Irrigation Leader Washington State April 2020

VOLUME 11 ISSUE 4 WASHINGTON STATE EDITION

april 2020

Washington Tours New Zealand

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CONTENTS APRIL 2020 Volume 11 Issue 4

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

an American company established in 2009.

STAFF: Kris Polly, Editor-in-Chief Joshua Dill, Managing Editor Tyler Young, Writer Stephanie Biddle, Graphic Designer Eliza Moreno, Web Designer/Tour Photographer Caroline Polly, Tour Photographer Abbey Lloyd, Media Intern Milo Schmitt, Media Intern

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Reflections on the Tour Experience

5 I rrigation Leader Tours New Zealand

By Kris Polly

30 H ow Agri-Inject’s Fertigation Technology Can Prevent Nitrate Leaching

8 2 020 New Zealand Irrigation Education and Trade Tour

34 T he Water Education Foundation: Helping Professionals and the Public Understand Western Water

9 R eflections on the Tour Experience 20 A Cultural Exchange Between Washington State and New Zealand

47 CLASSIFIEDS

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 managing editor, Joshua Dill, at joshua.dill@waterstrategies.com.

Copyright © 2020 Water Strategies LLC. Irrigation Leader relies on the excellent contributions of a variety of natural resources professionals who provide content for the magazine. However, the views and opinions expressed by these contributors are solely those of the original contributor and do not necessarily represent or reflect the policies or positions of Irrigation Leader magazine, its editors, or Water Strategies LLC. The acceptance and use of advertisements in Irrigation Leader do not constitute a representation or warranty by Water Strategies LLC or Irrigation Leader magazine regarding the products, services, claims, or companies advertised. /IrrigationLeader

Coming soon in Irrigation Leader: May: Israel Do you have a story idea for an upcoming issue? Contact our editor-in-chief, Kris Polly, at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

4 | IRRIGATION LEADER

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COVER PHOTO:

The Irrigation Leader tour group.

All tour photos taken by Eliza Moreno and Caroline Polly.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ELIZA MORENO AND CAROLINE POLLY.

26 Planning

the Irrigation Leader Tour of New Zealand

40 Enforcing

Washington’s Screening Requirements Through Cooperative Compliance

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.

Irrigation Leader Tours New Zealand

By Kris Polly

N

ew Zealand is a country of gracious people, amazing scenery, and highly productive irrigated agriculture.

New Zealanders, or Kiwis, face many of the same irrigation challenges that Americans do, though in some cases they have come up with new and innovative solutions that Americans can learn from. All this was on display during Irrigation Leader’s New Zealand irrigation education and trade tour, which took place from February 22 to 27.

A total of 34 participants, our largest tour group ever, traversed the beautiful South Island, visiting irrigated pastures, farms, indigenous Māori communities, apiaries, vineyards, cities, and sites of natural beauty. Along the way, we saw gravityfed ponds, automated gates, aquifer recharge facilities, and dam construction work and talked to farmers, businesspeople, local officials, indigenous leaders, and innovators.

This month’s issue of Irrigation Leader features the reflections of our tour participants, as well as an interview with Mel Brooks, the chief executive of MHV Water Limited, a New Zealand irrigation scheme (district), and one of the planners of our tour, on how she selected the sites. Phil Rigdon of Washington State’s Yakama Nation also shares his thoughts on the group’s visit to Arowhenua Marae, a Māori community.

We also feature an interview with Erik Tribelhorn of AgriInject, which produces fertigation equipment that can help farmers in the United States and New Zealand achieve a better yield while reducing nitrate runoff. We hear from Jenn Bowles of the Water Education Foundation on her valuable organization and the tours it runs within the United States. Finally, Daniel Didricksen of the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife talks with us about the department’s cooperative

compliance approach to fish screening.

Irrigation Leader’s tour to New Zealand was fun, stimulating, and highly educational. This will come through in the reflections that our participants have written for this issue. The value of the ideas gained, things seen, and relationships developed on these tours cannot be overstated.

What I have observed on past tours, and especially on this tour, is that people come together in a way that does not happen in regular business interactions. Shared experiences cause them to see each other as people; friendships develop and differences fade into the background. Common interests are discovered, and conversations become the open dialogue of ideas that is key to developing win-win solutions. The tours build trust and bring people together—especially if you put them together, shoulder to shoulder, in a rock-dodging jet boat!

A very special thanks is due to our New Zealand friends and hosts, Mel Brooks and Hamish Howard, for organizing such a great tour and being wonderful ambassadors of their beautiful country.

I hope this issue gives you a taste of this valuable experience and whets your appetite to come with us on our next irrigation education and trade tour—Israel in June 2021. IL Kris Polly is editor-in-chief of Irrigation Leader magazine and president of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

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2 Ashburton: The group met the mayor of Ashburton, New Zealand, at the offices of Irrigo Centre, a shared administrative service for four irrigation schemes, where they also learned about Irrigo and its services.

The group went on a driving tour of the schemes’ raceways and gravity-fed ponds.

3 Arowhenua Marae: The Māori hosted a group gathering, where tour participants got an inside look at Māori culture.

4

4 Eyrewell Forest: The group toured the governmentowned Pamu Farms.

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5 Hanmer Springs: The tour group visited a cattle yard owned by the Ngāi Tahu iwi (Māori tribe), which they operate according to their beliefs.

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8 Nelson: The group was given a presentation by Waimea Water on plans for the construction of the Waimea Dam.

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1 Lincoln: At Lincoln University, the group attended presentations given by local water companies. The group also had the opportunity to tour a deer-milking farm and learned how farmers have been able to domesticate deer and create products from their milk.

7 Blenheim: The tour group visited Taylor Pass Apiary and learned about its bee populations and honey production. The group also visited an irrigated winery and learned how it delivers water to its vines.

6 Kaikoura: The group enjoyed New Zealand’s amazing scenery on the beaches of Kaikoura.

Reflections on the Tour Experience

PHOTOS COURTESY OF IRRIGATION LEADER.

A view of Lyttelton Harbor, near Christchurch, New Zealand.

Brian Betcher General Manager (Retired), Maricopa-Stanfield Irrigation and Drainage District, Pinal County, Arizona Being recently retired from many years of irrigation district management, my focus was somewhat different for this trip. I took more note of bigpicture comparisons between what I saw in New Zealand and the water world of Arizona. Upon my return home, I reflected on the benefits of having served a district that benefited from having one of its main sources of water be a river system that has tremendous storage. That created wonderful operational reliability and resiliency—the system is still half full after a 25-year drought. System

automation and state-of-the-art water measurement are already part of my professional experience, and as such, I was surprised that some things have not been done much yet in New Zealand.

I was amazed that only 2Â percent of the water supply is put to beneficial use. This may speak to a lack of system storage, which only now is gaining traction. There are areas that run short of water due to the run of the river or lack of operational storage and other controls to regulate supplies when they are needed. On the other hand, the dramatic elevation changes on the river systems provide energy-free pressurization for many on-farm systems, which is a huge benefit to farm economics. It appears to be better to be uphill on the system for reliability. The relationship between tribal water rights and interests and private-sector needs is similar to what we face in Arizona. There does seem to be a more holistic approach among stakeholders to sharing IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

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common supplies. Observing some of the land use on those steep mountain slopes was enlightening as well.

The building of relationships among the group on the tour, and with our hosts Mel Brooks and Hamish Howard, was extremely valuable. In the end, progress is made and great things are accomplished through work with good people. We visited a land with breathtaking scenery that is literally flowing with milk and honey (and wine and deer cheese—amazing!). The people of New Zealand are friendly, welcoming, funny, and engaging with a well-balanced pride in their country, products, and practices. The food was wonderful. The entire trip had a great balance of facts and fun! Going back is not an if but a when!

Dale Cramer Director, Frenchman-Cambridge Irrigation District, Cambridge, Nebraska One of the things I was interested in seeing prior to the trip was gravity-fed holding ponds, which are fed by irrigation schemes’ canals and can be used to put water back into their canal systems later on. Seeing them gave me ideas for what we might be able to do at some point in our system. If we built something

10 | IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF IRRIGATION LEADER.

Dairy cows at Pamu Farms.

like that, we would have to do it a little differently due to our topography, but the result would be similar.

We stopped one day at Lincoln University. There was a discussion about trying to make plants produce some of their own nitrogen. I had heard about that in the past, but they told us that the concept is getting closer to reality.

