will be funded by the MRGCD. One of the tasks of the technical feasibility study is to conduct a video inspection of the siphon by CCTV technology and establish the complexity of the known blockage as well as determine whether there are additional blockages remaining further east in the remainder of the siphon. Cleaning efforts will be conducted to remove the blockage, debris, or any other obstruction that may be causing a reduction in the siphon’s conveyance capacity.

Based on the outcome of the condition assessment and cleaning activities, a preferred alternative will be developed. Creating a strategy to ensure that the siphon’s enclosed wooden box is protected from further scour in the Rio Grande will be critical. We hope that the cleaning of the siphon, along with implementation of a preferred alternative, will greatly improve water deliveries to the water users.

Many districts over 50 years old are facing serious financial burdens due to aging infrastructure. A wellplanned asset management and condition assessment program for the rehabilitation and improvement of critical facilities is essential for the MRGCD and other similar districts to continue providing cost-effective service to their customers.

Subhas Shah is the general manager of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District.

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Irrigating Cottonwoods: Water Transactions for Rio Grande Habitat Restoration

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he culmination of 15 years of negotiation, relationship building, public outreach—and maybe a little bit of soul searching—brought together public and private stakeholders to incorporate environmental water use into New Mexico’s system of water rights. The end result is the Environmental Water Transaction Program (EWTP): a public-private partnership among Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID), the U.S. International Boundary Water Commission (USIBWC), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Audubon New Mexico. The EWTP enables USIBWC to acquire water rights through voluntary transactions to restore sites along the Rio Grande.

Since reporting on the agreement in March 2013, Irrigation Leader has followed the progression of the project implementation. At the end of June, on a dry, hot morning along the parched banks of the Rio Grande, the Organ Mountains in the distance piercing the clear blue New Mexico sky, representatives of the project partners came together to commemorate the EWTP. By the start of the ceremony at 10:00 a.m., a tract of parched cottonwood and willow saplings at the Leasburg restoration site was saturated with a 6-inch allotment of water delivered by EBID via a lateral wasteway.

Key Components of the Leasburg Restoration •

Signed a memorandum of understanding with EBID to work collaboratively on the EWTP.

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Secured passage of an EBID policy that authorizes the use of EBID-administered water for native vegetation on restoration sites.

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Identified initial willing water rights sellers; purchased surface water rights associated with 4.0 acres of land and is in the process of acquiring more.

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Irrigated the Leasburg Extension Lateral Wasteway #8 restoration site.

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Leased water for a second irrigation of the Leasburg restoration site in July 2014.

Beth Bardwell, Audubon New Mexico; Gary Esslinger, Elephant Butte Irrigation District; and Edward Drusina, U.S. International Boundary Water Commission.

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Attending the commemoration were local landowners; representatives of EBID, the USIBWC, the Bureau of Reclamation, the USFWS, the New Mexico Environment Department, and Audubon New Mexico; Senators Udall and Heinrich; and Congressman Pearce.

Irrigation Leader

USIBWC Commissioner Edward Drusina noted that the USIBWC sought to both maintain its mission and provide water for environmental concerns. The USIBWC began working on alternatives to an environmental impact statement on river management of the 105-mile Rio Grande Canalization Project back in 1999. He touted the unique solution to achieve that management—becoming a paying irrigator in EBID—and how restoration activities will account for 30 different sites totaling 550 acres by 2019. For Drusina, the project “ensure(s) our children and grandchildren will grow with the river that we know.”

EBID Treasurer-Manager Gary Esslinger described the project as a “story of hope.” Esslinger was “skeptical” when he became involved with the project over 10 years ago but was strengthened by his hope that the parties would remain civil, hope that his board would accept Audubon New Mexico’s Beth Bardwell as a credible partner and ally (and that he would keep his job), and hope that everyone involved would work “for the good of all.” That hope was realized when Audubon and the USIBWC were willing to join EBID and when the USFWS exempted the area from the critical habitat designation of the southwest willow flycatcher. And for Mr. Esslinger, “the easy part now is to introduce [Beth Bardwell and Ed Drusina] to a shovel so they can go irrigate.”

Ms. Bardwell embraced her shovel from Mr. Esslinger, noting that “water is for fighting, and I have the right tool.” She highlighted that because of the EWTP, thousands of trees have been and will be planted along the Rio Grande, provided habitat for local and endangered

species. She expressed her gratefulness to Mr. Esslinger and the EBID board for helping to make the restoration possible.

Following the numerous speakers addressing this unique and hard-fought partnership, commemoration attendees toured the restoration site with USFWS staff.

The commemoration not only marked the first water delivery, it marked a new phase in the relationship between irrigators and environmentalists along the Rio Grande south of Elephant Butte Dam—one in which the environmental community buys into the existing water rights system that makes irrigated agriculture possible.

