Flood Irrigation, First Water of the Year

[pecan]

Well we got out there and turned the water on for the first time this year. I got up early to open the main head gate before anyone did (we have to take turns using it and there is no schedule, just first come first serve). It started flooding great until the water stopped. We went back up to the main head gate and someone else turned it there way We opened it back up ( we are supposed to not use it if someone else is and since I had got to it first I was not happy). A little while later the water stopped again. This time I am NOT HAPPY at all. My husband and I go up there and the guy is still there. He said he didn't look to see if someone else was using it and didn't understand how we takes turns and don't use it if someone else is. This makes me think he doesn't have water rights, because if he did he would have known. We get him to send it back our way but I was ready for an old fashioned water war and wasn't afraid to walk up there with two revolvers stRapped to my hips LOL. Well we eventually got the water. Here are some pictures.

This is the ditch behind our house with our head gate open letting the water in.

Here is how it heads down our east property line

Water coming under our garden fence

Heading further down our yard

Looking back in the garden. The garden is a project for next year. I need to re-do all the rows because it is not flooding evenly and do something to keept he weeds down like plastic or something.

But you can see all the asparagus I put in last year along the back ditch doing great this year

 

[pecan]

And all done! A pond within a pond LOL

 

[pecan]

Probably wont need to water again for a while LOL

 

[j.w]

Omg, that is amazing! It really does flood your whole yard. And it never runs out of water? What happens if somebody doesn't turn the thing off? Would it really flood the whole place badly and does the water leave your yard to someone else's yard if yours overflows and visa versa?

 

[pecan]

We have mountain water (snow run off) shares and canal water shares. When the mountain water runs out ( around the 1st of July ) we pull from the canal for the rest of the year which never runs out because it comes from a large lake (Utah Lake).

We don't have to worry about getting flooded out because we can close the gate going into our yard unless we are using it. Then it just continues to go down stream. We just always have to remember to keep our gate closed

I like the mountain water, it is clear and cold. The canal water is murky and kind of yucky, but it does the trick.

 

[pecan]

Our "Water Mayor" (the lady who runs the water trust that holds all our shares) lives two doors down from me and she is 86 yo. She has made comments about how she needs to hand the torch over to someone else as she may not be able to do it for much longer. My husband thinks she is grooming me for the job. It is not something I would really want to do but if it means loosing the water I am happy to take over. I don't know what we would do with our huge yard and no water. The job entails going to the water meetings with the other "Water Mayors", collecting the fees for the trust ($12.00 a year from each person with water rights), making sure the ditches stay clear, making sure no one steals the water and making sure there are no disputes over the water.

 

[addy1]

wow 12 a year, who in their right mind would mess with that set up

 

[Mucky_Waters]

That is very interesting, never seen anybody irrigate their lawn like that before. (not on purpose anyway)
Haveing your yard full of water like that does kind of take away from the novelty of have a pond though. But I know, it only last for a day ot two until it seeps away.
Thanks for posting those pictures.

 

[taherrmann4]

That is really neat....

I am curious if you have a problem with the water collecting under your pond liner? It looks like it was really close to the edge of your pond.

 

[DrCase]

How long did it take to fill up the yard ?

 

[sissy]

geeze interesting concept .I never saw it done before only heard on here about that kind of watering .

 

[pecan]

Addy, with water costs here in the summer and the rationing of city water, it would cost me a couple hundred a month to keep my yard watered. $12 a year is awesome! and waters so much better and deeper than a sprinkler.

Mucky Waters, the water only lasts about an hour or two after I close our gate it is gone. It is completely gone right now.

Tmann, nope, it doesn't seep under the liner. The edge of the pond is about 6 inches higher than the grass, and there are flower beds in between the grass and pond that slope up to the pond. The flood water, waters the bed around the pond but that's it.

Dr.Case, it takes about 2 hours to flood the whole yard if the water is running high and no one is stealing it from me Today it took about 5 hours because of the issues I had with the guy turning it off.

I water about once a week till the heat of the summer when it hits 100+ for a couple months straight, then I water twice a week and nothing ever dry's out.

My irrigation is the secret to my tropical yard in the middle of the dessert. Without it many of my plants would not be possible, like my bald cypress and hibiscus's.

 

[don't ask]

wow.. truly neat and a blessing you have that ability to do that...hope you get to keep that little secret for quite sometime

 

[CountryEscape]

That was really neat, Pecan! Everyone else has asked the questions I was thinking of asking. Very unique.
And, in UT, I thought it was extremely interesting how they sometimes flood fields. They have a very large pipe (water is pumped, rather than running through the canal or mountain lik here) and the field is slightly sloped. Same type of concept you have in your garden. High area, and low area, the pipe pumps water down all the low areas, which flood and then the water seeps to the higher areas to soak them good.

 

[pecan]

It really is surprising how quickly the water soaks in, dry up, and goes away. We are sitting out there tonight with my father in law and his girlfriend and the lawn is completely dry. There is no way to tell it was a rice patty this afternoon.