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<br />.. <br /> <br />000833 <br /> <br />unable to finance any major construction or rehabilitation projects <br />such as lining canals to improve the efficiency. The OCAF <br />recognized this problem and provided that the'increased efficiency <br />could be accomplished by any means that the District .chose. The <br />OCAF suggested many possible non-structural means to conserve water <br />such as better accounting of water. delivered, shortening the <br />irrigation season, etc. but required only a few specific actions <br />other than the increase in efficiency; This allows the District <br />almost complete discretion on how it achieves the efficiency <br />required. <br /> <br />SOLUTION <br /> <br />In order to assist the District in reaching the required <br />efficiency, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation established a staff of <br />engineers and technicians in a field office adjacent to the <br />District headquarters to act as consultants and provide technical <br />assistance to the District on various conservation ideas. The. <br />office was established by the fall of 1988. <br /> <br />The first task of the Bureau's field office staff was to learn how <br />the project was operated. The manner in which the project is <br />operated has evolved over the last 80 years since original <br />. constrtiction was completed. Some of the operational procedures <br />have been handed down through verbal means from one ditch rider to <br />another, while others are contained in written documents. It was <br />realized that no meaningful evaluation of the project water losses <br />could be made until a knowledge of the system was obtained. This <br />initial period of learning was also used to gain the understanding <br />and confidence of the' District and its employees. <br /> <br />The' Newlands Project is divided into 10 irrigation sub-districts <br />. for ease of operation. Each sub-district has a ditch .rider who <br />. controls the water delivered in his area. Water. users order water <br />through the District headquarters, which in turn, gives the water <br />orders to the respective ditch rider. The ditch rider then <br />requests from the Water Master the amount of water needed to meet <br />delivery 'requirements. The ditch rider must then manage the water <br />delivered to his sub-district to meet the requests of the users. <br /> <br />Once the Bureau's field office staff became. familiar with the <br />operation of the project, they turned their efforts into developing <br />ideas for increasing the efficiency of the delivery system. These. <br />ideas were developed jointly with the District. Later the District <br />began coming up with ideas of their own which the Bureau was asked. <br />to evaluate, Since the project delivery system has approximately <br />121 km (300 miles) of canals and laterals that are 80 years old and <br />unlined, many of the measures considered involve operational <br />changes that reduce evaporation and seepage losses. <br /> <br />A conservation measure, that is required in the 1988 DeAF and <br /> <br />4 <br />