East Low Canal irrigation water delayed

OTHELLO — Irrigation water from the East Low Canal is being delayed to allow the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District to work on an upper canal.

The Main Canal near Billy Clapp Lake is undergoing a leak assessment and potential repair work, officials said. That means irrigation water to smaller canals and laterals off the East Low Canal won’t be available until the work is complete.

Deliveries via the West Canal near Quincy are also being delayed by the work.

The delay stems from a potential leak detected by the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which noticed higher-than-normal flow rates in the Main Canal below Pinto Dam.

Reclamation officials decided to delay filling the Main Canal to address the problem.

“The dewatering by the Bureau of Reclamation has caused an unexpected delay in season start dates for the three irrigation districts within the Columbia Basin Project,” East Columbia Basin Irrigation District Secretary-Manager Craig Simpson said Thursday, March 14. “ECBID will provide employees to assist in the remediation effort so that we can deliver water to landowners as quickly as possible.”

An update on the status of the work is expected Monday, March 18, he said.

The East Columbia Basin Irrigation District provides enough water to irrigate 472,000 acres in Grant, Adams and Franklin Counties, among other areas.