Here on the farm, our irrigation water is provided by the Ouray Ditch Co. This summer Big Donny and I are ditch riders for the Ditch Co. All water comes via the headgate , which is located some 4 miles up river. And our job is to ride it regularly to clear debris and obstructions from the headgate and all distribution boxes.

When we opened the gate at the river junction in late April, a wall of water surged down the ditch bringing a lot of debris built up over the winter. For the first month we were riding it twice a day on our 4 wheelers, cleaning out trash with pitch forks. Once the ditch was clean,
our next project was spraying about a mile and a half of the ditch for willow infestation. All that took about five days total.

Now we're down to a once a week patrol just watching for proper water flow, beavers, muskrats, and sech. So far we have adequate water flow for flood irrigation and the first hay crop is heavy. Looks to be we'll be cutting about mid-June.

Gotta go now to ride the ditch. Back later!