Water Resources Board supports N. Fremont pipeline

The Idaho Water Resources Board has approved a 20-year, $4.3 million loan to the North Fremont Canal System. The loan will help finance Phase 3 of the Marysville gravity-pressurized irrigation pipeline project.

The project will include a new diversion structure and about 16 miles of gravity-pressurized pipeline to serve farmers in northern Fremont County.

The total cost of the project is slightly more than $11 million. The Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) provided a $6.8 million grant for the third phase of the project. The Water Resources Board is financing the balance, or 39 percent, of the total project cost. Construction will begin this fall and should be complete in time for the next crop season in 2019.

The project is designed to conserve 2,400 acre-feet of irrigation water that was previously lost due to canal seepage and evaporation, increase public safety by removing open canals in communities, and reduce power costs by 1,200 kilowatt-hours by removing existing pumping facilities.

The pipeline will serve 2,784 acres of Fremont County farmland.

Here is a map of the project.

“To convert from an open ditch to a pipeline in a gravity-fed system will create a huge power savings to
the participating farmers in our area,” said Sean Maupin, President of the North Fremont Canal System. He noted that about 40 large water pumps will be phased out that had been sending water to nearby pivot sprinklers. “You can spend $7,000-8,000 just to start up those pumps,” he said.

Participating farmers will pay an increased per-acre assessment to help pay off the loan, but Maupin said that will almost be met through the saving in power costs.

A portion of the open canal that ran through Ashton and bordered a portion of Ashton Elementary School will also be eliminated, according to Water Board staffer Rick Collingwood.

The canal will also eliminate return flows to the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River, which will reduce a source of noxious weeds in the open canals. It should also improve seasonal air quality by eliminating the need for ditch burning.

The Idaho Water Resource Board previously made multiple loans to the North Fremont Canal System since 2007 for phases 1, 2, and 4 of the project. A fifth and final phase of the project will be constructed within 3 to 5 years.