Contractors Damaging Irrigation Lines, Among Others –
Emergency Declared
KENNEWICK, WA – (Summary) Due to an unprecedented number of broken main lines in its district from various contractors installing high speed internet conduits via trenchless excavation and boring, The Kennewick Irrigation District (KID) is officially declaring an emergency to its 2022 irrigation season, which will allow KID to bring in outside assistance to complete repairs.
At the beginning of a normal watering season, irrigation systems are started up and breaks from winter inevitably discovered and repairs in a timely manner. The additional damage caused by outside contractors installing high speed internet conduits during the off-season has diverted attention away from that normal scope of work during this pivotal time of year.
Typically, it takes around 2-3 weeks to flush, fill and charge the KID system, but because of these incidents, there has been an unfortunate delay in the delivery of water to many of its customers. Currently, there are approximately 1500 out of KID’s 25,000 customers without water. This is why, Chuck Freeman, District Manager for KID, has decided to declare an emergency to the 2022 irrigation season. An emergency declaration will allow KID to hire companies who are familiar with irrigation to assist KID operations staff with repairs, expediting water deliveries to customers before any substantial loss to property or assets.
As for budget concerns, the costs of these repairs will be taken from the Risk Management Mitigation Fund established by Policy 2.28 and will have no effect on assessments.
Definitions:
Trenchless Excavation | Trenchless excavation uses new techniques and equipment to install or replace underground infrastructure without causing disturbance to the ground above.
Boring | Boring is a cutting process that involves the use of a single-point cutting tool or boring head to enlarge an existing hole in a workpiece.
Main Lines | A main line is the primary or “main” distribution pipe in KID’s system. It is the pipe that goes from the pump station to the KID irrigation service on the customer’s property.
