blank slate and irrigation canal

13 years ago

We have acquired the dream acreage, now I need 4H for grown-ups! 3.3 acres at 6,800' in Torrey, UT, a farming community and gateway to Capitol Reef NP. The land has been in pasture for at least 50 years (met the son of the man who farmed it once). But the last 20 years are so has seen little care and excess grazing.

We also acquired sufficient water rights to turn the place into a bog, if we were inclined (we are not). Visualize a rectangle roughly 3 units wide to 4 units high. The west side is lined with cottonwood trees along the main canal. Our water comes from a ditch entering at the northwest corner, flows down a ditch on the north boundary, and floods downhill to the south where a second canal leaves the property. Vehicle access is from a road that deadends on the southeast corner. That is the only reasonable place to put the house for utilities, access, views.

Even if we don't start building right away, I am excited about laying out my new garden and putting in a cover crop to start improving the soil. (Got tests last fall.) But first I think I am going to need to move the lower canal to protect the future house site.

The expertise is available to do the work when we are ready, but I'd like to understand how this flood irrigation system should work before I pay for help. I haven't found much on the interweb about how to best use this precious water resource, and whether we can even count on it for our garden (say 1/4 acre max) and some fruit trees and at the same time keep the rest of the land in pasture. BTW Our turn is every 2.5 days. We also have culinary water available.

Resources please so I can learn enough to talk to contractors, the watermaster and the lady who manages our section of the ditch, scheduling our turns and hires the crew who actually shifts the water in turn and maintains the ditch. I'm already not her favorite person since I told her not to pasture her horses on our land last year so we could start building and things went slower than planned.

I'm thinking of throwing myself at the mercy of the local county extension agent. But I'd like to educate myself a little first.

Will be back for more advice, but we can't do anything until we get this figured out.

Thanks!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (2)

digit
13 years ago
Well Annie, you have waited a week for someone with more immediate knowledge than I have to comment on your irrigation situation.

I was thinking recently about 50 years ago when I was out there with a shovel in the field and my plywood dams in the concrete irrigation ditch. It was all flood irrigation and there was 23 acres of mostly flat ground to cover. 53 acres did not have irrigation but a grain or hay crop could be raised because that part of the world had over 40" of rain each year.

The ground sloped ever so slightly from the southwest where the canal came onto the property. It ran along the southern boundary, made a left turn (for us) and ran along the west side where it had to be banked fairly high. I remember having some trouble on the west side: the water could kind of get away from me and flood on down to the neighbor.

There were a couple of low spots that my little ditches had to skirt or the water would pond but it really wasn't much trouble. The cows trampled down my ditches pretty hard but a large part of the 23 acres was used only as a hay field thru the summer and they were kept out of there.

My job was mostly making sure that the water made it all the way across the ground in the time allowed and keeping the ditch man happy. I had more trouble with him by NOT damming the canal and pulling the water out at the required moment than anything. Getting chewed out for that once was enuf to keep me on schedule. It was a 12 hour gig but it wasn't as tho' I had to work my tail off every minute of the day.

Irrigation management, think of yourself and the ditch man as a team. You are paying the salary but he's working for a lot of people up and down the canal. Dad became a good friend with the ditch man in another irrigation district. His wife worked for the Farm Bureau and they became life-long family friends.

Steve
who turns to Wikipedia for most anything if it's just for non-expert discussion of the issues
david52 Zone 6
13 years ago
Another thought is the roots of cottonwood trees grow amazing distances, not uncommon to find them hundreds of feet away from the main plant. And they can be serious competitors for any nutrients in garden beds.

You also might want to install some serious drainage around your future buildings - French drains and such, just in case.
Related Professionals
Wrentham Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Edmond Landscape Contractors · Blue Springs Landscape Contractors · Deerfield Beach Landscape Contractors · El Sobrante Landscape Contractors · Garland Landscape Contractors · Gloucester Landscape Contractors · Hawaii Landscape Contractors · Huntington Landscape Contractors · Live Oak Landscape Contractors · North Potomac Landscape Contractors · Woodbury Landscape Contractors · Elmhurst Solar Energy Systems · Montclair Solar Energy Systems · Torrington Solar Energy Systems