The people of New Zealand are environmentally conscious and are using a common-sense approach to achieve their goals. They are more concerned with managing their nitrogen and reducing leaching than about water conservation, as New Zealand has a good supply of water in most areas.

It was interesting to observe how they produce their milk. Here in the United States, most dairies try to achieve maximum production to remain profitable. In New Zealand, they rotationally graze their cow herd on grass, and the cattle are not in confinement. Their rate of production is quite a bit lower than in the United States, but they have managed to lower their cost of production to a point at which they can be competitive. They lower their cost of production to economic levels, whereas in the United States we raise our production to higher levels to try to be profitable.

On any trip like this, the friendships that develop and the information that is exchanged are priceless. The participants came from a wide range of backgrounds. Another great trip with Water Strategies!

Honey from the Taylor Pass Apiary.

Craig Gyselinck Environmental Assistant Manager, Quincy–Columbia Basin Irrigation District, Quincy, Washington The spirt of New Zealanders is the result of a place that knows how to produce. They put trust in their land to make harvest each year and have innovated ways to share the abundance of their orchards, vineyards, dairies, and apiaries around the world. I was struck by a community that stood behind a vision of caring for its lands and to creating the potential to always do better. They embrace technology in their irrigation schemes and farms in ways that permit more efficient operations and cut waste— this is my biggest takeaway and one which I will bring back with me to the Quincy–Columbia Basin Irrigation District.

were quickly surpassed. We saw canals and agriculture, but we experienced so much more. I am interested in how people adapt to their environment. New Zealand is distinctive in that its recorded history dates back to when the first peoples, the Māori, arrived. The island’s prehistory does not include human inhabitants. It is human nature to alter the ecosystems we live in to better serve our needs and desires. European colonization in recent centuries introduced plants and animal species that flourished in the microclimates across the islands to the detriment of indigenous species. New Zealand has committed to preserving the native species with a number of restoration efforts. The volcanoes that formed the islands were a familiar geologic landscape to me—many of the formations are similar to those of Washington State and Oregon. Seeing the introduced pine and fir trees I see daily in the Pacific Northwest had me forgetting I was on the other side of the world. With all the great memories of the tour, it’s hard to beat the thrilling jet boat ride on the Waiau River.

Justin Harter District Manager, NachesSelah Irrigation District, Selah, Washington Choosing the highlight of what I saw and experienced on the tour of New Zealand is a challenge.

The landscape is only matched by the welcoming Kiwis who call it home. My expectations for the tour

Hamish Howard Managing Director, Assura Software, New Zealand I learned that a lot of the challenges faced by those in the American irrigated agriculture industry are similar to the ones faced in New Zealand: efficient delivery, consistent supply, and the growing pressures of environmental IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

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The group visits Kaikoura Beach.

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Marilyn and Bill Kennedy Bill—Natural Resource Resource Producer and Board Member, The Family Farm Alliance, Klamath County, Oregon, and Glenn County, California What a fantastic tour of irrigated agriculture in New Zealand. We had a friendly and diversified group of producers and managers meeting informative and gracious hosts throughout the South Island. The tour ranged from large dairy producers to private vintners and milking deer herdsmen.

Imagine drinking a fresh glass of deer milk! Of course, we drove right through some of the most amazing timber production and active forest management in this world. How refreshing!

The underlying thought for me is how important it is to work with our communities and to diversify our production and interests. New Zealanders are embracing the needs of all and implementing solutions that are truly innovative.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF IRRIGATION LEADER.

regulation and compliance. My hope is that the tour party learned a bit about how we’re tackling those issues in New Zealand by engaging with end users and stakeholders—the public, the native Māori people, etc.—and how we’re using technology, where appropriate, to drive accountability and efficiency.

What was pleasantly surprising for me was just how well everyone got along and how much fun everyone had. When you have a group as large as the one we had, it’s tough to cater to everyone’s interests, and inevitably there are a few personalities that are like oil and water. The participants all came with open minds and were willing to learn and share their ideas and experiences with us, which was incredibly valuable.

One of the coolest things about the trip actually took place after the tour had ended. One of the engineers on the tour had his girlfriend come over to join him, and they went and climbed Mount Aspiring together, and he proposed to her after they reached the summit. Fortunately, she said yes—otherwise it might have been a long and awkward descent. Congratulations, Craig!

Accepting background water conditions as pristine and addressing the issues of nitrate leaching makes for truly holistic resource management. New Zealand is a country with abundant water, yet producers still struggle for water supply, security, and reliability. The abandonment of the doctrine of prior appropriations points natural resource producers to on-farm water conservation and private offstream storage. As in our western states, the result is a reduction in or elimination of return flows. Our western water law is vital as a basis for solutions.

Shane M. Leonard General Manager, Roosevelt Water Conservation District, Mesa, Arizona First, I want to give Mel Brooks, Hamish Howard of Assura Software, Kris Polly, and the entire Water Strategies staff a tremendous thank you for the planning and effort it took to shepherd more than 30 people on a whirlwind tour. While there were many aspects of the tour I found exceedingly useful for my district, the most significant thing I took from the journey was the collective efforts of the water providers and their customers in resolving shared and public water issues like quality, quantity, and funding. I am certain that I have not visited a water managed area where everyone’s collective efforts were as pronounced in solving the matters at hand as they were in New Zealand. I found the people of New Zealand to be

gracious, accommodating, and engaged with each other and their surroundings. This was particularly apparent during our lunch with one of the indigenous Māori communities. In short, my expectations for the tour were far exceeded.

Darren McGregor General Manager, North America, Rubicon Water I was glad to be able to see the operations of MHV Water firsthand and take in how automation has improved deliveries, solved disputes, and maximized labor in the scheme. In the states, we have a variety of automation implementation levels—it’s great to see where it can go given the right vision and execution. Thanks to Mel and Sam for walking us through their system!

Jason McShane Engineering and Operations Manager, Kennewick Irrigation District, Kennewick, Washington New Zealand’s farmers and irrigation providers provide an example of excellent stewardship of the land and water resources needed for agricultural production. They are innovative in their thinking and execution of what needs to be done. I was

An irrigation canal operated by MHV Water.

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The group visits Pelorus Gorge.

lower river. In New Zealand, they deliver partial irrigation supply, but they are focused on building a robust system to alleviate times where river supplies run short. I look forward to discussions with our partners in the Yakima basin on projects to benefit in-stream and out-of-stream flows.Â

Kirk Rathbun Board President, Kennewick Irrigation District, Kennewick, Washington Water Strategies put together an amazing tour in New Zealand. It’s hard to imagine it can top the New Zealand experience, but we are already looking forward to the next tour. The benefit I received from the tour was recognizing that even in New Zealand, where water appears abundant, they are building storage to alleviate times of shortage within their schemes. The managers in New Zealand are certainly thinking about the next generation and generations beyond. Witnessing the innovative solutions around water storage at MHV Water was the highlight for me. In the Yakima basin, we are dependent on full water supply each season. Ondistrict storage for Kennewick Irrigation District has significant benefits for meeting current and future irrigation needs in the

Phil Rigdon Deputy Director, Yakama Nation Department of Natural Resources, Toppenish, Washington The highlight of the trip for me was the privilege of participating in a cultural exchange between the local indigenous people of New Zealand at Arowhenua Marae. For me, as someone who comes from a Native American community, the welcoming ceremony was a true honor. In addition to this, it was wonderful to see the beauty of New Zealand, the innovation of their irrigation systems and the technology they use, the uniqueness of their fishing and salmon, and the charisma of the people. I will always remember the crazy jet boat ride and the time at the beach in Kaiteriteri. It was great to get to know the fascinating people on the tour, and I am thankful for this brilliant adventure.

14 | IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF IRRIGATION LEADER.

particularly impressed with their understanding of the need to invest in infrastructure, examples of which are the Carew Ponds reservoir and Waimea Dam. The Carew project highlights an innovative way to provide storage reservoirs at a much lower cost than traditional dam construction.

John Rylaarsdam Director, Quincy–Columbia Basin Irrigation District, Quincy, Washington I think the opportunity to spend time with people with similar problems but different solutions is invaluable. It’s an opportunity to see a challenge turned into an advantage by someone with a different perspective. It’s amazing to see how much water gets delivered in New Zealand with fewer resources. The new technology we were able to see in use, from both Rubicon and Assura, gave me new ideas. The Kiwis are great people and gracious hosts. I find the pragmatic view they have both of themselves and of the rest of the world refreshing. I also appreciated the opportunity to network with people from the United States. The presentation that Phil Rigdon and Tom Tebb gave was good example of this. I took a lot of pride in seeing what was able to be accomplished in our state by people with different ideas but common goals.

