Conservation Projects at Harlingen Irrigation District

Work continues

2010-02-25T14:12:00.001-06:00

Well it's been a while since I updated this site and much has been done since the last time I wrote about the projects. We completed installing all of the ITA gates and have been testing the hardware and software for the last few weeks. All seems to be working well but we are awaiting a software update that will allow us to place the gates in a downstream demand mode. Currently the gates can only hold an upstream level that is determined by the operator and we want to try to get the gates to communicate a downstream demand. Which means the furthest down stream gate in one canal reach will tell the upstream gate it needs more water or it has too much water and the upstream gate will react accordingly. So far it is only working in theory but we hope to have new code by the end of next month that will work as designed.
Along with the ITA gates, the District has been working diligently to install 20 more auto-gates throughout the canal system. We received a grant from the Bureau of Reclamation, under the Water for America challenge grant program, to install automatic gates on 90% of our canal checks. As of yesterday we had only two gates left to install. The gates are in, but not all of the telemetry to operate them are in. We hope to have all of the hardware for these gates in by the end of March. If the weather holds we may be able to reach our goal.
Oh by the way we will be installing a few more wind generator sites as well. The next one will be located on the main canal at the new Dixieland Road crossing. This generator is a little different design than the last and is available here locally. I'll post pics as soon as we get it installed.

Work slow down

2009-12-18T09:49:00.000-06:00

Well, the rain has kept us out of the field for over a week now. The Valley recieved over 4 inches of rain this week and that has made it very difficult to work on the gates. We have ramped up our production for the 20 gates to be installed this spring. These 20 gates will be installed as part of our Water for America chalenge grant we recieved from the USBOR. We anticipate automating every check on our main canal. We hope to have the gates installed and all the bugs worked out by the beginning of the 2011 irrigation season. If the weather lets up and we can get back in the field next week and we should be able to get the first 5 gates completed.

2009-12-09T10:43:00.005-06:00

Auto gates wired for use

2009-12-09T10:43:00.004-06:00

Last week we spent two days installing the telemetry components and connecting all the signal and control wires for twoof the Auto-gate sites. After learning that you really need a fuse protected circuit before you disover that the wiring diagram is wrong we were able to get them wired and working.

Wind generator installed

2009-11-24T14:11:00.002-06:00

Today Will and Rich installed the first wind generator. As part of our Auto-gate demonstration we are providing power to a remote site via a small wind turbine and a solar generator. The wind generator is a Windmax HY400 600 Watt model purchased from Applied Magnets. This model came with a regulator ready for wind and solar inputs. The solar panel is a BP solar 30 watt model. The wind generator is mounted on a 20 foot 3 inch galvanized pipe with a with a 5 foot 2 inch galvanized piece on top. This is mounted on a 24 inch by 8 foot concrete cylinder buried 5 feet in the ground making the tower a total of 28 feet tall. It started producing power immediately even with a small wind. Right after installation a norther blew in and it really started humming. This should be a good test to see if the tower holds up.

2009-11-19T16:33:00.000-06:00

This is the prototype of the water level sensor and rtu. This device is designed to be placed in remote locations and communicate via radio to a telemetry system. We hope to have five of these installed by the first of the year so we can evaluate them during our next irrigatin season.

Inovative Technologies in Agriculture

2009-11-19T15:15:00.002-06:00

The Harlingen Irigation District has recieved a grant from the TWDB to build and demonstrate low cost Automated canal gates, low cost water level sensors, and low cost soil moisture sensors and RTUs. The District began this project in October of 2009 and has since designed, built and installed five auto-gates in a small section of the west canal system. This is a picture of one of the sites. This site will also have a wind generator for power. I will post some more pics of that when we finish the installation.

Flow Meter Calibration Facility

2009-11-12T16:44:00.003-06:00

In April 2006 the District completed the construction of a 6000 sq/ft flow meter calibration facility (FMC). This facility is part of the ADI program an is used to demonstrate open flow and closed pipe meters commonly used in irrigation districts. The facility also has a classroom for conducting training in the use of automated and manual metering systems and various other related activities.

Conservation Projects

2009-11-12T16:12:00.004-06:00

The Harlingen Irrigation District is currently involved in three water conservation grants. The first and largest grant which began in February 2005 is The Agricultural Water Conservation Demonstration Initiative (ADI).

The Agricultural Water Conservation Demonstration Initiative (ADI) project integrates state-of-the-art irrigation water distribution network control and management, and on-farm irrigation technology and management systems in a large-scale demonstration of cost-effective technologies that maximize surface water use efficiency from the diversion of water at the river to consumption of water by the crop.

The project will demonstrate, document, and incorporate the District's on-going conservation projects, and provide coordination between the District's staff, agricultural water users, and state and federal technical agencies.

The second is a grant from the Texas Water Development Board under the Innovative Technologies for Agriculture (ITA) program to develop low cost automatic canal gates, low cost canal water level sensors and low cost soil moisture sensors. The project is a two year project witch began in October 2008.

The third project is a USBOR Challenge grant. As part of the District’s effort to increase efficiencies, the current proposed project will implement lessons learned from the TWDB study, and continue to develop available District data. The proposed project includes fabrication and installation of 15 gate structures at canal checks located throughout the District. These gates were developed by district staff and will be manufactured by the District at its facility. The sluice gate structures will include automated controls and measurement systems and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) controllers. The gates are designed to fully integrate into existing wireless and SCADA networks, including the system currently being used by the District.

My plan is to describe the efforts of the District as we progress through each of these projects. I hope you can glean what information you can to further your own water conservation efforts.