PROJECT INFORMATION:
The project is located east of Saratoga within the proposed Highline Watershed Improvement
District. The purpose of the Level II study was to address problems associated with erosion of
several ditches. Head cut has not stabilized and is working upstream towards a concrete diversion
structure. The county has moved the road once because of the danger and may have to move it
again. The ditches are 30 plus feet deep and have combined because of the bank erosion.
A large number of irrigated acres are dependent on this water delivery system. These areas produces
2 to 3 tons of hay per irrigated acre and also supplies a large amount of forage for spring and fall
grazing as well as a considerable amount of forage for area wildlife. The irrigation water delivery
system is being threatened. A structure such as a pipe-drop is needed to prevent further erosion.
Preliminary design work on this has been done in the past.
In 1999 the legislature approved $50,000 to evaluate the current condition of the Highline Ditch and
other ditches in the irrigation system. The consultant, Anderson Consulting Engineers, Inc.,
determined that a set of new ditches with a series of drop structures in each would be the best option
for the district to save their ditches.
The Highline Watershed Improvement District received a Level III appropriation of $726,000 (50%
grant, 50% loan) in the year 2000 to rehabilitate washouts on the Highline, Ryan-Foreman, Wiant,
and MaCannany ditches within the improvement district. A contract with PMPC Consulting
Engineers of Saratoga was negotiated by the district for project design and construction management
services. Phase I of the project, involving the Highline and Ryan-Foreman washouts, was designed
and constructed during the year 2000. Phase II work on the MaCannany and Wiant ditches
substantially completed in November 2001 and will be completed in Spring 2002 with reseeding
activities.
RECOMMENDED LEGISLATIVE ACTION:
No legislative action is required.
