This project was a wildlife habitat, irrigation and ranch improvement project in San Miguel County, CO. Irrigation improvements consisted of installing an irrigation regulating dam and reservoir nearing 100 AC-FT of active storage with a bentonite liner, moving excess of 400,000 CY of material. Numerous reservoir structures were designed and installed to regulate and convey water between sediment ponds, storage reservoir, diversions, and pipelines. An intricate irrigation pipeline with numerous pressure zones was designed to provide water to 9 pivots and approximately 100 big gun sprinklers. The pipeline consisted of 24” C-905 and various sizes of IPS & PIP PVC irrigation pipe with standard pressure PVC fittings and high-pressure ductile iron fittings. The pipe length installed was over 9 miles of irrigation pipe between 6” and 24” diameter. Due to the existing irrigation systems age and use of earthen ditch conveyance, severe erosion was found from previous management and due to local highly erodible soils. Ditch repair and grading, along with field grading to maximize pivot irrigation was implemented. The site was graded and reclaimed with a natural and aesthetic affect. Access to the site was restricted, and road development and improvement was performed across BLM and private lands. Road construction consisted of approximately 6.5 Miles, with import of approximately 27,000 Ton of aggregate. Spring and well development, storage cisterns, and water facilities was performed for potable and livestock/wildlife water supplies with over 3 miles of HDPE pipe installed for water distribution. The design was performed by Western Heritage Consulting & Engineering as a Design-Build project. Client retained WURX for construction of additional maintenance facilities, structures, and housing projects.
Bad Ranch Irrigation & Access