A backhoe loader awaiting the go-ahead to buttress the banks of the restoration site.

Cottonwood and willow saplings in the flooded restoration site.

Irrigation Leader

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A DIY Sediment Solution in Delta Lake Irrigation District

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outine maintenance for irrigators along the Rio Grande includes the removal of sediment in canals and laterals. Removal costs impact maintenance budgets, employee time, and the effectiveness of water delivery. After years of pouring money into canal cleanup, Troy Allen, general manager of the Delta Lake Irrigation District (DLID) in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, used his more than 25 years of water operations experience and a willingness to experiment to come up with a cost-effective solution to excessive sedimentation.

Delta Lake Irrigation District

DLID is the largest agricultural district in the Rio Grande Valley, running 40 miles east to west and delivering water to 69,500 acres of irrigated land. It is also the district farthest from the river. As such, a conveyance runs 62 miles from the Rio Grande to DLID’s first outlet.

The district purchased the land for the main canal back in the early 1930s. It was a supplemental district, so water was not diverted unless there was rainfall. DLID built that canal in the early 1930s, and then in 1938, it completed the pump house and started the pumps. It is a long canal that varies in width from 80 to 120 feet.

The wide variation is due to cleaning over the years. The district has been working to standardize to 80-feet wide.

The district delivers raw water to five municipalities and runs water about 320 days a year, mainly because 60 percent of the land is double cropped. Until 2012, DLID had nearly 14,000 acres of sugar cane. The drought of the last few years has knocked sugar cane production down to around 8,000 acres. Sugar cane is currently the predominant crop in the district, followed by cotton, citrus, grain, soybeans, sesame, pastures, and vegetables.

DLID runs a pumping plant along the Rio Grande that diverts up to 640 cubic feet per second (cfs) with four 160-cfs pumps. DLID operates 240 miles of lined canals, 42 miles of earthen canals, 135 miles of concrete and PVC pipe, and 53 relay pumps—with 19 of those powered by diesel.

System Challenges

The completed ¼-mile lining project.

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District farmers employ a combination of sprinklers (2 percent), drip (10 percent), and flood (the remainder).

Roughly 40 percent of the district is laser leveled. The district encourages people to level and install drip; however, this system was not designed to deliver water Irrigation Leader

to drip systems. DLID fills 20-plus miles of concrete canal to get water to some of the drip users. So, for a drip farmer who wants to use 3 or 4 acre-feet of water, it can take up to 60 acre-feet to fill the system.

DLID shuts the system down when the farmer is done and does not fill the system again until five or six days later. The loss for DLID can be as much as 10–15 acre-feet of water per irrigation if only one farmer is using the water within that system.

It is a losing proposition for the district. So DLID has encouraged those using drip systems to install ponds. The district sells those farmers water at a flat rate per acre-foot as long as they have a pond that can provide their own system with two weeks’ worth of water. The farmers get a better price for their water.

With DLID’s system full for more than 300 days a year, it is problematic for the crew to spot problem areas. “Whenever we get to a point where we shut the system down, or if we have a washout or we lose a canal bank, that’s when we go and start looking for where we need to line.” That is when Troy Allen will look at those sections and compare the use of lining versus the use of PVC, running costs over a 10-year period. If it is feasible, “we try and put it into PVC pipe.” But it is not always feasible.

Canal Lining Ingenuity

For Troy Allen, “Lining is a really great idea on any canal that is too large to put into pipe.” About five years ago, DLID lined a small section, about a quarter-mile long, with Firestone liner. “We installed it and it worked great. . . . But there was no way to clean it. We thought there had to be a better way.”

The district had worked with a variety of pressure washer operators who would assure the success of the job and then proceed to rip the lining. Mr. Allen said that “it caused us a lot of heartache.” So DLID experimented with a few different ways to address sediment issues, including the placement and dragging of tires in the canal.

“Ultimately, I decided on a plan for all of our concrete canals that we hadn’t lined where we had sediment build up. Every 500 or 600 feet, we would go in and break the canal and create a basin 4 x 6 feet in width and 1 foot in depth in the same shape as the canal. No lining in the catchment—just concrete.” That way, if an excavator were to hit the catchment, it would not rip the lining.

So instead of filling up the canal, sediment collects in the catchment.

DLID does not have to go back and clean the liner. According to Mr. Allen, “What was once 1 to 2 feet in sediment is now 2 to 3 inches.”

DLID is planning to line another section this fall. Ultimately, the district needs to line about 10 miles of canal. “We hope to line a half to a mile a year. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but that canal provides water to one of the smaller communities. We can only shut it down for a three- to four-day period. We have to pick a time to fill a water tower, shut the system down, breach both sides of the canal, and lay the liner down.”

