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Let the water 'games' begin!(pics)

D

DeltaRed

Well-known Member
Irrigateing 'season' starts today.I turn on 2 headgates to run 2 (small)'heads' of water.Sometimes I will run 4 heads at once,scattered 10 miles apart.We will be "chaseing water" till mid Sept.2-3-4...times daily.Not quite as bad as milking a cow,but close!Steve
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That shovel has seen some use LOL ! Not much irrigation in these parts, but south of here, where theres a lot more flat land, actually what I always thought was nice ag land, compared to all the hidden fields surrounded by hedgerows, I have seen irrigation set up, on A frames, with wheels, forget what you call it, but they seem to be prepared for dry weather, something we usually get in 3-4 day durations before it rains, but then I've seen it go a few weeks, one thing is for sure, the rain always comes back. Its really interesting to see how the other "half" lives so to speak, I've never seen irrigated corn around here, gets dry it curls up, but always comes back or so it appears over the many years I have observed it locally.
 
We recently visited a second cousin in Niles MI and then drove 12 from there to Sturgis. I don't know what they grow there but I was surprised to see a lot of irrigation, all center pivot.
 
Nothing like that around here - no dry dirt, no growing crops, no sunshine. No irrigation for 30 miles, and too hilly for any type of flood irrigation.

We do have some channels of water, but those are ditches to try to drain the water away.

Nice to see how things are in other places. Neat pics.

Paul
 
I've only seen center pivots from looking out the window of a plane when traveling to the west coast for work, all these green circles LOL !
Locally, the terrain is rolling hills, gravel/clay/loam, if that's even the correct classification. Lot of it seems to hold moisture, some of sloped ground, where you would think it would not being drained, I was making ruts at a friends farm, where their fields are rented out, while gathering logs for firewood, not easy towing, or steering, once shaded by the plants it seems to do a good job of holding moisture.
 
Our fields look a bit like that but its streams of water running through and off, trying to get rid of it always. Maybe 2 weeks in Aug when we get dry ground.
 

Haven't seen tubes in years, brings back lots of memories. My Dad usually started the wells in late March and they pretty much ran 24/7 until early or mid Sept. unless we got a decent rain. Then they might get shut off for a few days.
Thanks for posting the pics.
 

They filled in the ditches around here 40 years ago and went to a pressurized system with water districts. I get to slowly put my puzzle pieces together over the next month or two...aluminum mainlines and 40' sprinkler pipes. We are delivered water at around 80psi, about $8 an acre/ft...which I think is cheap.

Growing up in South Dakota during a 10 year drought, I have to smile every time I crank open that irrigation valve!

How do they figure the cost of your water? Do you get it free if you have water rights to the land? Do you pay fees to a water district?
 
I pay a "fee"(assessment) to a water
'district',Uncompagre Valley Water Users Assn.
(UVWUA) annually.You must pay the assessment yearly,just like taxes,whether you use the water or not.This year it is $40.00/share.I
'own' 5 shares for the 10 acre 'home place'.Leased
ground is usually water/taxes plus....Most farms
here have one share per acre.
 
That #2 shovel looks like its down to about a #1 1/2 now!

It was all hand lines around here when I was a kid (and there was a lot of farming going on), either from rivers or wells. Not much going on now, but what little there is, is usually hard hose reels.
 
What is a "share" and how do they measure it?

Is that water taken from a river passing threw your area or is it pumped from out the ground?

We have many ditches; canals; bayous; and pumps but we use them to drain water out rather than in.
The closest irrigated ground (center pivot) I know of is over 100 miles north of me.
 
How long does it take you to wear out a shovel? Some of the guys around here that flood irrigate have shovels that look like they are silver plated from use!
We have a record snow pack but it has been pretty cool until the past few days. We "normally" (whatever "normal"is anymore) get our first cutting on Mother Nature and don"t have to irrigate till late June-early July but the last two years May was dry and I had to start putting the water out. I use wheel lines but it"s twice a day, everyday. When September comes around I guy can hardly wait to shutoff!
Thanks for posting the pictures. It"s always nice to see how folks irrigate in other parts of the country.
 
A 'share' varys from one company/district to the next.However,1 acrefoot is one share is the most common.Most ditch water is measured by a 'Parshall flume'(see the weir with the scale).Most/all of the water here on Colorado's western slope comes from mountain snow runoff.It is 'stored' in lakes/resevoirs for distribution via a canal system.Most lakes here are for irrigation use.'Recreation' is a side benefit.
 
Yeah, some folks think that flood irrigation is obsolete.
I was in DELTA, UT a few weeks ago and guess what...those guys really flood irrigate. As in the whole field, not just rows. This is alfalfa country and they are at the end of the river. It is 100's of sq. miles. So 'use it or lose it' applies here. It is a monumental use of water, to say the least.
 
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