Julie and Dave Solem Dave—General Manager, South Columbia Basin Irrigation District, Pasco, Washington The 2020 Irrigation Leader trip to the South Island of New Zealand was an unforgettable experience.

Our Kiwi guides, Mel Brooks and Hamish Howard, were gracious and entertaining. My thanks to

them and to Kris Polly for putting together such an educational tour. We learned that although New Zealand has abundant water, harnessing peak river flows is necessary to advance the production of crops, promote water conservation, and improve water quality. Both off-stream storage and dam construction are critical to the future of New Zealand’s agriculture. New Zealanders are forward thinking, evidence of which we saw and heard over and over with each group presentation and with each producer we met. The cultural influence of the Māori in the relationship of people to the land and water was evident.

The tour group was great, and new friendships were formed.

Traveling by bus from Christchurch to Nelson, we experienced the natural beauty of the country, the welcoming nature of the people, and amazing food. Overall, I found that our countries had many similarities in irrigation water management and that learning from one another is a time- and cost-efficient way to move our industry forward. I definitely recommend a trip like this to anyone in agriculture.

Justin and Dawnie Stewart Dawnie—Director, Roosevelt Water Conservation District, Mesa, Arizona It was an honor to be included in the Water Strategies trip to New Zealand! Kris and his team put together a tour that was not only enjoyable but gave us all a true background and understanding of New Zealand’s culture and how water continues to play an important part in the making of its history. The water quantities are much greater in New Zealand than our water

A Rubicon gate at one of MHV Water’s canal check structures.

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allocations here in the Roosevelt Water Conservation District.

We were inspired by the care and protection of the water practiced by the schemes we visited. Some of those practices and technologies, such as the Rubicon gate system and the Assura software used at the MHV Water scheme, could easily be implemented here in the dry climate of Arizona.

The New Zealand people were more than gracious and were quite willing to share their stories and practices openly. We look forward to opportunity of retuning the hospitality to our new Kiwi friends with a visit to the United States and hope to return across the pond to visit New Zealand again soon!

Steve and Joan Stockton Steve—Senior Advisor, Water Strategies We were impressed by all the insightful and experienced professionals on the New Zealand tour. The knowledge that was shared regarding irrigation schemes and the relevant questions that were

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Tom Tebb Director, Office of Columbia River, Washington State Department of Ecology, Union Gap, Washington After a 13-hour flight from San Francisco, I arrived in Auckland around 7:00 a.m.

New Zealand time as the airport was just coming to life. To stretch my legs, I decided to walk from the international terminal to the domestic terminal for my flight to Christchurch. The sun was just beginning to rise and it was warm—about 80 degrees—so I had a nice, pleasant stroll with my suitcase and backpack.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF IRRIGATION LEADER.

A presentation at Marlborough Vineyard.

asked provided insight for future planning and design, a focus on environmental issues, and hope for future generations. Mel Brooks helped us experience the New Zealand she loves. She provided an educational experience that was accompanied by fun adventures and new friendships.

MHV Water’s gravity-fed Carew Ponds.

The people I met were warm, friendly, and helpful.

After arriving in Christchurch, I had half a day to get settled in at my hotel for the night, near Hagley Park.

I spent the afternoon exploring parts of the town and park. A visit to the museum and a short trip to a few nearby shops filled the rest of the day. Kris and his team were kind enough to invite me and others to an evening rugby match between the Crusaders and Highlanders, which was an incredible experience and fun to watch. The New Zealanders, or Kiwis, love this sport and are proud of their teams. Go, All Blacks! The next day, I traveled to Lincoln and made my way to the restaurant for dinner that evening. It was the kick-off event for the tour and Kris and his team introduced our Kiwi hosts, Mel Brooks and Hamish Howard, and the rest of the tour participants. All of us would form friendships, and we related to one another with incredible ease. Mel and Hamish made the tour fun and informative. They and Kris and the team from Water Strategies did a fantastic job of keeping us on schedule as we enjoyed the incredible scenery along the way. I learned a lot about the level of accuracy at which their water schemes are delivering water and the use of innovative technologies like state-of-the-art Rubicon gates and telemetry systems. I learned how their dairy industry used a smaller animal footprint (1,000 head) to better use their pasture lands and provide comfort for their animals, and I learned about a new culture, the Māori, whose traditions and ancestral culture are still practiced and respected, and whose rights and values are now being respected by local, regional, and national government bodies after a long period of neglect. The northern part of the South Island near Nelson was filled with rolling brown hills covered in vineyards and farms that would make Napa Valley jealous. The trip was truly an experience of a lifetime.

Daniel Tissel Engineer, Kennewick Irrigation District, Kennewick, Washington The stop on the tour that was the most interesting to me was the Carew Ponds. These are three large ponds covering about 370 acres within the MHV Water irrigation scheme (district). Due to their large size, the ponds provide significant storage that can be used in times of water shortage. In addition to the fact that the ponds are filled and emptied using gravity, it was interesting to hear that the very existence of the ponds helps conserve water during normal operation. Before the ponds existed, more water would be consumed when water rationing was anticipated, whereas after the ponds were constructed, consumers knew that there would be a reliable supply even during times of curtailment and did not unnecessarily use extra water beforehand. With regard to dairy farming, one item of interest was, well, the deer milking, but also how concerns over introducing nitrates into the groundwater played such a large role in the farming practices and production methods of the dairy industry.

Duane and Deb Vorderstrasse Duane—Director, Frenchman-Cambridge Irrigation District, Cambridge, Nebraska Deb and I really enjoyed the New Zealand trip. The country is beautiful and interesting. Our hosts were great. They did a wonderful job lining everything up for us to do. From the irrigation projects to the deer milking to the jet boat ride, it was all an entertaining and enjoyable experience. IL IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

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A Cultural Exchange Between Washington State and New Zealand

Phil Rigdon presents to tour participants on the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan.

O

20 | IRRIGATION LEADER

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about yourself and your position.

Phil Rigdon: I am the superintendent of the Yakama Nation Department of Natural Resources. I oversee about 17 programs of the tribe, including water, fisheries, forestry, wildlife, and a few other things.

Irrigation Leader: You were a member of the recent Irrigation Leader tour in New Zealand. Would you tell us why you decided to go on the trip?

Phil Rigdon: The chance to go to New Zealand is an enormous opportunity. On the Yakama Reservation, we have the Wapato Irrigation Project (WIP). We’ve got a

PHOTOS COURTESY OF IRRIGATION LEADER.

ne member of the Irrigation Leader tour in New Zealand was Phil Rigdon, the superintendent of the Yakama Nation’s Department of Natural Resources, which oversees 17 different programs that cover fisheries, water, forestry, and environmental protection.

While New Zealand is half a world away from the Yakima Valley, it has many commonalities, from the need to balance water use among fish, environmental needs, and agriculture to the need for water storage structures on irrigation districts. During the tour, Mr. Rigdon was also able to take part in a cultural exchange with members of the indigenous Māori people prior to the larger group visiting their community. In this interview, Mr. Rigdon expands on what he saw in New Zealand and the lessons he is taking back to Washington State.

modernization plan and a conservation plan, and we’re trying to put a lot of resources toward those things. Seeing some of the same types of things going on in New Zealand was interesting, and it was great to see some of the irrigation projects and what they’re doing with groundwater recharge.

It was also good to meet a bunch of great folks. It was pretty cool just to be able to go and see such an amazing land.

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us some of your observations of the water storage and irrigation infrastructure you saw?

Phil Rigdon: What really impressed me was how state of the art their irrigation systems are. Just a handful of people can manage entire irrigation projects. Some monitor the systems on a screen while others are out there working with farmers and helping make sure things are being delivered right. The smaller storage structures they’ve built to help meet some of their needs was an important part of how they manage their system. I think it could be a really useful tool for what I see here on the reservation. In addition, my background is in forestry, and I’ve never seen trees planted on such steep slopes and such straight lines, which was pretty interesting.

Irrigation Leader: What did you see that you think might be applicable in Washington State?

Phil Rigdon: We’re looking at storage in eastern Washington, so some of the presentations we saw in New Zealand were in line with what we’re trying to do. There is a focus on balancing fish and farming needs, so there are a lot of commonalities with our situation, too.