For more information about building catchments into your canal system, you can reach Troy Allen at (956) 262-2101.

Irrigation Leader

The exposed top of the sediment basin upon completion of the lining project.

The DLID crew at work on the lining project.

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Putting Water Back in the River

by Taking Out Tamarisk

By Scott Cameron

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group of related species native to Eurasia, the shrub saltcedar/tamarisk first entered the United States in the 1800s as a windbreak and ornamental plant. This invasive plant, classified as a noxious weed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has now largely displaced native cottonwoods and willows in many western riparian areas, significantly altering western riparian ecosystems in the process. From a water user’s perspective, the deep taproot of saltcedar means it can pull water out of the ground in places and quantities that are not typical of native plants. This means less water available for agriculture, municipal and industrial water users, and fish and wildlife. Saltcedar’s range in North America expanded rapidly in the 20th century, covering more than one million acres in the riparian zone by the 1960s, and it now can be found throughout the West, perhaps occupying about 1.5 million acres.

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While the water savings from eliminating stands of saltcedar varies substantially from one geographic location to another, numerous studies demonstrate that controlling tamarisk results in water savings. Techniques for controlling this invasive plant vary from physical removal, application of herbicides, and biocontrol by beetles that feast on tamarisk leaves. The State of Colorado estimates that its campaign to fight tamarisk with the tamarisk leaf beetle has saved a conservatively estimated 7,000 acre-feet of water annually in the Arkansas River Basin and the Colorado River corridor, representing an economic value in the millions of dollars.

Federal and state land management agencies, Indian tribes, and private landowners share a common cause in trying to reduce the economic and environmental risks posed by tamarisk across the West. State and federal legislators are paying attention. In summer 2013, a bipartisan group of lawmakers founded the Congressional Invasive Species Caucus to raise awareness on this issue in

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the United States Congress.

Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) has shown a special interest in tamarisk control.

He recently reported, “In May of this year I hosted an Invasive Species Roundtable in Phoenix to bring together local stakeholders and identify best practices for successfully removing invasive saltcedar. In my district, invasive saltcedar comprises nearly 60 percent of the vegetation within a 17‑mile stretch along the Gila River. Saltcedar can absorb up to 200 gallons per day per plant. These are precious water resources in the already‑arid West.”

As the population in the West increases, and drought conditions in many parts of the West become more severe and more prolonged, westerners need to find ways to make the most of current and potential water resources. Communities across the West are pursuing a variety of strategies to address these challenges. Water marketing, urban and agricultural water conservation measures, groundwater banking, and desalination plants are all being pursued to varying degrees. Taking a systematic approach to reclaiming riparian areas now occupied by tamarisk, and thereby freeing up hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of water for beneficial uses and instream flows, certainly needs to be part of the solution. Combatting tamarisk and other invasive plants in western riparian zones is not only less expensive than most structural alternatives for producing more water supplies, it also serves the dual purpose of restoring native ecosystems.

While it certainly makes sense to focus efforts on saltcedar, saltcedar is not the only invasive species that is featured in the nightmares of western water resource managers. Invasive zebra mussels and the closely related quagga mussels are already established in the lower

Irrigation Leader

Colorado River system.

Among other problems they pose, they have the potential to clog up irrigation works and hydroelectric facilities.

As a result, many western state governments are working hard to keep these mussels out of their waterbodies, having seen the multibillion-dollar economic problems these mollusks are causing for midwestern water utilities, industrial facilities, and recreationists. For instance, Arizona now requires boaters to clean, drain, and dry boats that have been on infected waters. Again, lawmakers are taking notice. “I am a strong supporter of the ‘Don’t Move a Mussel’ campaign promoted by Arizona Game and Fish,” observed Congressman Gosar.

Boat decontamination or inspection programs like Arizona’s are blossoming across the West to reduce the risks of recreational boaters accidentally transporting the invasive mussels from already-infested waterbodies.

While certainly serious problems, invasive species like tamarisk and zebra mussels can be effectively controlled by pursuing a combination of new innovative technological solutions and old-fashioned cooperative action by the public and private sectors.

Scott Cameron is president of the Reduce Risks from Invasive Species Coalition, a nonprofit organization promoting nonregulatory solutions to invasive species problems. Scott is based in Washington, DC, and can be reached at scott.cameron@rrisc.org.

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A Model for Public-Private Partnerships: The Odessa Ground Water Replacement Program

The Cooperation Continues as Construction Begins

By Mike Schwisow

T

he Odessa Ground Water Replacement Program, an effort in Washington State to avert an environmental and economic crisis looming for over 90,000 highly productive irrigated acres, continues to be a model of creative problem solving by private and federal, state, and local government partners. A decade ago, the depletion of the Odessa Subarea aquifer came into sharper focus as deep well failures began occurring at an increasing rate. The Columbia Basin Development League, the nongovernmental organization advocate for the Columbia Basin Project, site of most of the aquifer, held workshops to draw attention to the issue and to encourage development of solutions.

