7806

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7806
• Author: U.S. Department of the Interior.
• Title: Quality of Water, Colorado River Basin.
• USFW Year: 1997.
• USFW - Doc Type: Progress Report No. 18,
• Copyright Material: NO

Chapter 5

product water per year. The product water will be blended with untreated drainage water to
salvage an estimated 78,000 acre-feet each year for delivery to Mexico. The plant is currently in a
ready reserve mode. The plant will be brought back online as river conditions demand and
funding is available.

Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District

This program, authorized by section 101(b) of the Salinity Control Act (Public Law 93-320), has
reduced WMIDD irrigation drainage pumping by removing some lands requiring high water use
from irrigation and by increasing irrigation efficiencies.

Acreage Reduction Program-Under this program, WMIDD irrigable lands were reduced from
75,000 to 65,000 acres. About 6,200 acres of land were purchased from 85 landowners. The
nimaining 3,800 acres were Federal lands from which irrigable status was withdrawn.

Approximately 4,600 of the irrigable acres purchased were in crop production. As a result of the
land purchases, deep percolation was reduced by about 29,800 acre-feet per year. This program
was completed in 1978.

Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation Efficiency Improvement Program-Several entities cooperated on
this program, including WMIDD and its farmers, several Government agencies (Reclamation, Soil
Conservation Service (SCS), U.S. Salinity Lab, and the Agricultural Research Service), and the
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Service. Individual measures are discussed in the
following sections.

Onfarm Improvements Program-The objective of this program was to increase onfarm
irrigation efficiencies by improving onfarm irrigation systems and management practices. SCS
provided design, installation, and management assistance for approximately 48,000 acres of land.
Significant accomplishments included lining 263 miles of onfarm canals; leveling 44,415 acres of
land; making soil improvements on more than 3,000 acres; and installing 10 drip irrigation systems
and 10,600 onfarm water-control and measurement structures. The Federal Government
contributed 75 percent of the costs; farm cooperators contributed the other 25 percent.

Irrigation Management Services Program-Reclamation provided technical assistance through
the Irrigation Management Services (IMS) Program, which, in turn, provided onfarm, field-by-field
irrigation scheduling assistance. From 1977 through 1986, irrigation scheduling information was
furnished for about 49,000 acres of crops each year. However, the irrigation scheduling program
was completely dropped by WMIDD in 1994 as there were less than 4,000 acres still participating.
WMIDD decided that with the few acres participating, the benefits no longer warranted the costs
of continuing the program.

Reclamation provided technical expertise, training, and funding for the program. WMIDD
provided one district employee and office facilities at the district. Reclamation funding for the
IMS program ended in 1987.

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