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us about the off-stream storage ponds that you saw in New Zealand?

Phil Rigdon: That was one of the things I think could really help on the WIP and in the Yakima basin as a whole—using smaller storage structures to help meet needs throughout the year. I think that needs to be part of our conversation on how to move forward.

Irrigation Leader: Were those structures also used for groundwater recharge, or did they use separate facilities for that?

Phil Rigdon: They had separate facilities for the groundwater recharge. Their approach to groundwater recharge and to nitrogen mitigation was interesting. The tour was useful in addressing some of those challenging issues that we have here today.

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us about your visit to a Māori community in New Zealand?

Phil Rigdon: I come from the Yakama Nation and I’m a member of the Yakama Tribe, and I took part in a cultural exchange with the Māori community. I brought some gifts for the Māori people, they sang a song to welcome me, and I did the same to thank them for the opportunity to visit their lands and thank their ancestors. It was a beautiful ceremony. They deal with a lot of the same environmental issues that the Yakama Nation deals with all the time—striking a balance between having a farm and making sure that the natural food and medicines

Phil Rigdon at the Rakaia Gorge.

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Off-stream storage on the MHV Water scheme.

are taken care of in a good manner. It is a challenge to time the water so that it is available for fish, food, and agriculture. Those things are also being displaced and altered, so they are trying to save certain natural areas.

I had a great conversation with them, and it was a great opportunity to be part of an exchange.

imagined that I would see deer being milked; I was just fascinated. The exchange with the Māori was certainly a highlight; the gift exchange that we had is something that I will cherish forever. The jet boat ride was one of the other coolest things—anybody who likes a little adrenaline should try it some time.

Irrigation Leader: What was your impression of the relationship between the Māori community and the local, regional, and national governments in New Zealand? Did you see commonalities with the situation with the Yakama Nation?

Irrigation Leader: What should people in Washington State and in the Yakima and Columbia River basins know about agriculture and irrigation in New Zealand?

Irrigation Leader: What were some of the highlights of the trip for you, and was there anything that was especially unexpected?

Phil Rigdon: One of the coolest things was the opportunity to see salmon fishing in New Zealand. Also, I never

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Phil Rigdon is the superintendent of the Yakama Nation Department of Natural Resources. He can be reached at phil_rigdon@yakama.com.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF IRRIGATION LEADER.

Phil Rigdon: In a lot of ways, their situation is distinct.

The Yakama Nation has had a longer history of treaties and court cases with the U.S. federal government. I think their relationship is still maturing and they are still determining their future. On the other hand, the Māori economy is robust and is a big part of New Zealand’s economy. That is quite different: They haven’t been left behind; they’re part of New Zealand’s economy. That was really interesting to see.

Phil Rigdon: In New Zealand today, the indigenous people, the Māori, are part of the greater community. I think the same thing is true in the Yakima Valley and the Columbia basin. As we move forward, how do we break down some of the barriers to find commonalities and help both of our communities be successful? I thought that was a really important part of the discussions and talks that we had during the trip. IL

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Planning the Irrigation Leader Tour of New Zealand

Mel Brooks presents information to the Irrigation Leader tour group.

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rrigation Leader’s recent tour of New Zealand was planned in part by Mel Brooks, the chief executive officer (CEO) of MHV Water, New Zealand’s largest irrigation scheme. MHV Water provides water to over 200 farmer-shareholders on the fertile Canterbury Plains area of New Zealand’s South Island. In this interview, Mel explains how she selected tour locations that would showcase New Zealand’s irrigation industry, culture, and people.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about yourself and your position at MHV Water.

Mel Brooks: I’m the CEO of MHV Water Limited, a farmer-owned irrigation district in the Mid Canterbury region of New Zealand that delivers water to over 130,000 acres of highly productive land. We are the largest irrigation scheme in New Zealand, and as well as owning the infrastructure that delivers the water, we manage environmental compliance for our farmers.

Irrigation Leader: You helped design the itinerary for Irrigation Leader’s recent tour of the South Island of New Zealand. Can you tell us how you chose locations for the tour?

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Irrigation Leader: Were you looking for things that would be different from what U.S. irrigators would be used to, somewhat similar, or a mix of the two?

Mel Brooks: The tour aimed to show a breadth of different practices and to highlight some of the different ways in which we operate. Often, even where there are similarities, there are also slightly different ways of doing things because of the way our farm systems or infrastructure have evolved.

The aim for was for those differences to stimulate discussion and perhaps provide inspiration for a change that the tour participants could make in their own businesses.

Irrigation Leader: What should our readers know about irrigation in New Zealand?

Mel Brooks: New Zealand receives over 492 million acrefeet of rainfall a year, but because of where and when that water falls, our geography, and the nature of our soils, the majority of the country remains exposed to drought. In order to provide resilience for high-value crops, pasture, horticulture, viticulture, and farming in general, we are incredibly reliant on irrigation.

PHOTO COURTESY OF IRRIGATION LEADER.

Mel Brooks: A couple of years ago, I attended an Irrigation NZ tour of Colorado and Nebraska, which was supported by Irrigation Leader, and really enjoyed seeing a variety of irrigation infrastructure and farm systems, learning about research and innovation, and especially meeting the people, so I wanted to ensure that those components were part of the tour. The hardest part of planning a tour of this nature is prioritizing what to see, because there is so much and there are only so many hours in the day. Finding the balance of farm

systems, infrastructure, and current innovations to stimulate discussion; limiting the hours on the bus in any given day; and building in time to make connections with New Zealanders throughout the trip were critical.

Kiwis (New Zealanders) are also really proud of our country, so I obviously needed to include a chance to discover the beauty of New Zealand and see some spots that are a little farther off the beaten track.

how the basic principles apply. The deer milking was also much discussed, as were the gravity-fed ponds and dams, and the automation and some of the software we use, although it is difficult to show just how much benefit that provides us.

One of the other comments that was made was that it was great that I seemed to know everyone. I didn’t know everyone, but that’s the nature of a lot of people in New Zealand.

We made a few changes to the itinerary as we went.

It was a shame that we couldn’t get to an arable farm, to another district, or to the bioreactors, but the reality is that there’s only a certain amount of time in any given trip and I wanted to have a balance of work, people, and culture, as well as having the chance to enjoy the scenery. If we’d had another week, we could have easily filled it up.

Children play with water wheels, chutes, and Archimedes' screws at the Margaret Mahy playground in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Irrigation Leader: Tell us about the visit to a Māori community. Was the community welcoming and interested in hosting foreign visitors?

Mel Brooks: We work collaboratively with our local Rūnanga, Arowhenua, which is part of Ngāi Tahu, the main iwi, or tribe, in the South Island. When I came into my role 3 years ago, I prioritized building relationships with Arowhenua because I felt that it was critically important that we be able to work together to achieve shared goals. We both needed to take the time to understand each other so that when we’re making decisions, we’re giving respect to the different viewpoints around the room.

We don’t always agree on initiatives or on how to accomplish specific goals, but we are more or less aligned in our long-term aims. The Kaumatua (elders) at Arowhenua were extremely welcoming and also keen to share how beneficial for the wider community it can be when all parties or stakeholders in a community work together and respect one another’s perspectives.

PHOTO COURTESY OF IRRIGATION LEADER AND MHV WATER.

Irrigation Leader: Which stops seemed to be most interesting to the tour group?

Mel Brooks: It was interesting to see the things that really stimulated people. We spent the first day of our tour looking around Christchurch, more to acclimatize than anything else, and a number of people were really interested in our Margaret Mahy playground. The playground was designed by children after the earthquake and was built to bring people back into the central city and give our children something fun to do when much of their world was in disarray. Because it was designed by kids, it’s a little bit crazy, with lots of interactive fun and water features. There is a network of channels, gates, hand pumps, Archimedes’ screws, and waterfalls that the children can play with. It’s a great way to help children to understand how water can be moved and

Irrigation Leader: What were your observations of the tour group?

Mel Brooks: It was a lot of fun. We have a Māori saying here in New Zealand, “What’s the most important thing in the world? It is the people, the people, the people.” What made this group really special was the people. I thoroughly enjoyed the banter, the laughter, and the learning. It was an educational trip, but also a really fun trip. The jet boat ride, which I was a wee bit apprehensive about, was absolutely loved, and the optional sunrise walk up Conical Hill in Hanmer was far more popular than I expected. The participants were open to new experiences and interested in learning.

Irrigation Leader: If you end up designing another tour a couple of years down the line, is there anything you think you might add to it?

