Pershing County Water Conservation District - Irrigation System Improvements

BACKGROUND

The lands served by the Pershing County Water Conservation District (PCWCD) are located in a high desert valley at an elevation of 3,900 feet. The valley lies some 90 miles east of Reno, just above the Humboldt Sink, which is the terminus of the Humboldt River.

Emigrants following the California Trail used the lower river area in what is now Pershing County to rest with their livestock before attempting to cross the dreaded Forty Mile Desert. Before long, the increasing local population of emigrants and miners fueled a significant demand for agricultural products in the area.

In the early 1900s, several irrigators banded together to construct the Pitt-Taylor Reservoirs, located upstream of Lovelock, Nevada. However, these reservoirs were not of sufficient capacity and served only part of the irrigated area that now makes up the PCWCD. In addition, the reservoirs suffered from a lack of available water during dry years.

In response to the problem, the Nevada State Engineer ordered a general adjudication of the Humboldt River system in 1923, designating the Sixth Judicial District Court in Winnemucca as the decree court. In 1931, the Hon. George A. Bartlett issued a final decree establishing the water rights for the Humboldt River Basin. The Bartlett Decree was immediately subjected to judicial challenges, which were resolved through the issuance of the "Edwards Decree" in 1934. Together, these decrees are commonly referred to as the Humboldt River Decree. The Humboldt River adjudication was finalized by order of the Nevada Supreme Court in 1938, when it affirmed the Humboldt River Decree, halting all future challenges.

With the issuance of the Bartlett Decree in 1931, some measure of order was established on the river, opening the way for efforts to build a new water storage project for Lovelock Valley irrigators. The Lovelock Irrigation District had been organized in 1926 for the primary purpose of exploring possible storage sites on the Humboldt River. However, after the Bartlett Decree was entered these efforts intensified. To facilitate the construction of such a project, the District reorganized as a quasi-governmental entity under the Nevada Irrigation District Act of 1919 and changed its name to the Pershing County Water Conservation District.

In the early 1930s the District began negotiations with the United States Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) for the construction of the Humboldt Project. Funding for the Project was approved in August 1933 when the Public Works Administration allocated $2 million for construction. Presidential approval of the Project was given via a letter dated November 6, 1935.

After studying several locations for a reservoir, the PCWCD and BOR decided on the present site of Rye Patch Reservoir. However, to make the project feasible, the District needed to acquire supplemental water rights for the project. To this end, the District sought out willing sellers upstream of the reservoir site. The PCWCD's directors located several willing sellers in Lander County, and in January 1934, the PCWCD entered into purchase agreements with several ranch owners in the Battle Mountain and Valmy areas. In total, the PCWCD contracted to acquire over 30,000 acres of land and appurtenant water rights from two large ranches just outside Battle Mountain and an additional 30,580 acres of water rights from the nearby properties.

After the PCWCD successfully located and contracted for the necessary supplemental water rights, the PCWCD's directors decided to proceed with the project. The PCWCD entered into a repayment contract with the BOR for the construction of Rye Patch Dam on October 1, 1934. The contract provided for the full repayment of all project-related construction and acquisition costs over a forty-year period.

In late 1934, to facilitate the transfer of the water rights to PCWCD lands, the PCWCD assigned its rights under the ranch and water right purchase agreements to the United States Government. In early 1935, the United States concluded the transactions when it purchased the land and water rights the PCWCD had put under contract. The purchase price for these lands and water rights were then made a part of the PCWCD's repayment obligation to the BOR.

Construction of Rye Patch Dam began in January 1935, and was completed in January 1936, with a designed capacity of 170,000 acre-feet. Due to the drought conditions and legal problems with the Pitt-Taylor Reservoirs, Rye Patch was not initially filled to full capacity.

In the early 1940s, with all water transfers completed, legal problems solved and operating methods established, the PCWCD assumed the operation and maintenance of the Humboldt Project including Rye Patch Dam and the purchased lands in Lander County. Since that time, the PCWCD has assumed all costs resulting from the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the entire Humboldt Project.

Over the years, the PCWCD has entered into other contracts with the BOR. One contract was for the rehabilitation and betterment of the Battle Mountain Collection System and another contract was for the rehabilitation of Rye Patch Dam. These contracts, as with the original construction contract, called for repayment by the PCWCD of all funds expended by the United States for project costs. Over the years the PCWCD has satisfied each of these repayment obligations.

In the early 1990s, the BOR determined that some modifications to Rye Patch Dam would be necessary to protect the integrity of the actual dam structure. This work was completed in 1996 and Rye Patch Reservoir was filled to it present capacity of 213,000 acre-feet. The PCWCD is in the process of repaying the United States for its portion of the modification costs.

Since September 1997 the PCWCD has been following the title transfer framework in an effort to obtain title to the Humboldt Project. This is the PCWCD's third attempt to obtain title to the Humboldt Project facilities since it repaid its original project loan in 1978. The PCWCD operates and maintains the Project, and its constituents are the sole beneficiaries of the Project.

