Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/401644
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER NOVEMBER 2014 23 Fritz von Lubken, a former board member of the Farmers Irrigation District and a current board mem- ber of the FCA, said that before the Farmers Screen was invented, the irrigation district had a rotary screen. "It was the biggest headache you could come across because it fouled and it broke down," he said. "We were an open-ditch system, and there was no way we could ever become a pressurized, closed-ditch system because it just could not supply the water." The new flat screen does not clog, so the water keeps flowing, and it allows the fish to pass, providing environ- mental benefits, too. Von Lubken grows a total of 160 acres of pears with his son Erick in two locations—one in the lower Hood River valley, which is served by the Farmers Irrigation District, and one in the upper valley, where the von Lubkens and neighbors installed a 1-cubic-foot-per-second screen. When they had their old rotary screen, Erick had to drive three miles up the creek each day to clean it. "Now, he goes once every three to four weeks, just to make sure the screen's still there," von Lubken said. "That's a huge savings. It's more than paid itself back just because water's always available and we do not have to attend to the screen. I would normally be very skeptical about this sort of thing, but now I'm a true believer. This is a win-win situation." The prefabricated, modular screens are manufac- tured in Portland, Oregon, and Missoula, Montana. The smallest screen, for a stream with a flow of around 0.5 cubic feet per second, costs about $18,500. A screen for a stream flow of 16 cubic feet per second would cost around $60,000. The cost includes a flume that brings the water to the screen. Custom-built screens can be designed for larger users that might prefer a concrete structure. Hydropower The alliance recently completed a capital campaign that raised $1.5 million to move beyond the demon- stration phase and into the implementation phase. FCA hopes to install another 300 or so fish screens, opening more than 2,000 miles of river to safe fish passage. Now, the FCA is looking at new projects, including the potential for in-conduit hydropower generation. It is collaborating with the Energy Trust of Oregon and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, which are inter- ested in developing low-impact, small-scale hydropower projects that could be incorporated into irrigation sys- tems to provide an additional benefit. The idea is that an irrigation district or grower could install a turbine in an irrigation canal and generate electricity as the water makes it way to the farm. Oregon has 20 hydropower systems installed within irrigation delivery systems, most of which were built in the 1980s when federal and state rules were more favor- able than they are now. Recently, however, there's been renewed interest in such projects at both the state and federal levels. The FCA can evaluate a grower's canal to see if there's the opportunity to generate power, just as it does for the fish screens. Scholl-Erdmann said they've been working with irrigation districts to identify farms that have the potential. Whereas the Farmers Screen can only be installed in locations with certain characteristics, including a drop in elevation and a minimum flow rate, turbines for hydro- power can be installed in a wide range of situations. All that's needed is moving water. However, they need to be able to tie into the electrical grid and the utility company must allow net metering. The FCA has developed a questionnaire that growers can fill out to determine whether their site has potential to generate hydropower. If it does, FCA will try to help them make it a reality. The alliance can also give grow- ers advice on improving the efficiency of their irrigation systems. • F or more information check the website www. farmerscreen.org. Watch the video of how a Farmers Screen works at bit.ly/1rm3Wdm