North Dakota usually has plenty of water to grow good crops.

The problem is that the water often doesn't come when the farmers need it. A new irrigation district organized in northeastern North Dakota will save spring floodwater to irrigate crops in the summer.

Called pond irrigation, the system started in Manitoba in 1990. Large pits covering from 20 to 50 acres are dug and filled with water from flooding rivers and coulees in the spring. Each pond can provide enough water to irrigate 400 to 1,000 acres, says Conrad Kalberer with the North Dakota Irrigation Caucus in Bismarck, N.D.

"Any time that you have a flush of water coming down a stream that is over and above the normal flow of the stream, that water would be eligible to be taken out of the watershed," Kalberer says. He adds that it is much easier to get a permit to hold the floodwater than to get a normal water permit.

According to Kalberer, lack of reliable rainfall has been holding back potato production in North Dakota. Dry summers make for small-sized potatoes that aren't much use to french fry makers.

"The quality of potatoes that you get out of irrigated potatoes is so much better than you get out of dryland potatoes," Kalberer says. "We're able to raise a quality product with irrigation. Ninety percent of a crop is dependent on water."

Potato growers and processors in the northern Red River Valley are paying a lot of attention to the project. Arlen Jackson, a farmer from Hoople, N.D., did a 5-acre irrigated test plot on his farm. He got yields two to three times larger than his dryland potatoes. He says the individual potatoes were larger and more desirable for processors.

"A lot of my neighbors said it wouldn't work, but it did work," Jackson says. "My son and I did this together. We watched the Canadians and talked about it and eventually did it."

Organizing for change

Developing an irrigation system is cost prohibitive for most farmers. According to Kalberer, just digging the pond can cost between $800,000 and $1.6 million. That is why an irrigation district must be organized, he says. Through the district, farmers can get cost-sharing assistance from a number of state and federal programs. Because the districts are, in effect, local governments, they can issue bonds to give farmers access to low-cost capital for the remainder of the up front costs.

"We have to have an irrigation district to make this affordable," says Jonathan Maendel, who farms near Forest River, N.D.

Eight farmers from the Inkster, N.D., area petitioned the state to create an irrigation district, Kalberer says. While the first series of informational meetings were held in the northern Red River Valley, he says the district eventually could include farmers as far west as Rugby, N.D. So far, 26 farmers have expressed interest in joining the district.

"The district can cover as much land as we want," Kalberer says. "There isn't any restriction on size."

The district will wind up owning the land where the ponds are located, Kalberer says. This shields the landowners from liability problems that could come up in the future.

Two birds with one stone

A side benefit of the project is that it could help ease the flooding problems that have plagued northern North Dakota since 1993. The irrigators only can add water to their ponds when river or coulee levels are above average, that is, during the spring runoff or after unusual rain events. Kalberer says the ponds could hold sheetwater from large areas of flooded land.

The ponds also will create habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife, Kalberer says. The 20 to 50 acre ponds probably wouldn't be pumped dry most years, making new homes for ducks. Grassy areas around the ponds in Canada are good cover for pheasants and other upland game, he adds.

"We're going to make a lot of ducks happy, I'll tell you that," he says.

An engine of development

Pond irrigation could help North Dakota achieve its goal of attracting more food processing companies. Irrigation would make production of high-value crops such as potatoes, sugar beets and vegetable crops more reliable. Kalberer says the uncertainty of production is a major reason processors are reluctant to invest in the state.

"The water commission and the governor are interested in getting economic development in the state," Kalberer says. "This is one way of getting economic development. The more projects like this that we have in, the more processors we will be able to bring in. One of the things processors ask is how many acres you irrigate."

Jackson says his test plot has turned him into a believer in irrigation.

"It enables you get a contract and keep a contract," Jackson says. "I think the reason so many potatoes have left our area is the inconsistent rainfall. If these french fry plants could get all irrigated potatoes, I'm sure they would go that way."

North Dakota only has about 125,000 acres of irrigated land, and much of that land is in forage production, Kalberer says.

"We have water running down the streams that we aren't using," Kalberer says. "Maybe we only need 4 inches of water to increase our production from 175 to 425 (hundredweight of potatoes per acre). It might be worth it."