Water is the lifeblood of agriculture

The Owl Creek Irrigation District (OCID) is constructing a new pumping station. Matt Brown is part of those leading the effort in its construction. Brown said that the OCID is a taxable entity which enables them to pursue grants. The OCID is made up of three areas, which include the upper area, the middle area, and the lower area, which is from Mike Messenger's property to the Big Horn River. The pumping plant where the new project work is being done supplies water to the lower area. 

Brown provided some background of the pumping plant and said, "The original plant in the district came into conception about 1956, approximately. The original plant is old and worn out...The problem we're having is you can only rebuild something that's like a car or any other piece of equipment. You can only rebuild it so much, and the pumps are so old, you can't get parts off the shelf. The electrical part of it is old and we can't get electrical parts. 

Brown continued and said, "We have been scavenging parts from other irrigation districts to get things that will fix these things. Our repair bills are going up every year because of that. And if one of those pumps goes down, it can be anywhere from a minimum of $5,000 to $50,000 just to get it fixed."

There are two 260 horse motors and two 180 horse motors that are attached to the pumps. For the Lucerne area, the pumps serve 105 users covering 4,200 acres. 

The original pumping station is a Bureau of Reclamation project which was installed at the same time Boysen Dam was constructed. The Owl Irrigation District owns a percentage of the Boysen Dam. Some entities lease storage out of it, however, and if there is a drought situation, some of those get water by contract or they can be shut off. 

Brown said, "Water is not cheap. Our assessments out there at Lucerne are the second highest in the state of Wyoming. They are $37 per acre per year. Water is the lifeblood of agriculture. If you're paying that kind of money per acre per year, and you don't have a crop, that hits you awfully hard in the pocketbook. That's the reason we have to redo those pumps, because if they go down on the 1st of August when it's 105 degrees, we have to get them back up to save the crops."

The new pumping station project started on January 16, 2024 and is to be completed by June 30, 2025. Brown added, "One of the things that's hard about this project is we're rebuilding it while we're still using the old plant. We've moved just off site of the old one because you can't afford to shut down for a summer and not be pumping water."

The total project budget is approximately $8.2 million. Of this total, some of the funding sources include the United States Bureau of Reclamation Water Smart Funds with $2 million, the WWDC grant provided $5.4 million and the WWDC Wyoming Development provided $600,000 as a loan. The OCID contributed $169,000 in cash. The bid was awarded to Prospect Construction of Sheridan. Joe Zink is the lead representative of the project. State Senator Ed Cooper, State Representative John Winters, and the Hot Springs County Commissioners all contributed to the project by writing letters of support.