SRP Announces Consolidated Canal Dry-up and Maintenance Project from Nov. 20 to Dec. 20
Fish Herding and Removal to Prepare for the Dry-up Will Take Place Nov. 20 to 24
WHAT:
Portions of the Consolidated Canal on the south side of the Salt River will be drained from Nov. 20 to Dec. 20 for annual maintenance and construction activities from Baseline Road south to the 202 Santan Freeway and from Lindsay Road to Mesa Drive. Crews will inspect the canals, remove silt, replace concrete lining and repair gates along a stretch of seven to eight miles in Mesa, Chandler and Gilbert.
Signage will be posted where there will be increased construction traffic and portions of the canal will be closed to traffic including bikes and pedestrians.
Some of SRP’s southside irrigation customers will not receive water from the canals during the dry-up.
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.
DETAILS:
The southside dry-up will take place from Nov. 20 to Dec. 20. The fish herding and relocation of the fish will start Saturday, Nov. 20 and will continue through Wednesday, Nov. 24. Crews will begin moving silt from the canals starting Monday, Nov. 22.
Reporters are welcome to tour the fish herding and canal dry-up process. Contact: Media Relations at (602) 236-2500 for crew locations.
VISUALS:
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.
Front loaders and heavy equipment will be used to remove tons of silt and dirt from the canal throughout the dry-up.
SRP is a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility and the largest provider of electricity in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, serving more than 1 million customers. SRP is also the metropolitan area’s largest supplier of water, delivering about 750,000 acre-feet annually to municipal, urban and agricultural water users.