TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Farmers across the Magic Valley are preparing their fields for the growing season as canals and ditches are cleared and starting to fill ahead of the irrigation season.
Due to an unusually dry winter, farmers in the Magic Valley are waiting on water that will arrive about a week earlier this year than normal.
Twin Falls Canal Company General Manager Jay Barlogi tells Idaho News 6 water deliveries will start at a reduced rate. Instead of 3/4 inch per acre, delivery will start at 5/8 inch per acre, which is about 16% less than a full delivery.
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"The idea that we’re cutting right at the beginning of the season this season is intentional; that the plan is to cut early enough to where we can stretch out our remaining water supply to not have to make that cut to half-an-inch," Barlogi said.
"We generally shoot for somewhere mid-April but it’s so dry out there that we recognize those guys need this water right now so we stepped our schedule up a week and now we’re trying to make water available for delivery the week of [April 6]," Barlogi said.
Earlier this week, I asked dairy farmer Tyler Hyink for his thoughts on the increasing costs of fertilizer and diesel as a result of the war with Iran. He said his bigger concern right now is water.
"We typically plant triticale, it would be kind of in place of the winter wheat or barley that uses less water," Hyink said. "And so that’s kind of our acres that we reduce, because we can shut the water off those early and take the crop off."
Barlogi said one silver lining of a winter without snow is that crews made a lot more progress on a canal lining project to reduce water loss from seepage. Instead of lining two miles of canal, they were able to line seven miles.
"So you know that that’s water that historically has been leaking out of the bottom and the sides of our canal that’s actually gonna make it to farm fields this year. What a wonderful year to have that blessing because we’re gonna need every drop we can get just to make it through the season," Barlogi said.
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