At that time, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation already had a strong track record of working closely with the State of Washington’s Department of Ecology on a variety of projects. So when Ecology approached Reclamation and the three irrigation districts that operate and maintain the Columbia Basin Project to see whether they were interested in

developing a broader working relationship, they got a positive response. The agreement to work together on a variety of projects was formalized in late 2004 when Governor Locke, Reclamation Regional Director Bill McDonald, and the irrigation district board presidents signed a memorandum of understanding.

Finding solutions for the Odessa aquifer depletion through replacement with Reclamation’s Columbia Basin Project water supplies was one of the initial and largest undertakings set out in the agreement. Seven years later, Reclamation Regional Director Lorri Lee signed a record of decision approving the preferred alternative for construction, subject to availability of funds. The trip to that point was not an easy one—it required patience and perseverance. A steady flow of funding was required to run the gauntlet, which included the Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines process required by the Office of Management and Budget for water-related studies. This review is rigorous and designed to set a high bar for federal participation in water projects.

Crews continue to work on widening the East Low Canal, part of the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District's Odessa Ground Water Replacement Program.

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Irrigation Leader

Fortunately, the study partners were committed and the study was completed. The task was made more complex thanks to a trip to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to resolve challenges to the National Environmental Policy Act procedure used to access project water rights. An additional challenge was to complete an Endangered Species Act section 7 consultation and biological opinion

by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries on additional withdrawals of Columbia River water (home to listed salmon species).

Record of decision in hand, studies, consultations, and court challenges complete, it was time to build the project.

The preferred alternative laid out a plan to deliver water to current deep-well-irrigated lands through a series of pump stations and pipelines from the existing East Low Canal (ELC). The plan was straightforward; the only problem was that the method for capitalizing Reclamation projects through congressional appropriations no longer existed.

It was time to find a new way to get the job done.

The project has two basic components: expand the existing ELC for delivery capacity along its entire length and construct pump station and pipeline systems to convey water to farms using groundwater. Engineer cost estimates had ELC expansion at $75,000,000 and the lateral systems at $700,000,000.

The State of Washington has much at stake, with 90,000 acres of irrigated land, thousands of jobs, and hundreds of millions in economic activity at risk. The state legislature responded with $31,700,000 to begin work on the ELC. The East Columbia Basin Irrigation District, which has Odessa aquifer lands in its service area, took the lead to find financing for development of the lateral systems using irrigation district revenue bonds.

With some funding in hand, the challenge was to find the most expedient, economical way to begin construction.

The partners (Reclamation, Ecology, and East District) developed another agreement on construction: • Project facilities are owned by the United

States, so Reclamation needed to provide

design, oversight, and approval for construction

on its facilities.

• Ecology provided the funding through a grant

to East District.

Irrigation Leader

East District hired staff and acquired equipment to begin expansion as soon as the canal was dry following irrigation season.

East District chose to do the work in-house to have better control over costs and uncertainties encountered during construction. This strategy paid off, as the district was able to accomplish its goal of expanding the first 13 miles, pulling over a million cubic yards of earth and rock out of the canal. Existing state funding will allow completion of canal expansion for the final 30 miles during the 2014–2015 season. Keeping the work in-house has also allowed East District to contain costs, with expenses coming in at half the initial projected cost. Money saved will go toward completion of the five siphons and the dozen bridges needed to complete this portion of the project.

East District, at the same time, has begun the process of meeting with deep-well landowners to design delivery systems. Eligibility to receive water is limited to those lands in the project currently using groundwater. Delivery systems that growers can afford to repay have to be developed, so they are willing to enter into water service contracts with East District. Those repayment contracts will become the security for the revenue bonds.

The Odessa Ground Water Replacement Program has proven to be a shining example of government cooperation in a public-private partnership in which the partners are firmly fixed on a jointly identified goal to solve a problem.

Mike Schwisow, Schwisow and Associates. He may be contacted at (360) 705-1975 or mschwisow@aol.com.

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Actively Managing New Mexico’s Water

By Peter Wirth and John Ryan

T

here has been a lot of talk over the years about a call on the river, also known as a priority call, being the ultimate solution to ongoing water shortages in New Mexico. According to New Mexico law, in times of shortage a senior downstream water user has the right to a full allotment of water and the right to ask the state engineer and our courts to enforce the priority of water rights on the river by shutting down junior upstream water users. As water shortage in the Southwest becomes the new normal, the talk persists. While the priority call may work on paper, the practical and economic consequences can be devastating.

