EPHRATA, Wash. - As of 10:00 am today, water flows to the Columbia Basin Project’s Main Canal have been restored. The Bureau of Reclamation expects the canal and related facilities to be fully operational by this weekend.
Water in the Main Canal was shut off on April 30, to allow work crews to repair some collapsed concrete panels in the canal just below Pinto Dam in eastern Grant County, Wash.
Reclamation estimates more than 200,000 acres of farmland were affected by the canal shutdown.
“The districts really deserve full credit for working together, coordinating the shut off and making the repairs as swiftly as possible," says Stephanie Utter, Reclamation’s Ephrata Field Office manager.
The Quincy-Columbia, East Columbia, and the South Columbia Basin irrigation districts serve water to 680,000 acres in the Columbia Basin Project.
Irrigation districts crews and Reclamation personnel will continue monitoring the canal as water flows rise and it becomes operational.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
