Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/401644
22 NOVEMBER 2014 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com After helping growers install superior fi sh screens, the Farmers Conservation Alliance is looking at the potential for turbines in canals. by Geraldine Warner A nonprofi t organization that has been helping farmers install fi sh screens to improve fi sh passage while reducing irrigation costs now hopes to help growers generate their own hydropower. The Farmers Screen was invented by staff of the Farm- ers Irrigation District and fruit growers in Hood River, Oregon, to address their problems with high sediment and debris loads carried by the glacially fed rivers and streams, which clogged diversion screens and damaged water intakes. The irrigation district patented the technology and licensed it to the nonprofi t Farmers Conservation Alliance, based in Hood River, with the proviso that sales revenue would be invested into other solutions that benefi t both fi sh and farms. The FCA has been helping growers secure the funding and permitting necessary to install the screens. The Farmers Screen is different from other fish screens in that it lies horizontally to the water surface, using the fl ow of the water to provide the cleaning action. Water moves over the screen surface at a relatively high velocity. The screen is a metal plate with holes that allow water to pass through only slowly so that fi sh and debris are not pulled against the surface but are moved over the screen and back into the river or stream. The screen has no moving parts and requires no electricity or maintenance. The alliance has received approval from the National Marine Fisheries Service for use of the screen in streams that host endangered fi sh species, which means that individual farmers no longer need to have their projects reviewed by NMFS, a process that can take up to two years. So far, FCA has installed 30 Farmers Screens, with seven more to be installed this fall. Genevieve Scholl- wErdmann, outreach manager, said the screens now serve more than 37,000 acres of farmland in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, and are saving farmers a total of almost $500,000 a year in oper- ation and maintenance costs compared with their previ- ous equipment, generally rotary drum screens. And that doesn't include benefi ts for farmers who previously had no screens at all. Vertical screens can require a lot of labor to unclog. Scholl-Erdmann said one irrigation district had to pro- vide a camper next to their old screen because the employee charged with cleaning it had to be ready to unclog it any time of day or night. A municipal water district built their employee a house at the site of their screen. • High Quality Plastic Resin • Easily Cleaned • Can be Sterilized • Various Sizes • Interlock Stacking • Vented or Solid • American Made Washington's Authorized DEALER 509-961-8252 RHONDA CALAHAN rhondac@wilsonirr.com www.wilsonirr.com Purchase, Rent or Lease to Own Macro ® Plastics Bins and Totes DELIVERY OPTIONS AVAILABLE! New Equipment & Technology Exploring on-farm HYDROPOWER The Lacomb Irrigation District installed a 65 cubic-feet-per-second Farmers Screen on Crabtree Creek near Lacomb, Oregon, in 2007. This screen replaced a poorly functioning rotary drum screen and opened 17 miles of river for safe fi sh passage. It serves approximately 1,585 farming acres. Jay DeShazer with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (right) works with a contractor to bolt together a Farmers Screen. PHOTOS COURTESY OF FARMERS CONSERVATION ALLIANCE