Kirby Ditch Irrigation District receives funding for piping project

Kirby Ditch Irrigation District recently received notice they have been awarded funding for their lower reach piping project from the Bureau of Reclamation as part of more than $40 million in grant funds going to 54 water projects across the West.

The total cost of the Kirby Ditch project is a little over $2.2 million and grant monies from the Bureau will cover $737,966.

The project will convert 2.56 miles of the open Kirby Ditch to a buried polyvinyl chloride pipeline and is expected to result in an annual savings of over 1,000 acre feet of water that is currently lost to seepage.

As a result, the District will reduce its diversions from the Big Horn River and will be able to avoid purchasing water from Boysen Reservoir.

Landowners will be able to increase their on-farm irrigation efficiency by converting to gated pipe and pivot irrigation.

“The WaterSMART Program is helping Reclamation address the West’s water challenges,” said Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman. “Water and Energy Efficiency Grants provide water districts and communities the needed assistance to modernize their water delivery infrastructure and increase hydropower generation.”