DAYTON–Columbia County Public Works equipment has been busy on the Touchet Valley Golf Course, digging a nearly one-acre irrigation reservoir as part of a comprehensive plan to renovate the course's sprinkler system.

Excavation of the reservoir has been underway for approximately three weeks, as weather and work schedules at Public Works permit, said Sean Thurston, chairman of the Touchet Valley Golf & Rec's Irrigation Renovation Project.

The reservoir will be just under one acre in size and five feet deep, Thurston said, and will double as a water hazard. When excavation is completed, a liner will be placed in it.

This part of the project is hoped to be completed and operational when the irrigation season starts in the spring of 2022, Thurston said. The plan calls for water from the West End Irrigation District to replenish the reservoir during daytime hours, then for the irrigation system to water the links at a high rate during overnight. "We'll run a bunch of sprinklers at a higher rate," Thurston said.

In prior years, irrigating the course was labor intensive and the rate of water use was limited by the Irrigation District, and some areas required watering with hose and sprinkler rather than underground.

"The key is to to put in reservoir before installing the irrigation system because it changes the layout and design of the irrigation system," Thurston said. "It'll recharge during daytime hours."

Most of the funding is in the bank, Thurston, who also serves as the TVG&R's treasurer, said. The final funding drive started December 1 with a goal of raising $60,000, he said. A private, anonymous donor has pledged to match donations up to $30,000, he said. The project, and others in Columbia County, were detailed in a special section inserted in the Dayton Chronicle last week. Donations may be made online through valleygivingguide.org, a program of the Blue Mountain Community Foundation.

The cost of some elements and material for the reservoir have increased since the plan was formulated in Phase I, Thurston said, like the cost of running power to the site. The organization has some money set aside for the underground sprinkler system, and will proceed with that phase when fundraising goals are reached, he said.

-Chronicle photo

Material removed from the reservoir area is being deposited along the Touchet River levee and will have triple duty of being turf that is easy to mow and can be played, easing labor of maintaining the rock levee and reinforcing the existing levee.

The soil removed for the reservoir has been placed along the Touchet River levee to accomplish three purposes: it will have a gentle slope from the top of levee, sown to turf and will be playable. In addition, mowing and maintaining this area will be less labor intensive as it will be mowed. Finally, this fill will reinforce the structural integrity of the levee, Thurston said.