SRP Arizona Canal Dry-up Starts Jan. 8

WHAT:

Portions of the Arizona Canal on the north side of the Salt River will be drained over the next month for annual maintenance and construction activities.

The maintenance activities will impact some of SRP’s northside irrigation customers who will not receive water from the canals during the dry-up.

WHEN / WHERE:

From Jan. 10 to Jan. 12:

Crews will be conducting fish herding and relocation of the fish. Weed-eating, white amur fish are used by SRP to control aquatic vegetation in its 131-mile Valley canal system.

From Jan. 8 to Feb. 7:

There will be signage posted where the Arizona Canal will be closed from 7^th Street to 43^rd Avenue to all traffic including bikes and pedestrians. Under no circumstances should residents enter the canals. This northside dry-up will result in increased construction traffic on canal banks as SRP crews work to remove silt, replace concrete lining and repair gates.

From Jan. 8 to Jan. 22:

Crews will also be working, and the Arizona Canal will be closed from 56^th to 48^th streets and from 32^nd to 24^th streets to reduce the caddisfly larval population. These areas have been experiencing uncharacteristically high populations of caddisfly adults causing significant nuisance to neighboring residents. The crews will be using power washers to steam clean the canal lining and clear the caddisfly larvae.

VISUALS:

Crews will be in the canal using large nets to herd white amur fish and will load them onto hauling tanks from Sunday, Jan. 10 to Tuesday, Jan. 12 that will deliver them to other portions of the canal system.

Front loaders and heavy equipment will be used to pull silt and dirt from the canal and moving it to large dump trucks throughout the dryup.

Reporters are welcome to tour the fish herding and canal dryup process. Contact: Patty Garcia-Likens at (602) 245-0047.

WHY:

SRP is responsible for keeping its canal system in operating condition during normal water deliveries. 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.