Ditches carry Valley's lifeblood

Monday's failure of two irrigation ditches -illustrate how it's not enough to have adequate moisture in the mountains.

The network of ditches that stretch across the irrigated fields of Douglas and Alpine counties are our agricultural circulatory system.

Without the lifeblood of water, the green fields that make Carson Valley so attractive would be brown. Without the ditches it wouldn't matter how much water was in the river, it would never make it to the fields.

When a ditch fails, as the two did above Woodfords, it causes far more damage than whatever flooding might have resulted.

Even in the best years irrigation water only flows for so long. Once the first part of summer is gone, so is the supply of water. That means timing is critical to getting the fields irrigated.

The longer a ditch is out of commission, the less water there is to make the grass grow.

The issue is so important that Douglas County has a water conveyance advisory committee made up of representatives from the community's prominent ranches.

We encourage residents to show respect toward the Valley's ditches, because they are in large part responsible for the beautiful green fields we're famous for.