Farmers’ Co-Operative Ditch Company RCCP Project has Successful Inaugural Year

In the Farmer’s Co-Operative Ditch Company (FCDC) project, a group of partners tackled the excessive amount of sediment and nutrients in the irrigation water delivered by the Co-Op. Additional aspects of the project utilize on-farm practices to reduce water usage as well as improve soil health in Snake River and Lower Boise watersheds. Funding was supplied through NRCS’ Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

This project has greatly impacted all residents within the Lower Boise Watershed making it one of great value to the community as a whole. In its first year of operation the sediment basin removed nearly 5,700 tons of sediment from the ditch water before it is discharged back into the Lower Boise River. That’s about 475 dump truck loads!

This pilot project for the FCDC had its official ribbon cutting on March 20, 2019. Members of the Co-Op were joined by NRCS and representatives of the project’s partners which included the Canyon Soil Conservation District, the Idaho Soil and Water Conservation Commission, the Canyon County Commissioners, City of Parma, the Southwest Idaho Resources Conservation & Development Council, the Idaho Soil & Water Conservation Commission and the Black Canyon Irrigation District for the “grand opening.”

In its first season, the basin has not only demonstrated proof of concept, but will also enable the company and its partners to refine the general concept to meet Idaho’s specific needs at different locations.

The implemented plan will continue to concentrate on environmental awareness and strive to increase the number of conservation practices implemented. In addition, after the construction of the sediment basin, a monitoring plan was put into place. For the 2019 irrigation season, water was sampled twice a month at 1 foot and 3 foot depths at four locations - where the water enters the canal from the river, at the basin’s entrance, at the basin’s exit and at a point in the canal downstream from the basin. Samples were tested at an independent lab by the United States Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation. What those tests showed was rather remarkable.

The basin captured more than 5,700 tons of suspended solids. The basin also captured 7 tons of Phosphorous. As a result, FCDC is looking at the potential of replicating the basin at other locations on the canal to provide additional sediment capture and further improve the water quality for its members and the community. Sediment removed from the basin will be dried over winter and then spread on an unused section of a nearby field to help improve its soil quality and ultimately bring it into production.

For the 2020 irrigation season, the four sites will be sampled twice a month at 1, 3 and 4 foot depths as it is believed the basin may actually be capturing more sediment than previously determined by testing at the shallower levels.