New Projects

Main Canal Piping Project— Barker Ranch, West Richland, WA

This is a major modification to a previously installed Watch Technologies river diversion and canal control system. The original project, installed in 2008, automated control of multiple intake gates and multiple canal headgates for diversion adjustments, canal forebay level maintenance, canal discharge volume (cfs), and downstream canal level for an intake to an irrigation canal system. Control and monitoring data was sent via a 900 MHz radios. Status and interactive control of the project was available locally at the Master Station located in the Ranch Manager's office or via a browser on the Internet.

The 2009 project upgrades the original system electronics and management software (SCADA), adds three more control stations monitoring two new gates, and controlling five new gates on a pipeline, replacing the open canal network. The total system will control 11 gates and monitor 12 data collection stations in real-time, displaying data on a local PC and via an interactive Internet site.

Irrigation Diversion Modification Project— Coleman Creek, Ellensburg, WA

This project removes a fish passage barrier─a concrete structure used to divert water from Coleman Creek for irrigation, and replaces it with a side-channel diversion into a flume that controls diverted water through a fish screen and into the Nisbet Farm irrigation system.

Watch Technologies will install an automated three-gate system to manage the diversion, monitor flow through the flume, monitor and control a pump well, and control introduction of supplemental water into the system as required should flow in Coleman Creek get below certain minimums. The SCADA system will operate autonomously, providing local display of project data.

 

 

Flood and Irrigation Canal Control Gate Project—Rogue River Valley Irrigation District, Medford, OR

This project will replace wooden check boards used to backup water in a major flood canal running adjacent to a major intersection in Medford. The flood canal must remain full to charge an irrigation canal. During significant rainfall events, the flood canal is not usable because it is blocked and so much water is stored behind the check boards. As a result, removing them in a timely manner was all but impossible. An automated 6' by 11' WT Smart Split-Gate will be installed to provide continuous flow control in the irrigation ditch with its top blade and emergency flow control in the flood canal by lifting the bottom 6' blade if water flow over the top blade is too much to manage in its normal, non-flood mode.

Flow and control data to and from the site will be transmitted via 900 MHz radios to a Base Station at RRVID offices several miles away. The single-station control system will be the basis for a larger-scale SCADA system to be installed at a later date.