Under a priority call, the senior water right holder rarely obtains the water he or she needs in a timely manner. Since legal proceedings require due process for all parties, court actions take time. A crop can be lost in a matter of days or weeks. Thus, winning in court does not mean winning in the field. To compound the problem, many of the water rights in our state have not been fully adjudicated, meaning water users do not have court-approved rights that dictate the amount they are entitled to and their priority date.

Rather, a priority call may be a less-than-zero-sum game—both the junior users and senior user lose— and everybody is worse off and poorer to boot. And, given that cities and towns are often the most junior of water rights holders, there are strong disincentives to cutting off drinking water to thousands of New Mexicans every time nature fails to deliver enough water at the right time or in the right place.

New Mexico needs a more rational and efficient response to water shortages.

One response to this lose-lose approach to water management was the development of active water resource management (AWRM), created in response to the legislature’s 2003 law directing the state engineer to develop an administrative process to manage the waters of the state. AWRM received the go-ahead from the New Mexico Supreme Court in November 2012 and is now being implemented by the state engineer. It is worth looking at how AWRM addresses the problem of overappropriation in times of shortage and the advantages the program offers over a call on the river approach.

AWRM still requires the state engineer to administer water rights in accordance with the priority

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Irrigation Leader

of those rights. Direct-flow administration, storage water administration, and depletion limit administration, three of the four methods for implementing AWRM, all depend on watermasters in each water district protecting senior users in times of shortage in accordance with the priority of those rights. However, the fourth administrative form, alternative administration, allows owners of junior water rights to enter into agreements with willing senior water rights holders who temporarily forgo using their water so that the junior user will not be cut off during times of shortage.

Likewise, shortage-sharing agreements between communities may also be implemented under alternative administration rules, which encourage water rights owners to collaborate in working out such agreements in lieu of strict priority enforcement. AWRM, then, is in effect a carrot-and-stick approach to water management. The stick of strict priority administration should encourage the carrot of shortage sharing, where cooperation and collaboration are much less likely to result in a lose-lose situation.

AWRM is already working to avoid priority calls and the long-term damage to relationships that invariably occurs when communities stop talking and start fighting over water.

The end of June 2013 marked the driest 36-month period in New Mexico’s recorded history. This reduced the water available to the Rio Chama Acequia Association (RCAA) and the Associación de Acequia Norteñas de Rio Arriba (AN) to a near-historic low from June through August 2013. Downstream from the AN, members of the RCAA hold water rights dating back to 1600. The upstream AN hold water rights dating back to only the mid‑1800s. With little natural flow in the Rio Chama downstream of the AN, members of the AN faced the threat of a call on the river.

In 2012, the AN participated in a voluntary curtailment test of its diversions to help assist the state engineer and Interstate Stream Commission staff in determining the effect of curtailed use on downstream flows, setting the stage for negotiations with downstream senior users in the future. In 2013, the RCAA and the AN hosted separate public meetings to determine a way to share the little water available. For the RCAA, this included shutting off ditches for certain time periods each week and reducing diversions during the remaining time to about half the normal amounts. For the AN, the plan included reducing diversions in an attempt to keep certain amounts of water flowing downstream for the RCAA and to gather more data on flows and diversions. Both groups, working with the state engineer and the Interstate Stream Commission, coordinated to purchase San Juan Chama Project water from various San Juan Chama Project contractors to offset their use of water in times of future drought.

In short, instituting AWRM, with its emphasis on Irrigation Leader

actively administering the waters of the state by metering, measuring, and accounting for the water we all use; by monitoring and enforcing compliance with water district rules; and most importantly, by encouraging cooperation and collaboration in times of shortages is a more rational approach to water management than a call on the river approach.

Peter Wirth represents Senate District 25 (Santa Fe). He is a member of the Water and Natural Resources Interim Committee and chairs the Senate Conservation Committee. He is also an attorney at Sawtell, Wirth & Biedscheid, PC, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. You can reach Peter at (505) 690‑6697.

John Ryan represents Senate District 10 (Albuquerque and Rio Rancho).

He is the ranking member of the Senate Conservation Committee.

He also owns Capitol Consultants, a consulting business with offices in New Mexico and Washington, DC. You can reach John at (505) 238‑3733.

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District Focus

Brownsville Irrigation District

BID main office.

By Arturo Cabello Jr.

B

rownsville Irrigation District (BID) serves 20,000 irrigated acres of cabbage, corn, cotton, and other crops at the end of the Rio Grande River. In fact, BID has the last weir in the Rio Grande River. We pump directly from the river through a 72‑inch diameter line to two different resacas, or reservoirs. A system of buried concrete and PVC pipelines distributes water from the resacas to the fields. The district currently has approximately 160 miles of active pipeline.

