Jeremy Sorensen of the Strawberry Water Users Association
The Strawberry Water Users Association (SWUA) delivers 71,000 acre-feet of water to more than 40,000 acres of orchards and alfalfa fields, as well as burgeoning communities on the southern Wasatch Front in Utah County. SWUA uses the infrastructure of the Strawberry Valley Project, the first Bureau of Reclamation project in Utah, to move water from […]
Providing Sealing Solutions and Support at HUESKER
Quality products and exceptional customer service are equally important parts of building a successful company. Both elements must exist to build long-term, lasting relationships with customers and cement a company’s reputation. HUESKER is a company that fully understands this concept, and it has strived to put that concept into practice since the company’s establishment in […]
Tony Jantzer of Icicle and Peshastin Irrigation Districts
In August 2017, the Jack Creek Wildfire ran rampant through the Cascade Range in Washington State, leaving thousands of acres of land destroyed and impenetrable by water. Due to the lack of absorption, the Icicle and Peshastin Irrigation Districts have been taxed with accommodating the higherthan-normal-level runoff captured in Eight Mile Dam, adding stress to […]
Expanding Storage to Sustain Agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley
With rights dating back to the 1800s, Merced Irrigation District (MID) is a senior water rights holder on California’s Merced River, a tributary of the San Joaquin River. The irrigation district formed in 1919 and built Exchequer Dam, creating Lake McClure. MID completed the 490-foot New Exchequer Dam in 1967, impounding more than 1 million […]
SAI’s Philip Ball on Creating a Culture of Safety in the Workplace
For irrigation district managers, issues of workplace safety extend beyond the safe use of heavy equipment and herbicide applications. They also have to account for the safety of employees. Philip Ball has spent much of his career creating a safe environment for others. After spending years as a police officer in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Georgia, […]
Common-Sense Safety for a Community Asset
Canals account for the bulk of western water delivery systems. As communities and cities have grown around these water systems, the push to use them for purposes beyond water transmission and delivery intensifies. The Salt River Project (SRP) provides irrigation water and power to the greater Phoenix metro area. Over the years, SRP has worked […]
Seeking Settlements and Solutions
RReaching mutually agreeable solutions to problems is never easy, and nowhere is this truer than in disputes over water rights. Such disputes often lead to lengthy and costly litigation that ultimately results in less-than-optimal solutions. Successfully negotiating a settlement can be a more difficult but ultimately more beneficial method of resolving complex water issues. John […]
The Value of Redundant Systems in the Quincy-Columbia Basin Irrigation District
Natural disasters are a prime example of the need for proper emergency planning and contingencies. Floods and wildfires can devastate the infrastructure of local towns, farms, and irrigation systems. Electrical power lines and stations are particularly vulnerable, and loss of electricity can cripple an irrigation district’s ability to manage its canals. The QuincyColumbia Basin Irrigation […]
Coming Together in a Crisis
Resolving old disputes and hard feelings is a difficult but necessary step toward ensuring lasting cooperation. The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District (TCID) had to do precisely that to forge a better relationship with the Bureau of Reclamation, which allowed the district to improve its water infrastructure, address urgent emergency situations, and protect its communities. TCID General […]
Reclaiming Return Flows
Irrigation districts seeking to undertake infrastructure projects often face two perennial obstacles: funding and permitting. The South Columbia Basin Irrigation District (SCBID) had to overcome those challenges when building its return flow pumping station project. The district had to balance the requirement to complete the project quickly to receive needed federal funding against the time-consuming […]