Mel Brooks: I would definitely love to take a group south through Canterbury to Northern and Central Otago, where there is old gold mining infrastructure and a fascinating network of hydroelectric dams. I would then suggest flying out of Queenstown and finishing the trip in the Northern part of the North Island so that the group could see the contrast.

I really enjoyed the experience of hosting the tour and getting the opportunity to reconnect with people I had met on past travels and to meet new people, all of whom are involved in the same industry. None of us has a monopoly on good ideas, so having the opportunity to build those relationships and share perspectives was hugely beneficial.

I look forward to continuing to connect and to looking for opportunities for our wider teams and businesses in the future, and to be honest, I haven’t laughed so much in years! IL Mel Brooks is the CEO of MHV Water.

She can be reached at mel@mhvwater.nz.

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A farmer uses the ApplyYourself app to calibrate the pump on a 70-gallon chemigation unit.

How Agri-Inject’s Fertigation Technology Can Prevent Nitrate Leaching

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Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and the history of Agri-Inject.

Erik Tribelhorn: The company was founded in 1983 by Gary Newton, a farmer from east of Yuma, Colorado. He started toying with the idea of fertigation in the 1970s and created the business in the early 1980s. In 1985, the business moved to Yuma, Colorado. It has been in its current facility since 1991, which has expanded to more than 37,000 square feet in recent years. I started with Agri-Inject fresh out of college in 1992 and held a number of positions, gaining experience in nearly every facet of

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AGRI-INJECT.

gri-Inject is a pioneer in the chemigation field. Since the 1980s, the Yuma, Colorado–based company has been promoting the use of mobile irrigation systems to apply fertilizer and chemicals in liquid form. This method of application, known as fertigation, allows for the quick, lowvolume, and continuous application of fertilizer, “spoon-feeding” crops no more than they can absorb and thus preventing leaching and nitrate pollution.

In this interview, Erik Tribelhorn, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Agri-Inject, speaks with Irrigation Leader about the advantages of fertigation and Agri-Inject’s sales around the world.

the business. Then an ownership opportunity in a center-pivot dealership arose, and I spent 12 years in that business. I returned to AgriInject in my current role as CEO in 2011. There have been a lot of changes since that time—things that needed to be updated or improved to allow us to position ourselves for growth. We’ve undergone significant growth since 2011 with strategic initiatives and capitalizing on opportunities both stateside and internationally. The strategic focus that underpins all our initiatives is ensuring that we promote the benefits of fertigation and chemigation and help growers understand that injecting liquid nutrients, chemicals, and other amendments into their irrigation system is an effective, environmentally safe, resource-saving activity that is viable and applicable to their operations.

Irrigation Leader: Since its founding, how many systems do you think your company has produced?

Erik Tribelhorn: I would say the number is well beyond 50,000 units.

Irrigation Leader: How many countries have you distributed those systems to?

Erik Tribelhorn: We usually sell into 42–45 states in the United States, and every year we usually have international revenue from 6 continents. Since many of our international sales run through distribution and original equipment manufacturer partners, it is often hard to document which individual countries are receiving our products; I’d guess they go to 25–30 countries every year.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the savings and benefits of using your systems to apply fertilizer.

Erik Tribelhorn: A primary cost reduction of doing your own fertigation is that you are not making

separate trips to apply water and fertilizer. You’re using equipment that’s already applying water to apply fertilizer, too. You save the fuel and labor that would be needed for a second application, whether using a spray pilot that you hire, a spray rig, or a truck that spreads dry fertilizer or manure.

Fertigation reduces compaction and crop damage compared to other methods. In the case of a center pivot, you’ve got established wheel ruts. Using the center pivot to apply fertilizer or chemicals means you avoid compacting additional soil with additional tires. That benefits the health of the soil and the crops.

Most importantly, fertigation gives you the opportunity to spoon-feed your crops nutrients as they need them. Fertigation provides nutrients in a liquid solution form that can be immediately taken up by plants.

Growing crops need timely water and fertilizer to thrive. Fertigation gives the grower that control, all season long.

That results in a healthier plant and better yields and minimizes nutrient losses due to leaching and excess denitrification.

Spoon-feeding allows the grower better control over their cash flow and mitigates risk in their operation.

For example, suppose a corn farmer applies one-third of their nitrogen pre-plant and another one-third when the crop is 20 inches (50 centimeters) high. The plant may be one quarter of the way through its life cycle, yet twothirds of the fertilizer is in the ground.

This requires an upfront investment in fertilizer, but most importantly, the nitrogen in the ground is now exposed to a decent amount of risk.

A 20-inch (50-centimeter) rain could leach the fertilizer outside the root zone. A hailstorm could level the crop. Storing the fertilizer in the ground can be a risky proposition, both for the grower’s profit and for the environment.

Fertigation is a valuable application process on New Zealand farms that are raising grass for cattle

feed and grazing. These crops nearly always grow best when given a steady diet of water and nutrients, which facilitates consistent growth through their life cycle. You don’t want to create a surge of growth that causes the plant to overgrow by slugging the fertilizer on every few weeks.

This causes cycles of overgrowth followed by plant decline, which are both counterproductive for grazing or haying operations. Additionally, fertigation can control the escape of fertilizer into nontarget areas if it is applied in accordance with the plant needs.

The ReflexCONNECT system.

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Irrigation Leader: Do you have an app or other form of remote access and control technology that can help producers with fertigation?

Erik Tribelhorn: We have two pieces of technology that can be driven from your phone. One is an app called ApplyYourself that assists growers and distributor partners with two critical tasks. First, it allows the user to easily select the best pump for a particular application. They enter information about the size of their plot, the amount of fertilizer or chemical they want to apply, and the amount of time it takes to irrigate, and the app selects the best pump for them. Secondly, it guides the user through the calibration process for any one of our pumps. The user selects the pump that they have and enters the details of their current application, and the app will guide them through the entire calibration process, including where to set the pump capacity knob and how much to pump through the calibration tube and for how long. There is even an in-app stopwatch to assist with timing. It’s a valuable tool in the field.

For controlling and monitoring the pump, we have a control technology called ReflexCONNECT. The control system can control and monitor the fertigation system from any connected point in the world, as long as there is

A 110-gallon-per-hour fertilizer pump.

a cellular signal available at the system. You have on/off control, and since the unit features sensors that measure the pressure and flow of the fertigation unit, the user can tell precisely how the system is operating and even set alarms to allow them to receive a notification if the system is operating beyond defined limits. For instance, a grower may have an application operating at 66 gallons (250 liters) per hour at 72 pounds per square inch (5 bar). They can configure ReflexCONNECT to notify them if the flow exceeds a defined percentage above or below the set flow or the pressure setting. If desired, it can even shut down the fertigation system or the irrigation system automatically.

It is powerful and has many configuration options for today’s remote-control-oriented farmer. ReflexCONNECT eliminates any concerns growers have about being onsite constantly to monitor fertigation events. It puts that control at their fingertips.

Irrigation Leader: The system consists of a pump, which is set at a certain rate based on the flow of the pivot, and a storage tank that holds the fertilizer. How is the size of the storage tank determined?

Erik Tribelhorn: Usually the farmers will size the fertilizer tank according to their largest single application need during the year. Let’s say they’re growing corn, and during the season they may want to apply 8½ gallons of fertilizer per acre (80 liters per hectare) to a 100-acre (40-hectare) circle.

They’ll need 850 gallons (3,217 liters) of fertilizer total for that application, so they’ll want a tank that is at least that large, plus a bit of buffer.

Irrigation Leader: How can Agri-Inject’s products help avoid nitrate overapplication?

Erik Tribelhorn: In various parts of the United States—the Delmarva Peninsula is one that comes to mind—there are concerns about fertilizer nitrogen leaching into waterways and causing environmental problems. That is a concern in New Zealand, too. If you spoon-feed fertilizer by means of fertigation and are conscious of how much water you’re applying, the type of soil, and the fertilizer and water requirements for the plant to be at its highest level of health, then the application typically has minimal risk of creating leaching and runoff problems. It is a good way to mitigate that problem. IL

32 | IRRIGATION LEADER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AGRI-INJECT.

Erik Tribelhorn is the CEO of Agri-Inject. He can be reached at erik@agri-inject.com.

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Irrigation Leader ad 3.pdf 1

2/21/19 10:51 AM

The Water Education Foundation: Helping Professionals and the Public Understand Western Water

The foundation holds an annual Water 101 Workshop with attendees from stakeholder groups across California.