The PCWCD has, with the guidance of the BOR, successfully maintained and operated the Humboldt Project for over 50 years. In these 50 years, the PCWCD has kept pace with the changing aspects of its operation by updating its equipment and methods. The Project has stabilized water supplies, increased productivity of the PCWCD's agricultural land, employed managers and consultants experienced in irrigation systems and grazing, provided recreational opportunities, and expanded the tax base for Pershing County and the State of Nevada.

Assembly Bill 237 established a program to provide grants of money to eligible recipients to pay for the cost of improvements to conserve water, including, without limitation: (1) Piping or lining of an irrigation canal; (2) Recovery or recycling of wastewater or tailwater; (3) Scheduling of irrigation; (4) Measurement or metering of the use of water; (5) Improving the efficiency of irrigation operations; and (6) Improving the efficiency of the operation of a facility for the storage of water, including, without limitation, efficiency in diverting water to such a facility.

The PCWCD applied for a grant under the AB 237 program for an irrigation system improvement project preliminary engineering report (PER). The grant was approved by the Board for Financing Water Projects on September 18, 2003, for $108,800 (85% of the total eligible project cost of $128,000). The PER or Master Plan is now complete.

The Master Plan includes the following: Introduction; Description of the Pershing County Water Conservation District; Water rights, system capacities, system storage, existing and future water demands; Conservation, regulatory and environmental issues; Condition assessment; Proposed system improvements; Cost estimates, prioritization of improvements, funding alternatives and implementation plan; and a Review of operation and management practices.

To view the Pershing County Water Conservation District Master Plan, CLICK HERE -> (Note that this is a very large file - ~21Mb)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Subsequent to the completion of the Master Plan, the Pershing County Water Conservation District applied for a grant under the AB 198/237 program for an irrigation system improvement project. The grant was approved by the Board for Financing Water Projects on May 3, 2006 for $3,956,282.50 (85% of the total eligible project cost of $4,654,450).

The PCWCD requested that the Board make a single grant for a period of 5-years in order to allow flexibility in the progress of the project elements. Note that some elements will require more planning, design and permitting than others. Project elements may be bid together or separately to achieve a more cost-effective implementation. Seasonal variation in channel flow and total storage may necessitate a change in project element order. The construction project proposed in this grant application is currently planned for a five year time period with the following elements:

Years 1 - 2 ½ : Engineering Design and Permitting for all Project Elements; Replacement of Old Channel / Union Canals Diversion Structure; Upper and Lower Pitt-Taylor Dam Stability Studies

Years 2 ½ - 5 : Complete Replacement of Old Channel / Union Canals Diversion Structure; Installation of a Back-up Structure at the Humboldt Plug; Replacement of Upper and Lower Pitt-Taylor Dam Control Structures; Replacement of Anker Pond; Installation of Slide Gates on Pitt and Rogers Dams

PROJECT STATUS

Many of the project elements are currently on hold due to the failure of the Rogers Dam. The reservoir that backs up behind the Rogers Dam is diverted into Union-Rogers Canal which provides water to 60% of the ranches in the valley.

The Board for Financing Water Projects held a public meeting on July 28, 2006, to consider reallocating the PCWCD's existing grant funding to help cover the cost of the cofferdam and the investigation of the failure of Rogers Dam and subsequent preliminary engineering necessary to determine the cost of replacing the Rogers Dam.

The Board decided to reallocate $850,000 (85% of a set $1,000,000) of already approved project funding for the construction and costs involved in the emergency temporary dam (cofferdam); for study and construction of an improved by-pass; and for prelimimary engineering and geotech work to begin moving forward on a new permanent structure contingent on the District expending their emergency funds and the District continuing to pursue other state and federal funding. The Board required that the PCWCD come back to the Board with planning and other information as it became available. The only original project element that would move forward would be the Old Channel / Union Canal Diversion Structure as it had match funding from the BOR which was time sensitive. Other project elements previously funded need to be reviewed by the Board in the future prior to obligation of grant funding for those elements.

The cofferdam was completed in August 2006 in time to complete the irrigation season. In March 2007, the PCWCD came before the Board to request an additional reallocation of funding from the original grant in order to cover the final costs of the North by-pass spillway and engineering design for the new Rogers Dam. The Board approved an additional $569,500 in grant funding bringing the total of reallocated funding to $1,419,500 (85% of the total eligible project cost estimate of $1,670,000).

The North by-pass spillway around the cofferdam was completed in April 2007. The Old Channel / Union Canal Diversion Structure was also completed in August 2007. Geotechnical studies and engineering design for rebuilding the Rogers Dam were completed by August 2007. During its 2007 session, the Nevada State Legislature allocated $100,000 from the general fund for replacement of the Rogers Dam (AB 302). In September 2007, the old grant was closed out and the Board reallocated the grant amount remaining from the original grant ($2,571,160) and approved $1,091,861 in additional grant funds to assist in the construction of the new Rogers Dam. The total of the new grant was $3,663,021 (85% of the total estimated eligible costs of $4,309,437). Construction of the new dam began in October 2007 and was completed in May 2008.

Click on the items below for a summary and photos of each of the project elements.

• Construction of the cofferdam, North by-pass spillway, and the new Rogers Dam.







• Construction of the Old Channel / Union Canal Diversion Structure.

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