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Agricultural
Metering Program
In the early
1990's the Board
of Trustees of the district embarked on a very progressive and
innovative water conservation program. The program was targeted at
the agricultural water users in the district. With about 85%
of the annual water consumption going to irrigate crops, it was
clear to the board that if the district was serious about saving
water, promoting efficient agricultural water use was the most
effective way to get the job done.
A partnership
with the provincial Ministry of Agriculture and Agriculture Canada
was formed and the district embarked on a six year project to study
agricultural water use. Key components of the program included
determining agricultural water needs and educating water users about
efficient irrigation methods and practices. All irrigation
connections in the district were fitted with water meters.
In the course of
analyzing agricultural water use, detailed land use information on
crop type, irrigation systems and soils was collected for all
irrigated lands in the district. A weather station was set up in the
district yard on Gulley Road and information on evapotranspiration
and precipitation was collected. The water meters were read
regularly and landowners were provided with monthly reports showing
their water use, the estimated water use they required (calculated
from land use information and weather), as well as the average water
use for similar properties.
Concurrently, an
irrigation scheduling study was undertaken to develop more efficient
scheduling techniques. All
growers were provided with soil measuring devices to assist with
irrigation scheduling and a number of field days were held over the
years to provide growers with this information. Updates on the
findings and progress of the metering program were provided on a
regular basis both in water use reports and in the district
newsletter.
A tremendous
amount of information was obtained from the project and a report
entitled “South East Kelowna Irrigation District Demand Management
Project” was prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture in June of
2000 (copies of the report can be obtained from the district
office). An independent analysis of the district’s drought year
water requirement was done by district staff and it was determined
the district had realized an overall reduction in water demand of
10%. This marked
the conclusion of the partnership agreement with the federal and
provincial governments and a new phase of the program was begun.
Annual
water allotments for metered irrigation services
The second phase
of the metering program was initiated by the Board of Trustees in
2001. After six years of analysis and education on agricultural
water use, the board implemented a water allotment system for all
metered irrigated services in the district. A
report recommending metered rates for excess water use was presented
to the board in early 2003. This report titled
Agricultural
Metering Program Review is available on
this website under News and Reports.
A subsequent
review of the allotment system and inclined block rate was done in
early 2005 and this report is also available in the
News & Reports/Internal Reports
section of this web site, or by following this link:
Agricultural Water Conservation program Review.
The allotment
system provides landowners with a seasonal volume of water for
irrigation. The allotment is set annually by the trustees and is
expressed as a volume of water for each acre of water rights on a
parcel of land. Typically, during normal supply years (snow pack),
the allotment per acre of water rights will be the same as the
drought year water requirement of the district (the drought year
water requirement is the estimated water demand of the district
during very dry conditions).
The drought year
requirement of the district is equal to 2.25 acre feet of water per
acre of irrigated land. How much water is that? It is equal to one
acre of land with 2.25 feet (27 inches) of water on it. This is
equal to 733,162 U.S. gallons (USG), or 2,775 m3 per acre of irrigated area.
The total
allotment for each property is calculated from the water rights of
that property. For example, if a parcel of land has five acres of
water rights and the annual allotment is set at 733,162 USG per acre
of water rights, then the allotment for the property would be
3,665,810 USG (5 acres X 733,162 USG = 3,665,810 USG).
The annual
allotment for each irrigation season is determined in the spring
prior to the irrigation season and all landowners with metered
irrigated services are notified by mail of the annual allotment for
their property. The board has full discretion as to the amount of
the allotment, although in average supply years the allotment will
generally be the drought year requirement described above. In low
supply years the allotment may be less than the drought year
requirement.
In the event a
property is discovered to have exceeded the annual allotment for the
property, the board has a number of remedies available under
authority of
Bylaw # 579 –
“Irrigation Water Distribution and Regulation Bylaw”. The
most common penalties applied to land that has exceeded the annual
allotment include charging a metered rate for excess water use and
shutting off irrigation water altogether.
Metered
rate for excess water use
Water use in
excess of the annual allotment for property with a metered
irrigation service will be charged a metered rate. In addition to
charging a metered rate for excess water use, the Board of Trustees
retains the authority to discontinue water service at its
discretion.
The intention of
the metered rate is to discourage excessive water use. The rate is
structured so that the greater the excess water use is the greater
the penalty will be. This is called an inclined block rate. The
following table provides the rates per 1,000 US gallons that will
apply to water use in excess of the allotment for the property:
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Metered
rate for water use in excess of allotment
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|
Block
Range (percent in excess of water allotment):
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>0%
to 10%
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>10%
to 20%
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>20%
to 30%
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>30%
to 40%
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>40%
to 50%
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>50%
to 60%
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>60%
to 70%
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>70%
to 80%
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>80%
to 90%
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>90%
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|
Rate
per 1,000 US gallons:
|
$0.10
|
$0.13
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$0.16
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$0.20
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$0.25
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$0.31
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$0.38
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$0.46
|
$0.55
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$0.65
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Each block in the
table is a volume of water equal to ten percent of the allotment.
For each ten percent block of water use in excess of the allotment
the rate per 1,000 US gallons of water increases. The rates are
cumulative and only apply to water use within the range of the
block/volume of water to which they are attributed.
The district
reads the irrigation meters several times throughout the season and
provides landowners with water use reports. These reports provide
the owner with an update on the amount of water used up to the date
the meter was read and a calculation as to how much of the allotment
for the property is left. Other relevant information about water use
is also provided such as what the odometer reading on the meter was
showing when the meter was read and important announcements such as
when the last day of irrigation is.
The following
table provides an example of the metered rate applied to a property
that has an allotment of 12,000,000 USG that has used a total of
16,567,590 USG:
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Metered
Rate Calculator
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Enter
allotment and water use to determine the metered rate (in US
Gallons).
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Allotment:
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(enter)
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12,000,000
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Water
Use:
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(enter)
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16,567,590
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Use
Over Allotment:
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4,567,590
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Block
Volume (10% of allot.):
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1,200,000
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%
Over Allotment:
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38.06
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Block
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Water
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Penalty
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%
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Volume
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Rate
/
|
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Use
Over
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1,000
USG
|
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Allotment:
|
|
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>0-10%
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1,200,000
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$0.10
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X
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1,200,000
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$
120.00
|
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>10-20%
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1,200,000
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$0.13
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X
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1,200,000
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$
156.00
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>20-30%
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1,200,000
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$0.16
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X
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1,200,000
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$
192.00
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>30-40%
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1,200,000
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$0.20
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X
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967,590
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$
193.52
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>40-50%
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1,200,000
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$0.25
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X
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0
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$
-
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>50-60%
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1,200,000
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$0.31
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X
|
0
|
$
-
|
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>60-70%
|
1,200,000
|
$0.38
|
X
|
0
|
$
-
|
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>70-80%
|
1,200,000
|
$0.46
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X
|
0
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$
-
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>80-90%
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1,200,000
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$0.55
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X
|
0
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$
-
|
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>90%
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1,200,000
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$0.65
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X
|
0
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$
-
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Total:
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4,567,590
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$
661.52
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)
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