Ada County Highway District commissioners declared an emergency over a “catastrophic failure of a critical canal segment” that serves thousands of Boise residents. The agency is now in a race against time to repair a long-forgotten water pipe before irrigation water returns this spring.
A 48-inch corrugated metal pipe in the canal, located south of Hill Road and just west of North 32nd Street near the Hillside to Hollow Reserve, has “deteriorated far beyond its serviceable life,” an Ada County Highway District staff report stated.
“Critically, ACHD has over 50 direct storm drain connections upstream of the failure that rely on the canal to convey stormwater,” the report said. “Without a functioning canal, stormwater has nowhere to go.”…