Lowden 2 and Garden City Pipeline Engineered Design, EC and Landowner Coordination

Background
     The Walla Walla Subbasin Plan identifies three imminent threats to ESA listed fish species including "...areas of the stream that seasonally go dry..." (7.3.1 pg 147) and recommends that they be the highest priority for restoration "...regardless of whether they are located in a priority geographic area."   As a critical limiting factor, restoration of instream flows must be addressed to achieve recovery of ESA-listed Mid-Columbia steelhead and bull trout and ensure the success of reintroduced spring Chinook salmon in the Walla Walla Basin.  Consistent with the recommendations of the Subbasin Plan, the WWCCD and the Lowden 2 and Garden City irrigators are working cooperatively to reduce water loss due to seepage and evaporation by converting the 2 ditches from open ditch conveyance systems to buried pipeline.  
     The Lowden 2 ditch is located approximately 2 miles southwest of Lowden, WA and provides water for approximately 855 acres of irrigated farmland.  The 4.5 mile long Lowden 2 ditch which diverts from the Walla Walla River at RM 30.9 will be converted from open ditch conveyance to buried pipeline conveyance.  This pipeline is expected to save approximately 2.8 cfs which will be transferred from individual irrigation water rights to the WA Dept of Ecology Trust program where it will be protected as instream flow in Mud Creek and/or the Walla Walla River.   Improved flows in Mud Creek are intended to address fish passage which is also an imminent threat described on page 147 of the Subbasin Plan.  CR 267994 will provide funds for the Walla Walla County Conservation District (WWCCD) to design the pipeline and 16 on-farm pump stations, assist the BPA EC group as necessary on EC clearances, and negotiate Trust transfers with the affected water rights holders.
     The 2.5 mile long Garden City ditch which also diverts from the Walla Walla River at RM 30.9 will be converted from open ditch conveyance to buried pipeline conveyance.  The Garden City ditch is located adjacent to the Lowden 2 ditch approximately 2 miles southwest of Lowden, WA and provides water for approximately 1217 acres of irrigated farmland.  This pipeline is expected to save approximately 1.0 cfs which will be transferred from individual irrigation water rights to trust and protected as instream flow in the Walla Walla River.  CR 267994 will provide funds for the WWCCD to design the pipeline and 21 on-farm pump stations, assist the BPA EC group as necessary on EC clearances, and negotiate Trust transfers with the affected water rights holders.      
     This project will be a continuation of water saving pipeline projects that have resulted in substantial increases in instream flow in the Walla Walla Basin.  BPA has provided cost share funding to WWCCD which has enabled installation of pipelines in four sections of the 27 mile long Gardena Farms Irrigation District ditch.  In 2002 under BPA contract 00007844-1 WWCCD installed 2.18 miles of buried gravity pipeline in the Riggs Rd. lateral and the Huesby-Bennington lateral for a total water savings of 1.85 cfs.  In 2009-10 under BPA contract number 42762 WWCCD installed the South Lateral pipeline which converted approximately 6 miles of open ditch in the southern branch of the main ditch system to buried gravity pipeline.  The South Lateral pipeline saved approximately 3.99 cfs.  In 2012-13 under contract 58147 WWCCD installed a weed screen structure and 6.6 miles of main line and 3.7 miles of on-farm lateral pipeline and 35 pump stations.  Total water savings was 5.95 cfs.  BPA has also provided cost share funding to WWCCD for installation of the Bergevin-Williams and Old Lowden pipeline which was constructed in 2012-13.  This project included was 9.6 miles of pipeline and 11 on farm pump stations and saved 4.5 cfs which was transferred to Trust.  Although BPA did not provide funding, they provided EC and other assistance on the Touchet East Side and West Side Irrigation Districts’ pipeline which was constructed in 2007-09.  This project included 13.7 miles of pipeline and 37 on farm pump stations and saved 5.8 cfs which was transferred to the Trust program.    
Future Pipeline Projects
     WWCCD has piped all the major ditches in the WA portion of the Walla Walla River watershed with the exception of Lowden 2, Garden City and the remaining 11 miles of the Gardena Farms Irrigation District.  CR 267994 will provide funds for the engineered design, EC, landowner coordination and water rights negotiations for the Lowden 2 and Garden City ditches.  WWCCD will request construction funds from BPA, Bureau of Reclamation, and WA Dept of Ecology.  Our goal is to construct both pipelines in 2015.

Stiller/Schwenke Fish Screen and Diversion Modification for Shallow Aquifer Recharge

Background
     In 2003 WWCCD installed an irrigation efficiency project on the Stiller/Schwenke property which included a Pacific Ag compliant fish screen, a trailer mounted lift pump, 1.5 miles of pipeline and a pivot sprinkler system.  The project included abandonment of a three acre pond and its associated water right which had allowed water to be diverted from Mill Creek in the winter/spring and stored for use later in the season.  In 2010-11 WWCCD proposed using the pond and pipeline as a site for shallow aquifer recharge.  The original concept was precipitated by a need for mitigation for the Bergevin-Williams and Old Lowden diversion and pipeline project.  There was concern during the permitting process about dewatering caused by moving the point of diversion for the Old Lowden ditch upstream to the existing Lowden 2 and Garden City diversion .  As mitigation for this concern, a groundwater recharge project was proposed by WWCCD.  The suggested recharge project would utilize the existing Stiller/Schwenke pond basin and pipeline to increase the quantity of water entering the shallow aquifer.  Restoration of the shallow aquifer would contribute to the base flows of the Walla Walla River to help offset the effects of dewatering caused by moving the Old Lowden points of diversion upstream.  Contract 49521 provided funds to install a diffuser structure in the pond basin, extend the existing pipeline to the pond basin, and install a meter on the pipeline.  In 2012-13 approximately 32 ac-ft of water was pumped from Mill Creek to the pond basin where it seeped into the groundwater.
     Shallow aquifer recharge ordinarily utilizes high flows in the winter and spring when there is little demand for irrigation water.  In our first year of operation the existing Pacific Ag fish screen system proved to be seriously inadequate because the screens, pipes and cables caught limbs and debris which are a natural occurrence in high winter and spring flows.   CR 267994 will provide funding to install a Clemens style compliant fish screen in a below ground, off channel, concrete sump (see design drawings in PISCES Attachment) which will be immune to accumulation of debris.   In addition, CR 267994 will provide funds for a 10 horsepower pump which will be capable of moving up to 2 cfs from Mill Creek to the Stiller pond basin.