Water flows
16 | Friday, May 12, 2017 | Lahontan Valley News
AT PROMONTOR
By Steve Ranson
sranson@lahontanvalleynews.com
L
ocal officials praised city and county workers
along with volunteers and state and federal
agencies who spent countless hours and days
digging out a 17-mile channel that is now
carrying water from the Carson Lake to the
Carson Sink via the Stillwater National Wild-
life Refuge.
From its inception almost two months ago to the final
chunk of dirt being removed Wednesday to allow water
to flow freely, the six-week Big Dig project culminated
in one platitude after another of thanking the heavy ma-
chine operators and the Farmer Brigade for putting their
community ahead of themselves.
They took this personally. This was their community,
said Churchill County Commission Chairman Pete Olsen.
They worked their hearts out.
Six weeks ago, crews from the Truckee Carson Irriga-
tion District, Churchill County Road Department and the
city of Fallon began digging a 60-foot wide, 15-foot deep
channel to bring water from the Carson Lake area. The
channel traveresed under four recently installed drainage
culverts that the Nevada Department of Transportation
and Granite Construction installed on U.S. Highway 50
two miles south of Wildes Road.
A ceremony to recognize the completion occurred at
noon at the Lower Diagonal Drain east of U.S. Highway
A plug or a dam was removed to allow water to flow in the Big Dig.
50. After speeches from Olsen, Mayor Ken Tedford, EOC
(emergency operations center) Incident Commander Bill
Lawry and Ernie Schank, president of the Truckee Carson
Irrigation District Board of Directors, a huge, yellow ex-
cavator wheeled into action shortly before 1 p.m., taking a
half-dozen swipes at the dirt before opening a channel to
allow fast-moving, brown water to enter the channel.
During the overall project, though, a set of workers be-
gan digging out the channel from Carson Lake and head-
ed east, while the second contingent of workers began at
Stillwater and headed east. The Lower Diagonal Drain
served as the promontory point.
Congressman Mark Amodei, R-CD2, also attended the
ceremony on one of the warmest days of spring in the
Lahontan Valley. Tedford said he was in constant com-
munication with Amodei, and the congressman offered
assistance if the local government agencies needed help.
As with many officials from the local agencies, the state,
the Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, they all had a major part in the success of the Big
Dig.
During the operations at the Big Dig, agencies used
10 large excavators, two bulldozers, eight tractor/scrap-
ers, and two blades and relied on more than 20,000 man
hours to move more than 2.5 million cubic yards of dirt.
In addition about 30 farmers and ranchers of the Farmer
Brigade, which stood up in 2008 to repair a breach at
the Lewis Spillway on Casey Road, volunteered in mass
by bringing their tractors, trucks and other equipment to
STEVE RANSON / LVN PHOTOS
scape off the overburden, material that lies above an area
that lends itself to economical exploitation, such as the
rock, soil and ecosystem that lies above a given area.
What we did was take as much of the overburden as we
could and go deep as much as we could so the excavators
could then go to work digging, said rancher Thaine Ernst
of the Farmer Brigade.
Tedford thanked both Gov. Brian Sandoval, who sent
a letter to be read, and the State of Nevadas Department
of Emergency Management and Director Caleb Cage for
assisting with the heavy equipment. Olsen also thanked
the state.
Many times through this crisis, we have asked (for
assistance) and their answer was yes or let us get back to
you and when they did, the answer was yes, Olsen said.
They were here in our time of need.
After the ceremony and before the plug (a soft dirt
dam) was removed to allow the flow of water, guests gave
a rousing applause to the workers who dedicated their
time in typical Churchill County spring weather of blow-
ing dust, rain, snow flurries, freezing nighttime tempera-
tures and 80-degree days.
Mike Whitaker, who operated an excavator for the
county, worked 12-hour days, seven days a week for two
weeks. He said digging out the mud was difficult, but the
Farmer Brigade with its graders and tractors made work
easier.
It was a busy job, Whitaker said. I was pressing my-
self, but I thought we had a long ways to go. The Farm
Standing near Whitaker was TCIDs Jeremy Marti-
nez, who worked an excavator and bulldozer and hauled
equipment.
Sometimes, there was no light at the end of the tunnel,
he said. But when I saw the two ditches coming togeth-
er, it was worth it. It couldnt be done without everyones
help.
Martinez said no one was injured with the amount of
work being done.
Karl Zulz, a foreman with the Churchill County Roads
Department, oversaw the day shift.
The cooperation between the entities was just amaz-
ing, he said. We hit the ground running.
Not only did Zulz ensure the digging was going smooth-
ly, but he also jumped on an excavator or bulldozer, doing
whatever it took to get the job done.
This was one of the biggest if not biggest projects,
he said, adding the department hasnt done a major
project like that. We have done bridge replacements and
things of that sort, but this tops it.
Zulzs counterpart, Night Foreman Jody Joanette, said
workers had a challenge once the sun went down and
tower lights illuminated the area. Several e
The main thing at night is keeping the grade, he said.
Most of the guys did well after adjusting. said of wo
Joanette said the lack of lighting, which was spread and caug
out along the Big Dig, made life interesting for the Ernst s
operators. cially with
It was hard seeing what you were doing, especially with ing the up
a 9-to-10-foot grade below you, he said. and parts
Joanette, though, said with a satisfied look this Since J
was the project of a lifetime. da, water
Ryan Swirzcek, the citys public works director, said the Weather
Big Dig was a great tasks that brought agencies together. pack. By F
In my tenure with the city, I never saw all agencies of the sno
come together and work this closely together, he added. water to fi
Ernst has worked the lands of Churchill County for TCID m
many years. After a month of guiding the valleys farmers reservoir
and ranchers with the digging, he was ready to return to county, T
his property. cy spillwa
We were here for the community, but were behind, he to Sheckl