Water pipe repair closes nature path

SHELLEY – The nature path along the Snake River will be closed for the next few weeks as crews work to repair a broken irrigation line.

With a grant from the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, the City of Shelley and local farmer Steve Neilson are working with the Snake River Irrigation District to repair a failed irrigation line. The repairs run from the Cedar Point Canal west along the nature path to the city’s and Neilson’s properties.

“The old irrigation pipe was damaged during the installation of the sewer line running from Ammon to Shelley,” Shelley Mayor Stacey Pascoe said.

He explained the damaged pipe restricted water flow to the Neilson farm and prevented water from reaching the city’s land. That includes the land the city purchased, in part, for its water rights.

In January of 2017, Shelley purchased a 75-acre farm east of the North Bingham County Park for $1 million. With the 75-acres, the city received the water rights from an irrigation well on the property.

“We bought this property for its water rights and as a land investment,” Pascoe said.

Pascoe said the water rights from this well would allow the city to add 1,200 new homes onto its system. But according to the Idaho Department of Water Resource, the city cannot transfer the water rights from this well into the city’s well until the new irrigation pipe is in place.

Shelley Public Work’s Director Justin Johnson said the project was supposed to take ten days. However, they are now two weeks into the repairs, and Johnson expects it will take a couple more weeks to complete.

With the proximity of the damaged pipe to the nature path, and the heavy equipment used to repair it, the repairs could damage the path.

“We know people like to use the nature path in the winter. When construction is done, we will sweep the path and see how much damage it has suffered. If it’s not too damaged, we will allow people to use it through the winter. If it’s too damaged, we will have to close it until spring when we can repair or replace it,” Johnson said.

He said the city would repair any damage to the path, replace the grass and trees removed for construction, and reinstall the sprinkler system next spring.