In-depth county inventory geared toward managing water infrastructure efficiently
By LARRY MEYER
ARGUS OBSERVER
LarryM@argusobserver.com
Saturday, November 21, 2009 9:32 PM PST
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| This drain, between Nyssa and Ontario, will be part of the inventory of irrigation systems being put together covering northern Malheur County. |
ONTARIO — The project has a long name, but the inventory of the county’s irrigation canals, drain ditches and irrigated acres, plus all the related structures, is an effort to manage these resources more efficiently, and, in a way, that improves conservation and water quality, officials say.
The Malheur County Irrigated Agricultural Conservation Inventory and Analysis Project is being done by Terry Finnerty, Malheur County Soil and Water Conservation Service, with the assistance of the Owyhee Project, both north and south irrigation districts, the Vale Oregon Irrigation District and the Warms Springs Irrigation District.
“There are a multitude of partners,” Finnerty said Thursday during a presentation before the Malheur Watershed Council at its regular monthly meeting.
The project area includes 2,350 miles of irrigation canals, 375 miles of drain canals and about 250,000 acres of irrigated land.
The primary goal, as stated on the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board grant application, is “to develop a long-range assessment to map all the irrigation system canals and drains in order to develop a plan to (reduce) nonpoint source pollution on a watershed, decrease water use (and) reduce soil loss.”
“It’s a water quality-related project,” Finnerty said.
He is using global positioning system and global information technology to do the inventory and put together the data and other information. In addition to the canals, the data includes soils, roads, sewers, pipelines, water rights, boundaries, flood plains, utilities and other structures or landmarks.
For example, there will be a uniform symbol on a map for headgates, and data on the headgates would include the number of a gate, its location, its size and its condition. Finnerty is meeting monthly with irrigation districts in gathering this data and putting together the maps.
“Most of Owyhee is done,” Finnerty said.
One thing he is adamant about is something will be done with the data, he said.
Turning to another water quality issue, John Dadoly, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality coordinator, who is working on the Malheur Basin Total Maximum Daily Load report and water quality improvement plan, said there is still time to comment on the report regarding temperature, and other chapters on dissolved oxygen, bacteria, pesticides, nutrients and sediment will be out soon for public comment.
Also expected out soon is the water quality plan, which will spell out how the TMDL will be implemented and who or which agencies will be responsible for implementation whether it be public or private ground.
