October 3, 2022 |
Concern over aging critical water infrastructure has prompted a preemptive approach to avoid catastrophic failures like the 2019 irrigation tunnel collapse in Wheatland.
Last Thursday evening, the Wyoming Water Development Commission held a public meeting at the Platte Valley Community Center to address failing irrigation infrastructure in the state. More than 20 ranchers and concerned citizens attended the second of 10 such events to learn how the WWDC is working to prevent failures.
Wyoming has unique challenges for farmers and ranchers. The dry climate means some areas of the state only receive 15 to 20 inches of rain a year. Throughout state’s history, innovative and often extensive irrigation systems have been built to maximize what little water Mother Nature provides. Miles of canals and channels with countless headgates and dams regulate the flow of water. Much of this infrastructure is over 100 years old. Some of the systems are showing their age.
The massive failure of the Gering-Fort Laramie Canal Tunnel showed just how vulnerable the irrigation system is. The canal tunnel was built in 1917. It collapsed in July of 2019 because of a lack of maintenance. The damage to the tunnels affected around 107,000 water acres of North Platte River, costing upwards of $200 million in lost revenue.
Inspection of Wyoming’s irrigation system has turned up problems with the LaPrele Dam, near Douglas. Failure of the dam would be catastrophic to the region. LaPrele is in such poor condition that the WWDC is considering building an entirely new dam downstream.
Jay Schug, from Trihydro Corporation, an environmental consulting firm, talked about the importance of taking care of the aging infrastructure.
Fixing these problems will be expensive. State officials are trying to get ahead of the problem by asking the public to help identify potential trouble spots before a complete failure occurs.
With funding from the legislature, the state water commission launched the Critical Aging Irrigation Infrastructure Assessment Level 1 Study. When complete it will be a database of every known problem in the water system. Thursday night’s meeting in Saratoga was part of the process.
Information gained a meetings and surveys will be used to rank structures on how likely they are to fail. Once a problem is pinpointed, the WWDC will help to secure funding to fix it. Chase Tavelli is the project manager of the Wyoming Water Development Office. Tevelli said grants are available for repairs and explained how the process works.
A total of 10 public meetings are being held across the state to raise awareness and generate feedback about potential trouble spots. The next meeting is in Lyman, on October 11th. Go to the WWDC website for information about future meetings and funding options.
