MILNER, Idaho — Irrigation season has officially come to an end for water users with the Twin Falls Canal Company, where officials are looking back at a tough year as drought conditions continue and recharge efforts get underway.
I went to the headgates of the Twin Falls Canal Company at Milner Dam, where crews shut off irrigation water to begin the transition into winter recharge.
WATCH: The Twin Falls Canal Company has shut off irrigation water for the season
"Today is the day we're shutting off our irrigation water, giving a 24-hour mark before we start winter recharge," Milner Dam tender Jayden Lovell said.
Lovell said the Twin Falls Canal Company has over 100 miles of main canal and over a thousand miles of ditches, and cutting off the water for the season is as easy as pushing a button.
"We basically go up and turn the system on and press a button and it shuts the gates for us," Lovell said.
The past season was hard on irrigators. With very little snow over winter and a dry summer, the Twin Falls Canal Company and its nearly 5,000 shareholders had to make do with what they could.
"It was a tough year but we made it through a tough year delivering significantly less water than we have in the past," Jay Barlogi, general manager of the Twin Falls Canal Company, said. "Nonetheless, I think the company and the water users worked really hard and we ended up with another successful season."
Barlogi said the canal company cut usage by a third to shareholders over the year, delivering only half an inch during most of the season, forcing farmers to adapt.
"It's been a struggle and a lot of tough decisions this year. Some guys sacrificed one crop to save the other," Barlogi said. "We see reduced yields pretty much across the board. No matter what crop we're looking at, there are some reduced yields."
The canal company said it pushed back the closing of the gates a week to give farmers a shot at getting some winter crops in the ground. Barlogi said the extra water now could go a long way in the future, with projections showing another tough winter on the horizon.
"We wanted to make sure they got their winter wheat and barley in as much as they could this year, just in preparation for what appears to be another really tough year next year," Barlogi said. "All weather forecasts seem to suggest it's going to be another really tough winter with not a lot of snow. We hope they're wrong."
The canal company said it will take about three days to drain the entire system.
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