In the mid-1960s, the district received a bond and most of the open canal infrastructure was placed underground. In 2004, BID received grants to place the last open canal underground. The system is very efficient but is constantly being monitored for leaks.

As a result, many concrete pipes have been replaced with PVC pipe.

BID is fully automated through a SCADA system that includes flow meters, automated gates, and other devices. The SCADA system keeps track of water and alerts us to any discrepancies, eliminating the misuse of water. This has helped BID conserve water throughout the years.

BID has an excellent geographic information system (GIS). The district has been able to compile a lot of information from different sources, which has helped produce a variety of maps, including maps of active and nonactive lines, easements, water deliveries, 28

crops per year, soil types, parcel information, and many others. BID has the capability to have the maps online using Arc Online, and it can use the Arc Collector to GPS the district’s infrastructure in the field using smartphones and tablets. It has helped immensely with proposing new projects to the board of directors.

The Importance of Timing

This year started off somewhat rough for BID. Pumping started relatively late in the year—in late February—because of steady rains. Of course, that is good for the farmers, and the reservoirs remained full.

Orders for water from the watermaster took an extra 8 days; it usually takes about 7 to 10 days for the water to travel from Falcon Dam down to the district. From the top end of the weir, the water was about 4–5 feet below where it is supposed to be and was unable to be pumped. The watermaster determined that there had been illegal pumping on Mexico’s side. Unfortunately, nothing could be done.

The farmers were told that they had to let the district know within a week or two, at best, when they needed water deliveries. BID is the last district along the river, so if the water is not used, it is lost. BID has not received any no-charge, or excess, water this year. In years when excess water is available, instead of letting it run into the gulf, it is usually pumped.

That water does not impact the account with the watermaster.

There is a gauge at the lower end of the weir that Irrigation Leader

should read at least 7⁄10 of a meter for the district to be able to pump from the river. The district has three pumps at the pump plant that divert water from the river. The pumps include two 45 cubic-feet-per-second pumps and one 90 cubic-feet-per-second pump. Depending on demand, the district can run the pumps two or three weeks nonstop, unless the river runs out of water. That has happened to the district a couple of times this year.

BID would be scheduled to run for seven days and, on the fourth day, would have to shut down.

Tidal Impacts

Farmers who pump from the river south of BID’s weir have to deal with saltwater intrusion. Those individuals have adjudication numbers and are allowed to divert water from the river. On the south side of the weir, the flow of the river depends on the tides. The tides can cause complications with the orders to the watermaster. When the tides are in, the watermaster’s telemetry may indicate that the rights holders should have water, but in actuality, there is no water in the river. The district has had to take some short videos and pictures to show there was no water in the river. People would be able to walk across and not get wet.

Security Concerns

The district does have some security concerns. We’ve had a lot of people crossing the border and moving through the district. Border patrol covers our perimeters and the pump station. Officers from the border patrol have done a good job when they are present, but they are not a permanent presence. Once border patrol leaves, the people come out. We have discussed with our board raising the height of the fences facing the river around the pump station. The district’s pump manager and his family live out there.

This is something that we deal with on a daily basis.

Fortunately, the district has not experienced any instances of injury due to border crossings. The district has fencing all along the pump intakes. There is more that BID continues to do to make district premises more visible, including clearing brush away from fence lines and adding more lighting. The cleaner it is, fewer border crossers are going to try to go through the area.

Future Projects

The district is trying to find a good leak detection system to help identify the locations of system water loss.

There can be so many leaks in a pipeline segment, it is more cost effective to replace an entire concrete pipeline segment with PVC pipe rather than try to fix every pipe joint.

I would like to see improvements in our pump stations.

Irrigation Leader

BID pump station.

They have been out there since the mid-1960s. We have added more land and pipeline to the district, so BID is having pumping capacity issues. We’ve commissioned a study on one of the district’s pump stations, which has reinforced the determination that the district needs a new pump station for that area. Unfortunately, it is expensive, so we are applying for grants from different agencies to procure the funding to get the necessary work done.

Arturo Cabello Jr. has been BID general manager since October 2012.

Prior to becoming general manager, he worked for seven years as a GIS technician for the district and as a GIS analyst for an engineering firm. You can reach Arturo at (956) 831­­-8462.

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Irrigated Crops

Hatch Valley Onions

T

he waters of the Rio Grande, aided by the infrastructure of irrigation, have cultivated green the desert of the Hatch Valley for almost 100 years. The valley is best known for the spicy hot chiles that flavor foods and products nationwide, but is home to an equally vibrant onion industry. In 2013, onions generated $40 million in the state of New Mexico.

