Canal Break

Recovery Resources: 2019 Canal Break in the Goshen/Gering Fort Laramie Canal

This page is a joint venture of Nebraska Extension and University of Wyoming Extension

THE BASICS:

• Surface-water irrigators in the North Platte River Valley south of the river in eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska their water supply for approximately six weeks during the 2019 growing season due to a partially collapsed tunnel and washout in the main supply canal that occurred July 17, 2019. The tunnel, built in 1917, conveys water for the Goshen Irrigation District (Wyoming) and the Gering-Ft Laramie Irrigation District (Nebraska). It is located 1.5 miles south of Fort Laramie, Wyoming, is 14 feet in diameter and is 2,200 feet long. After temporary repairs, water was returned to the canal system on Aug. 28, 2019, and service to irrigators was restored in the days and weeks that followed. 
• The water disruption affected approximately 107,000 acres of crops, or about 35% of the total acres irrigated by surface water in the North Platte River Valley in both states. Approximately 55,000 acres are affected in Nebraska and 52,000 acres in Wyoming. Affected crops are corn, sugar beets, dry beans, and alfalfa. Both Wyoming and Nebraska declared a state emergency.