Tulelake Irrigation District (TID) general manager Earl Danosky yesterday in Reno accepted the F. Gordon Johnston Award in recognition of TID’s recent innovative canal lining project. Danosky accepted the award on behalf of TID at the Mid-Pacific Region Water Users Conference, held at the El Dorado Hotel in Reno, Nevada.

“TID's recent installation of geomembrane liner - completed with the leadership of Earl Danosky and his TID crew -  is an outstanding example of an innovative method that has widespread applicability and extensive benefits,” said Bob Stackhouse, general manager of the Central Valley Project Water Assocition. “Earl and his crew have definitely made a significant contribution towards excellence in operations and maintenance, and his work epitomizes what the F. Gordon Johnston award is all about.”

The F. Gordon Johnston Award recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution towards excellence in operations and maintenance or who has developed innovative methods that have widespread applicability. Gordon Johnston, for whom the award is named, devoted 45 years of his life to the construction, maintenance, and operation of irrigation and water resources facilities located in the western United States.

TID last year successfully installed an exposed geomembrane system using custom manufactured panels, TID personnel for installation and seaming, and TID equipment for the soils preparation and backfilling. The combination of desirable technical characteristics and user-friendly materials that can be installed by irrigation district personnel with minimal training and no specialized equipment provides an outstanding alternative to other systems, says Danosky. TID is now able to very quickly repair this system because of their intimate knowledge of how the lining was installed. Danosky is the first Klamath Project recipient of the award.

Key technical capabilities of the new lining system include:

a. Ease of installation

b. Damage resistance (during placement and operation)

c. Ease of repair

d. Expected life (manufacturer warranty for exposed conditions)

e. Seepage control (effective barrier material)

TID personnel estimate that the recent lining project has virtually eliminated seepage losses along the reach of canal that was lined. Deliveries to TID customers in this area are now accomplished much more efficiently. John Cross, who grows potatoes adjacent to this reach, say he can now irrigate his entire operation more efficiently, without the worry of excessive seepage impacting his ability to farm. 

“The canal lining project is just the latest in a series of innovative actions taken by TID and other Klamath Project water users to improve water supplies for farmland and neighboring wildlife refuges,” said Dan Keppen, Executive Director of the Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA).

Last year, KWUA received Oregon’s “Leadership in Conservation” Award in recognition of longstanding, proactive conservation efforts undertaken by Project irrigators and irrigation districts in the past decade.