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

Jennifer Bowles: I was a journalist for much of my career, first at the Associated Press in Los Angeles and later at a newspaper in Southern California, where I spent a lot of time covering water issues. In addition, I had been a Scripps fellow at the University of Colorado, Boulder, for a year, studying water law and policy at the law school. When I was a newspaper reporter, I took a tour of the lower Colorado

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River with the Water Education Foundation, which is how I first became aware of the organization. The then executive director sent me one of the foundation’s California water maps after that tour, and I hung that map everywhere my desk was moved in the newsroom because of how much it helped me to understand water issues in California. It showed where the water came from and where it went—which is sometimes hundreds of miles away. The foundation strives to be extremely neutral and impartial in everything it does, including in writing its water news, so I think my journalism background and my writing and editing skills were an important factor in my being hired by the board 6 years ago.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the foundation and its history.

Jennifer Bowles: The foundation was founded in 1977, in the middle of a bad drought in California. At the beginning, it had a small staff—one person, for the most part—and worked primarily on its Western Water news magazine. But we eventually grew and began hosting conferences because

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE WATER EDUCATION FOUNDATION.

he Water Education Foundation has been educating water professionals and the general public in California and across the Colorado River basin for more than 40 years. Its tours, conferences, publications, and online resources make the complex world of western water more easily comprehensible while also highlighting the high stakes of the issues involved.

In this interview, Executive Director Jennifer Bowles tells Irrigation Leader about the foundation’s history, its current activities, and its importance for the irrigation audience.

it was clear to my predecessor that the various stakeholders needed a neutral place to discuss the often thorny issues associated with water. We also started running tours and creating those beautiful educational maps of California water regions. The 1990s were a key time for the foundation.

That’s when we became the California coordinator for a national program known as Project WET, which stands for Water Education for Teachers. With that program, we began to organize workshops across the state to train educators on how to teach lessons on water in the classroom.

During the 1990s, we also started a 1-year leadership program for the various stakeholder groups known as Water Leaders; today, there are more than 400 graduates of that program. In 1997, we also started our Colorado River Project and began applying many of our programs in California to the Colorado River basin, which is a key water source for Southern California. We started programs, wrote news articles, and started planning a lower Colorado River tour. Most importantly, we began holding a high-level Colorado River Symposium every 2 years, which brought together people from all seven states that rely on the river, Mexico, and tribal nations to discuss how to best manage the resources in this major western watershed.

whatever we do, whether it’s a tour, a conference, our news articles, or our leadership program. Our target audiences include farmers, environmentalists, urban dwellers, water rights lawyers, engineers who work on water projects, and the employees of state and federal agencies that are involved in water management across the West. Through our programming, we raise awareness of water issues but also seek to catalyze the critical conversations about water that are needed to manage the resource wisely.

Irrigation Leader: What are your main programs?

Jennifer Bowles: Our main programs today are our tours, our online Western Water news, and our maps and printed guides on key water topics. We also run an annual water summit in Sacramento, Project WET workshops, our Colorado River Project, and our yearlong Water Leaders professional development program. Our priority over the

Irrigation Leader: How many staff does the foundation have today?

Jennifer Bowles: Today, the foundation has about 10 staff, most of them full time. We also work with a freelancer who puts together our water news aggregate, Aquafornia, every weekday. Most of our team has a background in either teaching or journalism.

Irrigation Leader: How is the foundation funded?

Jennifer Bowles: We’re funded by donations from a wide variety of people and organizations, and we also apply for grants for specific projects. We also get some money from sales of our water maps, guides on water topics, and other educational materials.

Irrigation Leader: Is the foundation active primarily in California and the seven Colorado River basin states?

Jennifer Bowles: That’s right. We have been based in Sacramento since we were founded in 1977, and we’re active across California and the Colorado River basin.

Irrigation Leader: Who are your target audiences?

Jennifer Bowles: Our audience is anyone who wants to learn more about water. I like to describe the foundation as the Switzerland of the California water world—we’re pretty much the only neutral organization, and everyone is invited to our table. We offer a diversity of voices on water issues in

Four members of the foundation’s Water Leaders program stand by Hoover Dam during the lower Colorado River tour.

last 2 years has been using social media to reach a wider and more diverse audience and putting more of our staffgenerated water news online. Our Western Water magazine used to be a printed magazine, but a few years ago we took it online, which gives more people the ability to read about water issues as newsrooms continue to shrink. We have the necessary expertise to generate that news, and we want to share it with as many people as we can. Going forward, we want our website to be even more of an educational tool than it already is. We’d like to create more interactive online learning tools in addition to Aquapedia, which is an online water encyclopedia.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your tours. Who goes on them and how do you choose the destination and the speakers?

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A visit to Shasta Dam during the foundation’s Northern California Tour. The dam is part of the federal Central Valley Project, which brings water mainly to farmers.

36 | IRRIGATION LEADER

of Reclamation. Those agencies use our tours as a training ground for their newer staff.

We choose speakers for our tours based on the region and focus of the tour, but we always strive to include a diverse set of voices wherever we go.

Irrigation Leader: Do you have a rough estimate of how many people participate in all your tours every year?

Jennifer Bowles: Probably around 350. The Bay-Delta tour alone has about 100 participants and requires two buses.

Irrigation Leader: Who are the participants in your training programs?

Jennifer Bowles: It’s the same wide array of folks who come to all our events—lawyers, engineers, scientists, people from NGOs, farmers, people who work at water districts or irrigation districts, and people from the state and federal agencies that manage water in the West. Like I said, we’re the Switzerland of the California water world—everybody comes to our events. We take that reputation seriously and strive to remain neutral. I think that’s why people trust us as a resource.

Our Water Leaders program has more than 400 graduates.

A strong theme of that program is learning other perspectives and getting out of your comfort zone. We match everybody in that program up with a mentor, usually someone with a completely different background, to help them come to

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE WATER EDUCATION FOUNDATION.

Jennifer Bowles: We hold six to eight public tours a year.

Some are 2 days and some are 3 days. We do bus tours to our major regions every year. One of those annual tours is the Bay-Delta tour, which includes both the Sacramento– San Joaquin Delta, which is the hub of California’s two major water projects, and San Francisco Bay. Tour participants actually go across the bay in a boat during that tour. We do another annual tour across central California’s San Joaquin Valley south of Sacramento, and another tour north of Sacramento across the Sacramento Valley, which includes the big dams like Oroville and Shasta. We also tour the lower Colorado River every year. That tour essentially starts at Hoover Dam and ends in the Coachella Valley in California, taking in the lower basin states of Nevada, Arizona, and California. In the last few years, we have done a headwaters tour to emphasize the importance of the upper watershed and the Sierras with respect to water statewide.

That tour goes from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe and back.

We also do tours every year based on important topics of the year, such as drought or groundwater. For instance, we did a San Diego tour when the big ocean desalination plant opened in Carlsbad a few years ago.

The tour participants encompass a wide array of people, including farmers, environmentalists, employees of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that work on water issues, water district employees and board members, lawyers, engineers, scientists, water managers, and employees of the California Department of Water Resources and the Bureau

understand water from a different perspective. We have seen graduates of that program move into top leadership roles in the water world, which is really satisfying.

Irrigation Leader: Who uses your books, maps, Aquapedia, and the other resources you create?

Jennifer Bowles: Our Layperson’s Guide series—which includes books on groundwater, California water, and water rights—are used by universities, which we know because we suddenly get a lot of orders as the semesters start. We know that professors use them, which is part of the reason we keep them in a print version. I have had people tell me that when they first came to California after getting hired by a water engineering firm or law firm, they went through our whole collection of water guides. I’ve heard that story over and over again. Water issues in California are probably more complicated than in any other state, and our publications are a good resource for getting your arms around the issues.

Irrigation Leader: Do you work directly with irrigation districts?

Jennifer Bowles: I’m not sure we can say we work directly with them, but many of them support our work and have served on our board of directors. Right now, the Palo Verde Irrigation District, located along the Colorado River, is represented on our board. We always try to have some farming element on our board. We have a couple of farmers on our board who speak regularly at our events, including on our water tours. A lot of irrigation district employees attend our tours as well and participate in our yearlong Water Leaders program. We interact with irrigation districts and farmers all the time, and they attend our events regularly.

Irrigation Leader: Which of your programs are most relevant for farmers and irrigators?

