KID canal breaks in Finley near East Game Farm Road

Aug. 29--KENNEWICK -- Burrowing rodents have apparently struck again, likely causing a second major Kennewick Irrigation District canal breach in Finley on Thursday.

The breach near East Game Farm Road and South Oak Street is just upstream of a break that two months ago left the same 4,500 residential and agricultural customers without irrigation water.

Ray Poland & Sons had a crew on site by 10:30 a.m. Thursday to start repairs on the canal embankment, said Jason McShane, KID engineering and operations manager.

But the break, which was reported by a customer at 5:30 a.m., is expected to leave those KID customers in Finley and southeast Kennewick without water until late Sept. 2.

The breach damaged the canal embankment as well as two hay fields, an irrigation pond and four gravel roads, McShane said. The full extent of the damage still is being determined.

The crew will work through the weekend. The repair should finish up Sept. 1, but it will take until the end of Sept. 2 for canal operations to be back to normal, he said.

KID's liability insurance covers damage to property from the breach, but not the cost of repairing the canal. KID spent $140,000 to repair the canal after the June 21 canal breach near East Game Farm Road and South Oak Street, McShane said. Ray Poland & Sons also helped repair that break.

It will be difficult to pin down the exact cause of the breach because the evidence is generally washed away, McShane said. But officials believe it was likely ground squirrels.

KID officials hired a company last month to kill the pesky rodents around the district's canals.

The irrigation district has seen a decline in the ground squirrel population since Pointe Pest Control was awarded a contract worth up to $14,600 to poison them last month, McShane said.

The burrows that have been found have been dug up and the embankment in those areas have been repaired, McShane said.

Other burrows remain, but not the squirrels. The problem is finding the burrows, McShane said. Each can have multiple entrances, and the burrow can be 30 feet away from those entrances.

KID officials have been told by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife that the California ground squirrels found in their canals are the first documented instance of the squirrels in Benton County. However, McShane said he suspects they have been here for some time without being documented.

The non-native ground squirrels are about 18 inches and look similar to their bushy tailed, tree-loving relatives the Western gray squirrel, which wreaks havoc with electrical power lines.

The ground squirrels have been using canals as burrowing locations and invading nearby farms and orchards to find food, McShane said.

"We will continue to combat against ground squirrels," he said.

The damaged part of the canal is scheduled for rubber lining during this irrigation off-season, McShane said. That lining makes it more difficult for animals to burrow through the canal bank.

Since 2007, KID has lined more than 15 miles of earthen canals. About 49 miles remain.

-- Kristi Pihl: 509-582-1512; [email protected]

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