Irrigation district receives grant funds for aging infrastructure

Hayden Lake Irrigation District is one of many projects statewide to receive approval for funding through an aging infrastructure grant.

The Idaho Water Resource Board approved 18 grants from 36 applications, most in Southern Idaho and one for the Hayden Lake Irrigation District in Kootenai County.

“Just like any other place in Idaho, our aging infrastructure is getting older,” said Branden Rose, Hayden Lake Irrigation District administrator.

The Hayden Irrigation District received 72% of the money requested through the grant application, because it ranked lowest in the list of awardees, based on the scoring criteria set by the board to award the grant funds.

Hayden Lake Irrigation requested $2.3 million, and was given over $1.65 million to spend on replacing and relocating a water main pipeline.

“We have to drain 3.5 miles of 27-inch water main, which didn’t have valves when it was installed in the '50s,” Rose said.

The pipe being replaced is old irrigation pipe in people’s backyards along Ramsey Road and loops along Reed Avenue, Miles Avenue and Dakota Avenue. The pipe was installed prior to current right-of-way standards, so the goal is to relocate the pipe into accessible areas.

“My problem is now we have houses 20 to 25 feet from the water main,” Rose said. “How I’m prioritizing is, if it’s in people’s backyards and it’s not in public right of ways, we’re going to move those into public right of ways.”

When the pipe was installed, there were also no valves or stops required, so the pipe has to be drained before construction can start.

This is only one grant that Rose has applied for to cover the cost of this project. He’s also seeking grants from the Department of Environmental Quality and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Idaho Water Resource grant awarded by the board will cover a phase of construction for the pipe, and construction can start as early as June, but dates are still tentative and the project should go out to bid in the spring.

The board also approved three loans and updated the Regional Water Sustainability Project list of major projects.