Background

Created in 1927, the District covers an area of approximately 18,900 acres and serves about 2,219 irrigation accounts with a reported 75% conveyance efficiency. The District’s conveyance system also provides raw water to the La Joya Water Supply Corporation, the La Frontera Power Generation Plant, Bates Electric Power Generation Plant and the U.S. Department of Agriculture at Moore Field.

The Rio Grande is the only source of water for the District, providing irrigation and water supply functions to 35.8 square miles of Hidalgo County. The District’s water supply system consists of approximately 45 miles of lined canals, 72 miles of pipelines and 0.5 miles of unlined canal. The lined canals are decades old and very deteriorated in some
places.

Description

The project consists of three components:

1. Renovation of the existing lining of approximately 9.3 miles of the District’s main canal;
2. Replacement of 17 existing slide-gate structures on the main canal; and
3. Expansion of the existing reservoir storage system and installation of a telemetry system to improve regulation of water supply in the District.

Benefits

The project will reduce water losses and improve the efficiency of the irrigation distribution network by increasing the water delivered to individual fields and/or allowing a greater number of fields to be simultaneously irrigated. Water savings are estimated at 3,130 acre-feet a year and energy savings at 255,676 KWH/year on average.