The Layers of a Family The Franzoys came to the Hatch Valley in the early 1900s. Italian immigrant Joseph Franzoy reclaimed a swath of swampy bosque along a stretch of the Rio Grande near Salem for growing vegetables and grain to make a better life for his 10 children. Hard work and a strong faith—and a gift for growing hot chiles— helped his farm and family grow. Today, you’ll find hundreds of Franzoys from Las Cruces to Elephant Butte Dam. Onions are a Franzoy family affair. At the onion packing and shipping shed of Chile River, Inc., you’ll find the granddaughters and grandsons of Jerry Franzoy—one of Joseph’s grandchildren—lending a helping hand. You’ll also find Jerry’s daughter-in-law

Amanda Franzoy and father-in-law, Jerry Franzoy, in the packing shed.

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Conveyor belt taking onions to the sorter, and workers engaged in quality control.

Irrigation Leader

Amanda running an efficient and exacting operation and cousin Victoria Franzoy managing sales and shipments.

Jerry and his son Shayne farm 1050 acres of vegetables; grain; cotton; chile; alfalfa; and, of course, onions—red, white, and yellow varieties. Vertically integrated through the Chile River packing shed, the Franzoys deliver onions from the Hatch Valley to the rest of the country.

Desert Innovation The Chile River facility is a high-tech operation—on the packinghouse floor, there are identification tags on all of the onion bins; an electronic sorter that separates onions by size and quality; and a Symach palletizer that automatically bags, stacks, and wraps the onions for shipment. Much of this technology was adopted to meet customer demands for the highest standards in food handling practices. Fewer hands involved in the packing process translates to increased food safety. Bin tracking allows for source-of-origin inquiries. To meet those ends and to ensure the utmost care in food handling, Amanda oversees the safety and sanitation of the facility in accordance with Good Agricultural Practices.

In an office adjoining the packing floor, Shayne monitors and disburses his water allotments from Elephant Butte Irrigation District with TruePoint Solutions software on his desktop. The combination of efficient water delivery, drip irrigation, and groundwater pumping has enabled the Franzoys to grow robust onion crops, despite the challenges of a decade’s worth of drought. Jerry attributes drip with maximizing the efficiency of his water use and increasing his yields.

Making the Most of What Is Given It is in the cool of the early mornings of early July when hundreds of field hands, under the glow of headlamps, methodically hand top fields of onions before the unforgiving desert sun rises. But it is the heat of the midday sun, together with the life-giving Rio Grande and uniquely rich floodplain, that forges the bold flavors of Hatch onions. Those conditions also helped to forge a family that made its mark on agriculture in New Mexico.

Chile River’s labels include Nu Mex Finest, Apache Sweets, and Desert Jewels. For produce sales and more information on Chile River, call Victoria Franzoy at (575) 267-3043.

Jerry Franzoy and EBID Treasurer-Manager Gary Esslinger in one of Jerry’s onion fields.

Irrigation Leader

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The Innovators

The Pivot Fence

34

I

n 2010, the run-up in forage prices caused a stir in the feeder community. At a University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) Extension meeting, cattlemen in western Nebraska expressed concern about how best to handle increased prices. They were losing money. So to reduce costs, Jason Gross, UNL Extension project coordinator livestock producer, suggested that that the cattlemen go back to a grazing system and cut out all the machine components of a feedlot. A return to grazing had the potential to not only reduce feedlot labor and maintenance costs but to eliminate common feedlot issues, such as the connection between manure and surface water.

That meeting set the wheels in motion. Jason developed his ideas about grazing with pivots to create a cost-saving solution for feeders. Ultimately, that solution was to address the problem of cross fencing. He had to address forage overconsumption and the tendency of animals to trample too much. “If you want to put 200 calves on a quarter section— without control you are going to have problems with a lot of loss.” He accounted for the large number of center pivots in Nebraska and the frozen soils of the winter months.

Mr. Gross developed the Pivot Fence as an attachment piece to fit on a variety of models of the pivots of the four major manufacturers. Components include truss rod hangers, drive pipe clamps, the automatic wire tension system, and the last tower

anchor with a connection to perimeter fence. “We developed and tested the parts through the UNL Extension and let the cattlemen use the prototypes in the field.” The design is patent pending through a UNL patent application, and it is licensed and marketed through Mr. Gross’s private company, High Plains Solutions. The parts are manufactured by Eilers Machine and Welding in Nebraska.

The fence units are reusable. If a rancher wants to graze off three pivot quarters, it is possible to attach a unit onto one center pivot and then drive the animals onto the next quarter. So not every pivot needs its own separate attachment. According to Mr. Gross, fences for center pivots that run a quarter-mile long and have seven towers can be put up by two people in about 45 minutes and torn down in another 45.

The fence design accounted for potential compaction issues in which there may be too much forage and too many animals out in the field.

