BAYVIEW IRRIGATION DISTRICT # 11. Water Conservation Plan. Update. August 24, 2009

Transcription

1 BAYVIEW IRRIGATION DISTRICT # 11 Water Conservation Plan Update August 24, 2009 Bayview Irrigation District #11 Conservation Plan Update Page 1 of 6

2 Water Conservation Plan Update Bayview Irrigation District #11 August 24, 2009 THEN & NOW The Bayview Irrigation District #11 (Bayview #11) Board of Directors became aware of the need for conservation in 1991, when the water storage levels at Amistad Reservoir and Falcon Reservoir dropped at alarming rates from the normal conservation levels of 1988 to To start a conservation plan the Board needed accurate and timely information about the make-up of the District. The following information is a summary of data that was compiled. A. DISTRICT ACREAGE In 1999 the District was made up of 8,012 acres under flat rate assessment. Only 6,000 acres was under agricultural production, the other acreage was made up of small non agricultural blocks. Now the District is made up 6,850 acres under flat rate assessment. Only approximately 4,506 acres are under agricultural production. Bayview Irrigation District #11 Conservation Plan Update Page 2 of 6

3 B. CUSTOMER BASE Bayview#11 had about 450 landowners and 120 irrigation customers, but of the irrigation customers only 20 were full-time farmers and the balance are small acreage users that irrigate infrequently. Currently the District has about 396 landowners, 191 irrigation customers, and 10 full time farmers. C. SOIL TYPES The District is made-up of three soil types: Laredo silty loam (0 to 1 percent slopes), Harlingen clay, Olmito silty clay and other clays in small parts. D. DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM Bayview #11 s delivery system is made-up of nine miles of unlined main canal, 76 miles of concrete pipelines, seven miles of lined canals and 14 miles of Resacas (reservoirs). Diversions from the Rio Grande River are made by Cameron County Irrigation District #6 for Bayview #11. All water is metered at Bayview #11 s delivery point by Cameron County Irrigation District #6. Currently about 1/3 of the concrete pipelines in the District have been replaced with PVC. E. CROPS Irrigated crops include 4,124 acres in row crops (cotton/grain), 450 acres in citrus, 384 acres in pasture and 1,042 acres in sugar cane. Currently irrigated crops include 2, acres in row crops (cotton/grain/corn/aloe), acres in sugar cane, acres in citrus, 30.5 acres in palm trees, and 1,042 acres in pasture. Bayview Irrigation District #11 Conservation Plan Update Page 3 of 6

4 After reviewing the above information, The Board of Directors and the Manager formulated a Five Year Conservation Plan in This plan was made-up of three phases: (1.) The first phase being to convert the District from open ditch irrigation to polypipe irrigation with a goal to conserve 15 percent in water usage. In 1992, a pilot project on a 500 acre farm in Bayview began to study the advantages to the farmers and to the District in using polypipe instead of open ditch irrigation. After the pilot project was completed, the report was reviewed by the Board. Increased efficiency by the use of polypipe resulted in a savings of $11.97 per acre in labor cost per year for the fanner. The District savings on water delivered was 17 percent. Meetings were held with the local farmers to report the findings of the pilot project. A plan was adopted by the District that the farmers would pay for all materials and the District would install these materials to convert the on-farm distribution system to polypipe by the year At the beginning of 1995, eighty percent of the District had been converted to polypipe. The overall water usage and conveyance losses went from 9.1 inches per acre in 1993 to 7.7 inches per acre in 1994, a savings of 15 percent. At year end of 1995 usage on a per acre basis went to 7.4 inches, a savings of 18.7 percent with 98% of the District using polypipe. (2.) The second phase was to install a meter at all delivery points of water for on-farm irrigation. The District purchased 98 meters at a cost of $100,000. In January, 1996, this phase was completed and all water Bayview Irrigation District #11 Conservation Plan Update Page 4 of 6

5 began to be sold on an acre-foot basis. Water usage and conveyance losses on a per acre basis went from 7.4 inches in 1995 to 5.6 in 1996, saving 13.5 percent. The Board paid for these improvements with the savings in water transportation expense and electricity expense on District pumps. These phases of the conservation plan will be paid for in approximately five years. No rates were increased, plus the farming community saved about $75,000 per year in labor expenses by converting to polypipe and meters. (3.) The third phase was to implement and complete a district wide management program with the following: The District Manager will develop and implement a water management program to order water from the Rio Grande River. He will also report to the Board of Directors on a monthly basis the amount of water delivered to Bayview #11 by District #6, the amount in District reservoir and Rio Grande Reservoirs, total water sold for irrigation, water usage for irrigation, watermaster monthly allocation, no charge water pumped, the unused water allocation to Bayview #11 landowners and balance of water to be allocated to land owners. Other reports must compare water usage to crops and also on a per acre basis. The manager must meet with the farmers yearly to monitor water usage for the coming year (changes in crops, irrigatable acres and other information from the farmers) and report back to the Board of Directors. The manager will oversee that all leaking pipelines are repaired or replaced with new PVC pipe to prevent loss in the systems. In the past seven years since the implementation of this Water Conservation Plan by Bayview #11- we have reduced the water per acre Bayview Irrigation District #11 Conservation Plan Update Page 5 of 6

6 used by 3.71 inches per irrigation (reduction of over 30 percent in water usage). The Bayview #11 data has been confirmed by studies conducted by A & M University, Rice University, Cornell University and the University of Texas. The District continues to be dedicated to the provision of an adequate supply of water for agricultural production at an affordable price. Currently the farmers still use polypipe for at least 95% of all irrigation. The District still uses meters at all delivery points and continues to replace all broken or leaking concrete pipelines with PVC. The District still works with Texas A&M, testing the seepage levels in areas of concern throughout the District and working on innovative and inexpensive solutions to these problems. BOARD OF DIRECTORS BAYVIEW IRRIGATION DISTRICT #11 FIVE YEAR PLAN: Our goal is to reduce water loss 2% by TEN YEAR PLAN: Our goal is to reduce water loss another 2% by Bayview Irrigation District #11 Conservation Plan Update Page 6 of 6