How Do You Know It's Time to Shut Down Your Irrigation for the Season?

Three things set the date: when your ditch company shuts water off, when your last crop or cutting no longer needs it, and how much freeze risk you will carry with full lines. Whichever comes first decides. After that it is sequence — water off, water out, system put away.

On ditch supply the shut-off notice usually arrives with less warning than anyone wants, so the work is worth planning before it lands.

Three things set your shutdown date

Not the calendar. In practice it comes down to when your ditch or supply actually quits, where your last crop or cutting is in its cycle, and how much freeze risk you are willing to carry with water still in the lines. Whichever of those three arrives first sets your date.

Everything after that is sequence: get the water off, get the water out, and get the system put away in a condition you would want to find it in come April.

Watch the ditch company, not the calendar

Most operations in the North Fork and Uncompahgre valleys do not choose their own end date — the ditch company does, and the notice usually comes with less lead time than anyone wants. If you have a last irrigation you want to get in, plan it against the shut-off notice rather than a date on the wall.

If you are on a well or a pressurized system and the timing is genuinely yours, the freeze window is what constrains you. Give yourself enough margin to drain everything before a hard freeze, not the weekend after it.

Put the last water where it does the most good

The final set is worth thinking about rather than defaulting to. Perennial crops, established orchards, new plantings, and pasture going into a dry winter benefit from going into the cold with moisture in the root zone. Ground you are done with does not.

Soil moisture going into winter also matters for the ground itself out here — dry, hard soil moves differently through freeze-thaw than soil with moisture in it, and that shows up in spring on ditch banks, field edges, and anything buried shallow.

Draining gated pipe, mainline, and hand lines

Water left in aluminum or plastic pipe over winter is how a system loses lengths every year without anyone noticing until spring. The rule is simple: nothing holds water anywhere.

• Open every drain, low-point valve, and end cap and give it time to actually empty, not just start draining.
• Pull and store gated pipe out of the field where equipment, livestock, and snow load will not get to it — and store it so it drains rather than cupping water.
• Leave valves open over winter so anything that gets in has a way out.
• Cap or plug open pipe ends against rodents and debris, and note anything you had to force so it goes on the spring list instead of being forgotten.

Pumps, filters, and valves

Pumps, filter housings, pressure tanks, backflow devices, and control valves are the parts that crack — they hold water in places that do not drain by gravity. Drain and open them, pull filter screens and elements and clean them before they sit for six months with dried organic matter in them, and store anything removable somewhere it will not freeze.

Anything with an air relief, vacuum breaker, or check valve deserves a second look. Those are small parts that fail quietly and only announce it under pressure next season.

Drip and micro systems get their own treatment

Drip and micro deserve a flush before shutdown, not after. Run the laterals with the ends open until they come clean, so the season's sediment and biological buildup leave the system instead of setting up in it all winter. Clean filters and let them dry before storing.

Whether tape or line comes out of the ground or stays in depends on the material, the crop, and your rotation — that is a decision worth talking through rather than defaulting to whatever happened last year.

What to fix now instead of in April

For contractors and anyone running a system on hired labor, shutdown is the cheapest inspection you will get all year. Every leak, every damaged gate, every cracked fitting and worn gasket is visible right now and completely invisible under snow. Write the list while you are draining, and order the parts over the winter instead of standing at a counter in April behind everyone else who waited.

Common Questions

When should I shut down my irrigation for the season?

Whenever the first of three things arrives: your ditch company's shut-off, the end of your crop's water need, or the freeze risk you are unwilling to carry with full lines. On ditch supply the shut-off notice usually decides it for you, so plan your last set against it.

Do I have to drain gated pipe before winter?

Yes. Water left standing in pipe over winter freezes, expands, and splits pipe, gates, and fittings. Open every drain and end, let it fully empty rather than just start draining, and store the pipe where it will not hold water or take snow and equipment damage.

Should drip line come out of the ground for winter?

It depends on the material, the crop, and your rotation, so it is worth deciding deliberately rather than by habit. Either way, flush the laterals with the ends open before shutdown so a season of sediment leaves the system instead of curing in it over winter.

What usually breaks over the winter?

The parts that hold water where gravity cannot get it out — pump housings, filter bowls, pressure tanks, backflow devices, and check valves — plus any pipe or gate that did not fully drain. Nearly all of it traces back to something left with water in it in October.

The short version

Let the ditch schedule and the freeze window set your date, put the last water where it earns something, and leave nothing holding water anywhere in the system. Make your repair list while everything is still exposed, and bring it to us over the winter. Come see us in Olathe or Hotchkiss, or send us your list and we will put together the parts. The full agriculture irrigation line is on our markets page.