Jennifer Bowles: Many of our tours go through major farming regions, including the Imperial, Tour attendees talk to a citrus grower in the Coachella Valley during a lower Colorado River tour.

Palo Verde, and Coachella Valleys, which all use Colorado River water; California’s Central Valley; and the Irrigation Leader: What is your vision for the future of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. We’re always striving foundation? to tell the story of agriculture as part of the overall water story, so every tour has some agricultural aspect to it. We Jennifer Bowles: We want to put more of our materials write a lot about agriculture in our Western Water news, online and create more interactive learning tools. We want which, as I mentioned, is fully available online. Some of our to expand our programs even more across the Colorado Layperson’s Guides focus specifically on agriculture-related River basin. We want to keep making a difference by water topics such as groundwater; agricultural drainage; bringing in diverse voices and helping people understand and the Central Valley Project, the federal infrastructure the water story so the differences can be resolved and the project that brings water from Northern California to many resource managed wisely. IL farms in the state. Our groundwater map is also popular in the agricultural world, which uses groundwater heavily. In addition, when the Sustainable Groundwater Management Jennifer Bowles is the executive director of Act (SGMA) was passed in California in 2014, we received the Water Education Foundation. She can a grant to work on a handbook to help people understand be contacted at jbowles@watereduation.org. the new law and how it was being implemented. SGMA’s first targets were critically overdrafted basins, many of which are in the major farming region of the San Joaquin Valley.

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Enforcing Washington’s Screening Requirements Through Cooperative Compliance

W

ater diverters in Washington State may know that fish screening is required by law, but they may not understand the relevant regulations and may struggle to afford compliant fish screens. The mission of the fish screening section of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is to solve these problems. Through its cooperative compliance approach, it aims to establish relationships of trust with water users, help explain screening requirements, and help users afford appropriate devices.

In this interview, WDFW Biologist Danny Didricksen tells Irrigation Leader about how the screening section works to build, install, and care for screens for the benefit of both fish and water users.

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

Danny Didricksen: I majored in biology at Central Washington University (CWU) in Ellensburg, Washington, graduating in 2002. I did some textile work for a few years and then returned to CWU for a master’s degree in resource management. The first job I got after that was as a fisheries biologist with the WDFW in Ellensburg. We were doing genetic stock analysis and species-composition sampling with nets and boat electrofishing on some of the larger reservoir systems, Banks Lake and Lake Roosevelt. I did that for 5 years before moving into my current position as fish screening section manager in WDFW’s habitat program in 2013.

I was interested in the job because, as much as I love research—and I really do understand the importance of science guiding management—it’s hard to work on something really hard for a few years, write a big report, and then see it sit on a shelf. In this position, by contrast, I implement fish screens in the field, get to work with people, and see immediate results in fish protection.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about the WDFW.

40 | IRRIGATION LEADER

The habitat program, where I work, has a big emphasis on the culvert case injunction, which targets tributary systems in need of culvert replacements in the Puget Sound area. I am part of the fish passage and screening division, so my counterparts in Olympia are working on the Brian Abbott Fish Barrier Removal Board that was founded as a result of the culvert case injunction. It’s a multistakeholder board designed to get as many culverts corrected as possible. There is an end date required by the injunction that may or may not be realistic for the Washington State Department of Transportation, which owns most of the culverts, but we’re trying to get salmon through so that we can honor tribal rights to fish returns and improve the stock status of salmon as a whole.

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us about your program’s fish screening section?

Danny Didricksen: Fish screening in Washington has been going on since before we achieved statehood in 1889; the first hatcheries came into existence when this region was still part of the Oregon territory. In 1905, the first versions of fish breeding rules came on the books. They were designed to protect the state’s investments, because when hatcheries

PHOTO IS COURTESY OF WDFW.

Danny Didricksen: The WDFW is the state agency tasked with preserving, protecting, and perpetuating fish, wildlife, and ecosystems, while providing sustainable fishing, hunting, and other recreation opportunities. The WDFW’s headquarters are in Olympia, Washington, and about 1,800 staff work across six regions divided by natural geographic lines. The department has seven programs—habitat, fish, wildlife, enforcement, capital asset management, technology and finance, and the director’s office—with a program lead in each region. My work covers all six regions.

Screen shop employees install a fish screen near Ellensburg, Washington.

raised and released fish, they were often being immediately entrained in irrigation diversions just downstream. The state started requiring rudimentary fish screens to keep them from going into the canals.

Technological advances in fish exclusion devices continued for the first part of the 1900s. There were experiments with electrical and physical screen barriers, many of which didn’t work very well. In 1928, a technology called the drum screen was invented by a man named Charlie Cobb, who had come from Wyoming to work on a ranch in the Yakima Valley. The drum screen is a rotating cylinder with wire mesh. There’s a paddlewheel located behind it in the driveline, and as the water flows, the paddlewheel turns the driveline and makes the screen slowly rotate, keeping fish and debris out and passing them over the top. They became very popular, and the state implemented the design on the Olympic Peninsula, the Methow, the Wenatchee, and finally the Yakima Basin.

In 1946, the Washington Department of Game’s fish screen shop was formally founded here in Yakima, and it’s been operating ever since. In 1949, the current versions of our fish screening rules, the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), went on the books. Lots of different technologies have been tried since then as well. We have a wide variety of screen types now, including pump screens; gravity screens; rotating drum screens; horizontal screens; and belt screens, which are like conveyor belts. Our screen shop primarily builds drum screens, and the department as a whole only builds gravity screens. We do not build end-of-pipe screens, or pump screens, as they’re more commonly known, because there are so many quality products available commercially.

We also provide technical assistance to other people building screens, including folks from South Korea and New Zealand.

WDFW is one of the founding members of the Fish Screening Oversight Committee, which includes the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Montana Department of Fish and Game, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and several other tribal members and private parties. It’s a great committee because it breeds a consistent understanding of the relatively complicated federal fish screening criteria and assures that the best technology being invented in the western United States is being used across the area where salmonids are running. It’s a great forum for information exchange. We do quarterly meetings over the phone, and every 2 years we do workshops in person. WDFW’s Yakima screen shop has full-time fabricators, welders, and supervisors on the craftsman side as well as biologists. We respond to requests from across the state. I supervise three biologists right now, strategically located in different regions so that we can provide the best statewide coverage possible.

Irrigation Leader: Do you sell your screens directly to consumers?

Danny Didricksen: The way that we get them to consumers varies, from word of mouth to grant opportunities. As a state agency, we are not allowed to make a profit, so we do not advertise our screens or sell them commercially. We do charge money for some services, like screen construction, but that money is put back into the program. Some users, including irrigation districts, conservation districts, and municipalities, contact us directly. They may let us know that they have old fish screens that need to be replaced because they are out of compliance or because of wear or that they simply need new screens. We can help them build those. We are also always available for free technical assistance.

We also pursue grant money. We were just awarded over a million dollars from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). A big part of that contract is to build new fish screens for our inventory so that they are available when folks need them.

Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your service contracts with your districts.

Danny Didricksen: We established service contracts because consistent care can lengthen the lifespan of screens. They allow us to build a relationship of trust with our water users and give us the opportunity to ask questions, too. I think we’ve got about 80 of them right now. Our service contracts are primarily available in eastern Washington, although we do have one maintenance mechanic located in Port Angeles, Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula, because the Dungeness River system has quite a few fish screens as well. Our service contracts are designed to make it easy and cost-effective for water users to engage the WDFW to make sure their screens are operating compliantly and well from a mechanical standpoint. The contracts involve weekly maintenance visits throughout the irrigation season.

We do everything we can to reduce costs for individual water users. This includes efficiently planning maintenance trips to assure that the mechanic’s travel route passes by as many screen sites as possible so that travel costs can be shared. There are also instances when money from the department’s state-funded operations and maintenance accounts can help with costs.

Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us about your cooperative compliance approach?

Danny Didricksen: Cooperative compliance has always been the mindset of the folks in our screen shop. They know that we’re here to protect fish and to get irrigators water. Irrigators’ crops are a major part of the backbone of Washington State’s economy; we are not looking to do anything that’s going to make it harder for them to use their water. For a fish screen project to be successful, it’s got to be sustainable and it’s got to be something that water users IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

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42 | IRRIGATION LEADER

We want to engage in a partnership, not just force people into compliance.

Irrigation Leader: How does the department build relationships with irrigators and water users and what challenges do you have to overcome to do that?

