SRP Announces Canal Dry-up and Maintenance Project from Nov. 20 to Dec. 20
Video Opportunities During the Fish Herding and Removal Will Be Nov. 21 to 26
WHAT:
As SRP crews prepare to drain and perform maintenance projects on portions of the Consolidated Canal and Eastern Canal, the utility’s smallest employees will be relocated during the annual Canal Dry-up starting Nov. 20.
Hundreds of white amur fish will be safely corralled and moved to another part of the canal upstream while the targeted canals will be emptied to make way for heavy equipment and necessary repairs to the vital system that delivers water for about 2.5 million Valley residents.
Portions of the Consolidated Canal and Eastern Canal on the southside of the Salt River will be drained from Nov. 20 to Dec. 20 for annual maintenance and construction activities from Stapley Drive to Broadway Road on the Consolidated Canal and from Guadalupe Road to Pecos Road on the Eastern Canal.
Crews will inspect the canals, remove silt, replace concrete lining and repair gates along a stretch of seven to eight miles in Mesa and Gilbert.
The portions of the canal that will be cleaned out will be closed to traffic including bicycles and pedestrians, and signage will be posted where there will be increased construction traffic.
SRP is responsible for keeping its 131-mile canal system in operating condition during normal water deliveries. Each fall and winter, SRP performs dry-ups on a rotating 10-year schedule on portions of the canal system.
Canal dry-ups allow SRP as well as other utilities and municipalities to perform construction and maintenance activities in and around the canals. SRP crews also will use the dry-up to examine the canals and underwater structures to look for evidence of invasive adult quagga mussels.
WHEN / WHERE:
The southside dry-up will take place from Nov. 20 to Dec. 20. Video opportunities to view the fish herding and relocation of the fish will begin Tuesday, Nov. 21 and continue through Sunday, Nov. 26 (no fish moving on Thanksgiving Day). Silt removal using heavy machinery will start on Tuesday, Nov. 21.
Portions of the Consolidated Canal and Eastern Canal on the southside of the Salt River from Stapley Drive to Broadway Road on the Consolidated Canal and from Guadalupe Road to Pecos Road on the Eastern Canal.
DETAILS:
During the fish herding and relocation, crews will be in the canal using large nets to herd white amur fish and will load them onto hauling tanks that will deliver them to other portions of the canal system. Weed-eating, white amur fish are used by SRP to control aquatic vegetation in its 131-mile Valley canal system.
Once the fish are moved, front loaders and heavy equipment will be used to pull out tons of silt and dirt from the canal and haul it off in large dump trucks throughout the dry-up.
Reporters are welcome to tour the fish herding and canal dry-up process. Contact: Media Relations at (602) 236-2500.
SRP is a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility and the largest electricity provider in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, serving approximately 1.1 million customers. SRP provides water to about half of the Valley’s residents, delivering more than 244 billion gallons of water (750,000 acre-feet) each year, and manages a 13,000-square-mile watershed that includes an extensive system of reservoirs, wells, canals and irrigation laterals.