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MOSES LAKE – Water delivery has resumed to irrigation users on the East Low Canal following a significant break that occurred near Moses Lake, on August 5. The disruption had left many farmers and landowners without water for their crops during a critical period of hot weather.

“We started getting it going on Saturday, we delivered a lot more yesterday, and we’ll finish up priming everything and getting deliveries out today,” East Columbia Basin Irrigation District (ECBID) secretary-manager Craig Simpson told the Capital Press on the morning of August 12. “I’m really proud of our guys. I think we did as good as we could to get the water back as soon as we could.”

The ECBID board had declared an emergency on August 7 in response to the break, mobilizing crews to work around the clock to restore water service. The break had impacted an estimated 100,000 acres, with the lower third of the irrigation system being the most affected.

“We took out the lower third of our system,” Simpson explained. “The first 23 miles has plenty of deliveries on it, but there’s more to the south.”

A few users in the South Columbia Basin Irrigation District, who also draw water from the canal, were impacted as well.

Despite extensive efforts, the cause of the break remains unknown. Initially, officials suspected damage to an undershot, but further investigation ruled that out.

“It was near one, but it wasn’t the undershot,” Simpson said. “Those typically are rodent-type or burrowing animal problems. There was some evidence of some old settlement in the area, but there’s nothing there to be able to tell for sure. I don’t know. It’s all speculation.”

The cost of the repairs is still being assessed. Simpson noted that the repair process involved continuous work for four and a half days and that it “won’t be inexpensive.”

As water deliveries resume, some cleanup and inspections are ongoing. “We do inspections all the time; it’s not like we can change a whole lot, but we’ll focus a little bit more on some of those more problematic areas,” Simpson said. “It’s a repair. If we did our job properly, it’s better than it was before. Now it’s just ‘Keep an eye out,’ and … checking to make sure we find things before they occur.”

Simpson expressed gratitude to the water users for their patience during the disruption. “Thank you for your patience and support,” he said. “They’ve been really good to us through this. We appreciate them cooperating with us.”
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