However, as Mr. Gross noted, “if you have 2 or 3 tons of foraging, you probably will not have enough calves out there for compaction. Calves especially don’t get too far away from the pivot, nor do they go to where they grazed before. They’ll be waiting for that pivot.”

Irrigation Leader

The Pivot Fence has been on the market since late 2013 and has already brought in repeat customers. As Jason noted, “It is kind of a foreign idea, especially to those farmers who are used to $6 or $7 a bushel for corn. But now more people are into managing and grazing calves with some cover crop, and they are seeing the value of building soil health.” Mr. Gross noted that the fence would be truly useful for producers who graze corn stalks with excessive downed ears, especially in years of wind and hail damage, and for those who irrigate wheat fields that use postharvest cover crops.

Unit costs depend on pivot span length and the tension of the wire—because as the pivot moves through the field, the wire contracts and expands under a spring-loaded tension that automatically controls the slack. So if you have to go uphill in the field, the truss rod hangers adjust the wire height automatically—sometimes pushing the wire down and sometimes picking the wire up. Based on those factors, a unit can cost anywhere from $150 to $200 a tower.

For Mr. Gross, “Our main goal was to get the manure in the fields where it should be. Right now, many farmers are raising forages in one area, freighting them back to the farm, and then hauling manure back to the fields. With the Pivot Fence, it can be done in one process.” In fact, using the latest technology in center pivot wireless controls and depending on how the fence line is set up, it is possible to feed livestock without leaving the house.

Field studies have shown that a side benefit of the Pivot Fence is a significant reduction of stress levels of the calves. Incidents of sickness are reduced. They become easier to handle. Mr. Gross noted, “We knew it would happen but not so dramatically. From a health and a comfort standpoint, these calves are in good shape.”

Wire insulator on pivot tower.

Fence drop-down support.

High Plains Solutions, LLC, is a private company that provides new technology design in fencing and livestock water systems. The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers recently awarded High Plains Solutions an AE50 award for the Pivot Fence as one of the most innovative designs in engineering products or systems for the food and agriculture industries.

For more information about the Pivot Fence, contact Jason Gross at (308) 539-2075 or gross.cattle@gmail.com, or visit www.thepivotfence.com.

Electric fence with spring tension.

Irrigation Leader

35

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e c n e r e f n o lC a u n n A 4 1 0 2 A November 12–14, 2014 R NW The Hotel Del Coronado ~ Coronado, California

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Tickets to these events are included in all attendee registrations.

$595 - Member registration (on or before 10/31/14)

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$50 - Additional headliner breakfast ticket - 11/14

$695 - Nonmember registration (after 10/31/14)

NOTE: All registration packages include hosted welcome reception on 11/12/14, headliner breakfasts on 11/13/14 and 11/14/14, awards luncheon on 11/13/14, and all meeting materials. Purchase of additional tickets is only necessary for those not registered to attend the conference to join you at those events.

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Room reservations can be made by calling 1-800-468-3533. The Hotel Del Coronado requires room reservations to be made by October 11, 2014. Identify yourself as part of the National Water Resources Association group to receive special room pricing of $280.00 per night plus tax of 10.68% and a $22 daily resort charge. A deposit equal to the room rate and tax for the first and last night for each reservation is required when making your room reservation. All cancellations must be received on or before October 11, 2014, to have deposit refunded.

If a reservation is canceled after October 11, 2014, the deposit will be forfeited.

Please mail or fax form: NWRA, 4 E Street SE, Washington, DC, 20003 (202) 698-0694 (fax)

2014 CALENDAR August 13–14 August 20–22 August 21 August 26–28 October 14–16 October 15–17 October 28 October 28–30

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Assn. of California Water Agencies, Regulatory Summit, South Lake Tahoe, CA Colorado Water Congress, Summer Conference, Snowmass Village, CO Columbia Basin Development League, Water Day, Royal City, WA Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts, Groundwater Summit, San Marcos, TX Nevada Water Resources Assn., Fall Symposium, Reno, NV Texas Water Conservation League, Fall Meeting, San Antonio, TX Utah Water Users Assn., 21st Annual Water Summit, Provo, UT Montana Water Resources Assn. & Upper Missouri Water Assn., Joint Annual Conference and Educational Seminar, Billings, MT Columbia Basin Development League, 50th Annual Meeting, Moses Lake, WA Idaho Water Users Assn., Water Law Seminar, Boise, ID National Water Resources Assn., Annual Conference, Coronado, CA Irrigation Assn., Irrigation Show and Education Conference, Phoenix, AZ Assn. of California Water Agencies, Fall Conference & Exhibition, San Diego, CA USCID Water Management Conference, Phoenix, AZ North Dakota Water Convention and Irrigation Workshop, Bismarck, ND Washington State Water Resources Assn., Annual Conference, Spokane, WA

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