Pumping from a creek for irrigation

[winniewalleye777]

I have a county drainage ditch that goes through my backyard. I am wondering if it is legal to pull water from this to irrigate my lawn. If so, what type of pump would work best/cheapest? Water is probably 25 ft down and I would have to pump it no more than 100 ft. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[gixxer01]

Water use permits Requirements a. A water use (appropriation) permit from DNR Waters is required for all users withdrawing more than 10,000 gallons of water per day or 1 million gallons per year.

There are several exemptions to water appropriation permit requirements: domestic uses serving less than 25 persons for general residential purposes, test pumping of a ground water source, reuse of water already authorized by a permit (e.g., water purchased from a municipal water system), or certain agricultural drainage systems (check with your area hydrologist for applicability).

As for choosing the right pump, there are far too many variables (which you have not disclosed) for someone to suggest a proper pump size. Based on what you did disclose, I would suggest either a centrifugal pump, or even a submersible. If a pressure tank will be utilized, then centrifugal would be the way to go.

[CANOPY SAM]

I'm doing the same thing this spring, only from our river. I believe I called the county offices last year to confirm the legality of what I proposed to do, and I believe they quoted the same laws or statutes that gixxer posted above.

I'm going with a large hp gas operated pump, as the source of our water is 250 yds from the nearest power, and I need to pull water and spread it over an area 200-300 ft from the source.

I'll be setting up lines, divided by splitters to various locations, guided to above ground sprinkler systems. Most of our water will go to our large truck gardens. After last summer, where I watched even our sweet corn whither from heat and drought, I have to develop a source of irrigation whenever it's needed.

Might be a different set of rules for drawing water from a drainage ditch. You may have to consult with county, or township? Hope you have better luck than we did last summer. Up here in Northwest Minnesota even our big drainage ditches all but dried up.

[WaveWacker]

Legal? Possibly. Need a permit? Likely not. Why? Because you're most likely under the 10,000gal/day limit. Here is the straight scoop from the DNR.

Is a DNR permit required to pump water from a lake or river to irrigate my garden or lawn?

A DNR water appropriation permit (application available under DNR Division of Ecological and Water Resource forms) is required to pump water or allow to flow by gravity from a lake, wetland, watercourse, spring, ditch, gravel pit, quarry, natural or artificial pond, or well; to irrigate gardens and lawns if the amount exceeds 10,000 gallons per day, or one million gallons per year.

A well-maintained lawn in Minnesota uses approximately one inch of water per week, regardless of whether this comes from rainfall or lawn watering. As a rule of thumb, an irrigated lawn greater than 1.4 acres in size will likely meet the threshold for requiring a DNR permit during a dry year

The next thing is that if it's a county drainage ditch, is it actually DNR protected? Some are, some aren't. If it was me, I'd put it in and run with it.

[Juneau4]

Don't ask, don't tell, just do.

[LunkerCity]

You do not have to answer to the DNR, but you may have to answer to the county. Call them and ask. Even if you do have to pay, it would be next to nothing. The nine hole golf course I run only had to pay 500 last year for all the water we pulled. Better to be sure then to end up with fines.

[KoppsCrops]

What you're trying to do can easily be accomplished with a gas powered pump. My set up for one of the gardens is exactly as you described except I'm pumping from a pond.

Your best bet for a good inexpensive pump is one from Harbor Freight. Very inexpensive and have never had a problem as long as you maintain it.

For a good pre filter so you don't clog your sprinklers/or drip tape is to build yourself a 2 x2 alum screen box and submerge it into the ditch held in place with T posts. Does a nice job filtering out the crud...if there is any. If you don't filter you run the risk of clogging up your sprinkler heads.

From the pump I ran 1 1/2 lay flat to a manifold built from PCV with valves. The pump could easily keep up with 2 large volume sprinklers.