HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-1 Agricultural Water User Facilities 2019-09-24Agricultural Water User Facilities
This section is a response to the requirements of the City of Bozeman Unified Development
Ordinance Section 38.220.060 relative to Agricultural Water User Facilities.
Agricultural water user facilities on site include the canals, irrigation ditches, and streams that
provide irrigation water to downstream users. The Farmer’s Canal, tributary to the Baxter
Border stream, Section Line Ditch, and Upper Cattail Creek (Harmon Stream) all transport
irrigation water through the property.
In the previous phase of Bozeman Gateway, the original Farmer’s Canal had been replaced with
a pipe to transport water from the west boundary of the property to the east boundary. The pipe
design included provisions to maintain accessibility to downstream users to obtain their
appropriated water. Facilities in the Bozeman Gateway have been designed to allow discharge
of irrigation water into the section line ditch and upper cattail creek from the Farmer’s Canal.
The Farmer’s Canal pipe is a minimum 60-inch diameter and is routed along the south and east
boundaries of the site.
The Section Line Ditch serves to convey irrigation flow from the Farmer’s Canal to downstream
users and as a “blow off” to drain excess water from the canal. It is not a perennial stream. In
the previous phase of Bozeman Gateway, water was diverted from the Farmer’s Canal through a
headgate located directly west of the Fowler Avenue. This headgate diverts water from the
Farmer’s Canal into the Section Line Ditch. The ditch had previously flowed to the north to a
siphon used to convey water under Huffine Lane and is now piped through the site to the siphon.
The existing pipe route is illustrated on the exhibit entitled “Farmer’s Canal Layout Plan.”
The tributary to the Baxter Border stream flows along the west side of Fowler Avenue and will
remain undisturbed by the project. Irrigation flow on this site has previously been diverted from
the Section Line Ditch into the stream from a diversion structure located at the head of the
siphon under Huffine Lane. In the previous phase of Bozeman Gateway, this diversion structure
was relocated to the upstream end of the new Section Line Ditch pipe with the approval of the
Farmer’s Canal Company.
Upper Cattail Creek previously flowed through the middle of the site along the west side of the
Harmon Stream Boulevard. Irrigation flow was previously diverted from the Farmer’s Canal by
a diversion structure at the location where Upper Cattail Creek crossed it. The diversion
structure was removed with permission from the Farmer’s Canal Company. The channel now
only sees seasonal drainage water from the south and the site.
No modifications to existing agricultural water user facilities will be done in this phase of the
Bozeman Gateway. The ability of the facilities to deliver water to downstream users will be
protected. Documentation of the changes made to agricultural water user facilities throughout
the previous phases is included in this section.