Quincy irrigation improvements 'ongoing, yearly'

'Big push' comes when water is out of canals

QUINCY — Some people think the Quincy Columbia Basin Irrigation District relaxes during the winter, but Charlie Roberts knows it's not true.

"When you think about it, we bring over a quarter of a million acres of farm ground to life," the district Operation and Maintenance Manager said as he drove along, pointing out places which needed repair, or those places which have recently seen a fix. "It's a huge impact on the economy, peoples' livelihoods and well-being, so it's important we continue to do what we're doing."

The district really gets busy during the winter, Roberts said.

"When you look at the magnitude of this thing, it's just huge and so many people depend on us to get their water to them," he said. "It's just very important we keep doing a good job and we keep getting as much done as we can."

The concrete lining in the 50-year-old-plus canal system on the West Canal and the Block 89, 81 and 80 areas needs to be repaired, Roberts said.

"It's an ongoing, yearly thing," Roberts said. "Basically what we're doing now is we're putting Band-Aids on the system. We do as weather allows. This year hasn't been particularly a good year because winter was so long and stretched out, our window of opportunity to work on the canal was really shortened up."

The district's only window to perform repairs is when the system is empty. The district usually turns water out in the fall around Oct. 20, and might get through mid- to late November before things freeze during winter, Roberts said. In the spring, the weather might begin breaking in early to mid-February, at which point the district begins pulling linings.

"What we do is after we get water in the system, we'll be as ready as we can, and then anything that crops up while water's in the ditch, depending on how serious it is, we'll take care of it," Roberts said. "But really, our big push is from the time we turn water off until the time we put it back in the ditch."

The district had projected pulling up about 150 concrete panels from the canal system, and poured about 50 replacements, but 25 were put in due to conditions.

Cost of improvements are passed on to water users as part of the district's operations and maintenance budgets. When users pay their assessments, the cost is passed along, Roberts said.

Water began running through the district system last week.

If the need becomes bad enough and water is in the ditch, the district may shut a ditch down to make repairs, Roberts said.

To fill in cracks, the district uses a material called polyurethane, a two-component spray-on coating.

The district services approximately 250,000 acres of farm ground with about 1,000 miles of conveyance system and 2,500 miles of open and piped drainage system. The district employs 60 people full-time and hires temporary help during start-up and over the summer.