Irrigation has been a key to living in the Verde Valley for years. Ditches stretch across the region, taking water from the Verde River to provide water for farming and keeping the grass green.
As more and more people have moved into the area, several groups have joined together to try and make sure as much water gets back into the river as possible. At the Diamond S ditch near the White Bridge, Steve Goetting, vice president of the Diamond S Ditch Association checks his smart phone. It tells him how much water is flowing through gates all along the ditch.
A solar panel on a pole connected to satellites at this particular gate hasn’t come online yet to provide Goetting with information in real time over the internet, but a computer still monitors how much water is being returned to the ditch and automatically adjusts the flow to provide the optimum flow for the ditch users while allowing as much water as possible back into the river.
For the full story, see the Wednesday, May 1, edition of The Camp Verde Journal.
