Municipal-Irrigation Cooperation

By Kris Polly

In our cover story this month, we hear the encouraging story of cooperation between the City of Billings, Montana, and the Billings Bench Water Association (BBWA), a long-established irrigation district. The city wanted to add a new intake on the Yellowstone River and a new water treatment plant but balked at the cost of a pressurized pipe conveyance system. Next, it looked at the possibility of sharing the BBWA’s existing conveyance system. In our interview, Debi Meling, the director of Billings Public Works, tells us about the process of patient consultation that brought the collaboration to fruition.

International Water Screens is a California-based, family-run business whose success rests on relationships of trust and excellent customer service. Each of its screens is custom designed, manufactured in house, and installed by the company itself, ensuring top quality and a long lifetime for the product. We speak with Owner Rich Gargan and Sales Representative Joel Irving to learn more.

The Salt River Project (SRP) is a major water and power utility in the Phoenix, Arizona, area that manages 131 miles of canals, among other infrastructure. In our conversation with SRP Construction Consultant Bryanna McHenry, we learn about how SRP has partnered with the Cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale to develop stretches of its canals, turning a utilitarian structure into an attractive public amenity.

Australia-based SWAN Systems has developed an all-in-one cloud-based platform to help producers manage water, nutrients, and irrigation. Tim Hyde, the CEO, and Shannon Rinkenberger, the key account manager in California, tell us more about how SWAN is helping save water, boost yields, and increase sustainability.

Responsive Drip Irrigation (RDI) has developed a fascinating new type of drip tape that releases water directly in response to chemical signals released by plant roots. In our interview, Bryce Buesing, RDI’s manager of client relations, tells us about the company’s U.S.‑based research trials and commercial deployments.

Plott has created a number of innovative mapping tools useful for the agricultural industry, including its affordable Carta digital mapping wheel and its 900 HT rotary laser. Marketing and Product Development Director Matt Cultrera tells us more about how growers might use them.

The Coalition for Urban Rural Environmental Stewardship (CURES) is a California-based nonprofit dedicated to agricultural research and the promotion of the responsible use of pesticides, nutrients, and water. Executive Director Parry Klassen tells us about the new software tool CURES is rolling out, which will help farmers measure the distribution uniformity of their water application and assess possible upgrades.

In its more than 100 years of history, northern Wyoming’s Greybull Valley Irrigation District has gradually added diversions, dams, reservoirs, and canals to provide reliable and stable water supplies to its farmer customers. In our interview with District Manager Melissa Leonhardt, we learn about this wisely designed infrastructure and hear about current and upcoming projects at the district.

Custom screens, software platforms and tools, plant-responsive drip tape, mapping wheels, and rotary lasers are only some of the top-notch tools being brought to market to help sustain and enhance irrigated agriculture across the nation. I hope you enjoy learning more about these quality products.

Kris Polly is the editor-in-chief of Irrigation Leader magazine and the 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.