Danny Didricksen: Because our shop has been in existence since 1946 and screens have been in use even before that, we’ve had a long time to visit agricultural communities.

Our operations and maintenance mechanics in the field are our first line of public contact. They put a big emphasis on treating people with respect, notifying people when they’re going to be there, and coming to agreements so that water users feel like they can call at any point in time. That inperson outreach is important.

Educational outreach is another element. In general, we aim our outreach at groups and forums like agricultural conventions or the lead entity group meetings for the Salmon Recovery Funding Board groups across the state. I may go to those meetings to promote fish screening as a restoration action and talk with conservation districts, which are valuable intermediate partners between a regulatory agency like mine and users. Individual water right holders are often hesitant to reach out to a regulatory agency because they worry we’ll fine them, so it is good to work with groups like the conservation districts that have friendly relations with irrigators.

Irrigation Leader: What is your message to irrigators and water users about when they should reach out to you?

Danny Didricksen: We’re here to help. We want to protect the fish in our state because they are an important resource, including for fishing. One way we can do that is by keeping juvenile fish in the streams and rivers and not in irrigation fields. Almost everybody has come around to the idea that screening for fish is a good thing. Washington’s water users are smart people. They see climate change, they see water scarcity problems, they know that water is important for fish, and they know that the fish need to be protected.

When people agree to screen for fish for the first time, we try to congratulate them and express our appreciation for their recognition of the importance of this effort. My message for all agricultural or domestic water users in our state is that working with the WFDW is not a scary thing.

If you’re willing to work with us, we’re willing to work with you, and we look forward to doing so. IL

Danny Didricksen is a fish and wildlife biologist at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He can be contacted at daniel.didricksen@dfw.wa.gov.

COURTESY OF WDFW.

understand and consider advantageous. Otherwise, they won’t use it. Either way, they’ve got water rights and they’re going to get their water.

Cooperative compliance was an officially funded program in the Walla Walla basin in the mid-1990s.

There were many diversions there for grape and wheat cultivation, including profitable agriculture on big tracts of land, and many were not screened for fish. Fish screening had not really been advertised and many farmers just didn’t know that they were supposed to do it. We found that if you walked up and told somebody, “Hey, you’ve got to pay for this $300,000 fish screen. Do it now or be punished,” it didn’t really work. Instead, we tried to get everybody to understand what the problem was and why these requirements existed. Then we went about trying to fix it.

Once the cooperative compliance program got funded, it drew in a lot of different stakeholders. Our cooperative compliance committee meetings included enforcement officers and biologists from WDFW, conservation district managers, ranchers and farmers, tribal members, and members of other natural resource agencies. Together, they generated a prioritized list of water diversions that were important from the fish perspective. Then outreach was conducted to the individual landowners. We explained why fish screening was necessary and provided funding to help offset the cost of screens. The committee paid about 80 percent of the cost for the fish screens, and the individual water users were billed for the other 20 percent.

It was a successful program, initially funded for 2 years and then extended to 4 years.

While it no longer exists as a legislature-funded program, the cooperative compliance moniker has stuck, and that approach has continued to be the way that we talk to our water users. Water is valuable out here, and people are often resistant at first to use a fish screen with small openings that might seem like it’s going to limit the amount of water they can take. In fact, that is not the case. NOAA put a lot of time into making sure that its fish screen rules did not limit existing water rights.

Through this educational outreach process, we’ve brought water users on board and made sure that we’re not just telling them what to do but working with them to help them decide what to do. Water users provide valuable information about how local streams act. They know from personal experience that local streams peak in May or dry up in August. Those can be important things to know when we’re selecting the appropriate screen.

This is not to say that we won’t enforce our RCW responsibilities, nor do we see a sustainable solution in simply dropping the hammer. As long as people are willing to work with us, we’re willing to work with them. I’ve been trying to broaden the scope of who we’re talking to and to find places in the state and audiences that we haven’t yet reached. We want to help everybody understand these rules and to comply as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

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CLASSIFIEDS

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

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

For more information, please email Kris Polly at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.

SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT SENIOR ENGINEER OR SENIOR SCIENTIST Deadline: Open until filled DESCRIPTION: + I ncumbent will perform work that requires application of conventional hydraulics and hydrologic practices but may also include a variety of complex features requiring proper use of design standards, selecting suitable materials, and difficult coordination. Assignments require a broad knowledge of hydraulic and/or hydrologic subjects within the discipline to effectively resolve technical issues and complete assignments.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more information about our organization, current job opportunities and to apply online, please visit www.sfwmd.gov/careers. The SFWMD offers competitive wages and benefits. EOE. Please refer to Job Reference: 2637BR for additional requirements, education, license and experience.

QUINCY–COLUMBIA BASIN IRRIGATION DISTRICT DISTRICT ENGINEER Salary: Non-bargaining wage schedule Level 9, Wage DOE; benefit package includes medical, dental, vision, prescription drug insurance, basic life, AD&D, and long-term disability insurance, paid holidays, paid annual and sick leave, Washington State Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), and deferred compensation match.

Deadline: Open Until filled POSITION QUALIFICATIONS: +B achelor’s degree in Civil Engineering or related field required +P rofessional Engineering certification desired +F ive years civil engineering experience required; open channel flow experience desired +T hree years drafting software experience required; three years GIS experience preferred +M ust live within district boundaries +A bility to prepare plot plans from legal descriptions, survey data, and perform calculations to complete reclassification worksheets required +A bility to create, interpret, and communicate

engineering plans and specifications including open-channel and pipeline hydraulics required +A bility to generate plans, charts, and graphs using word processing, spreadsheet, and database software required +M ust be able to obtain United States Bureau of Reclamation SCADA clearance FOR MORE INFORMATION: Website: www.qcbid.org/index.php/employment Email: humanresources@qcbid.org Online Application: webcorp.com/apply/QCBID/

GILA RIVER INDIAN IRRIGATION & DRAINAGE DISTRICT IRRIGATION ENGINEERING MANAGER Salary: $100,101 (DOE) Deadline: Open until filled DESCRIPTION: +T his position is responsible for planning, organizing, overseeing and managing the engineering activities and system operations of the Gila River Indian Irrigation and Drainage District (GRIIDD), including the design, construction, and inspection of complex projects related to GRIIDD facilities and operations. This position is responsible for coordinating assigned activities with various departments of the Gila River Indian Community and outside agencies. The person in this position will serve as technical specialist in the fields of water management, measurement, supply, automation, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, water quality, drainage, and storm water management for the GRIIDD. QUALIFICATIONS: +B achelor’s degree in agricultural or civil engineering or a closely related field +T en years of engineering experience in irrigation conveyance systems and design or irrigation systems operations and maintenance, including SCADA and contract administration or closely related field.

Should include three years of experience supervising professionals or multi-disciplined crafts.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: For a complete position description and to apply online, visit GRIC at selfservice.gric.nsn.us/mss/ employmentopportunities/default.aspx, find the position number 20155-1 and click Apply or Job Description to review full job description.

For questions, call (520) 562-9800.

IRRIGATIONLEADERMAGAZINE.COM

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Upcoming Events April 2–3 Association of California Water Agencies, Water Policy Conference, Davis, CA April 6–9 CA/NV American Water Works Association Section, Spring Conference, Anaheim, CA April 7–9 Irrigation New Zealand, Water for Life Conference and Expo, Wigram, Christchurch, New Zealand April 20–22 National Water Resources Association, Federal Water Issues Conference, Washington, DC May 5–8 Association of California Water Agencies, Spring Conference & Exhibition, Monterey, CA May 15 Agribusiness & Water Council of Arizona, Annual Meeting, TBD May 28–29 National Ground Water Association, Workshop on Groundwater in the Northwest, Boise, ID June 8–9 Idaho Water Users Association, Water Law & Resources Issues Seminar, Sun Valley, ID June 9–10 WESTCAS, Annual Conference, San Diego, CA June 9–12 Groundwater Management Districts Association, Summer Conference, Colorado Springs, CO June 17–19 Texas Water Conservation Association, Mid-Year Conference, The Woodlands, TX July 7–9 North Dakota Water Resource Districts Association, Summer Meeting & North Dakota Water Education Foundation Executive Briefing, Grand Forks, ND July 15 North Dakota Rural Water Systems Association, Summer Leadership Retreat, Medora, ND July 23–24 Idaho Irrigation Equipment Show, Summer Meeting, New Meadows, ID

Past issues of Irrigation Leader are archived at irrigationleadermagazine.com @IrrigationLeader

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