Irrigation Hardware Upgrades

At a Glance

Category

planning

Status

active

Fuel type

electric

Sector

agricultural

Applications

irrigation

Sunset date

Oct 31, 2028

Previously included in the Irrigation Hardware UES. The Upgrade measure contains estimates of savings from upgrades of center pivot and linear move irrigation systems that reduce evaporative and wind-drift water losses. Three upgrades are considered: from high pressure impact sprinklers to mid-elevation spray application (MESA); from high pressure impact sprinklers to low-elevation spray application (LESA), low energy precision application (LEPA), or mobile drip irrigation (MDI); and from MESA to LESA, LEPA, or MDI. The upgrade measure provides savings estimates from reduced water demand. Additional savings are possible from reducing the pressure on the irrigation system if this pressure reduction is done efficiently (e.g., VFD or impeller trim).

RTF staff will be expanding the measure to include high to low pressure conversions by the next update.

Workbook

Latest Version

Agricultural Irrigation Hardware Upgrades v3.1

Agricultural Irrigation Hardware Upgrades v3.1

Approved at Oct 2025 RTF meeting. Undergoing QAQC.

Date

Oct 28, 2025

Version number

3.1

Past Versions

version	date	document
2.3	Jul 17, 2023	Agricultural Irrigation Hardware Upgrades v2.3 Updated cost effectiveness using procost version 5.08
2.2	May 26, 2022	Agricultural Irrigation Hardware Upgrades Approved at the March 2022 RTF meeting. QC complete.
2.1	Mar 28, 2022	Agricultural Irrigation Hardware Upgrades v2.1 Approved at the March 2022 RTF meeting, analyst incorporated minor edits to presented version prompted by RTF. After running the 2021 Plan scenario in ProCost, the workbook has been updated and is currently undergoing QC.
2.0	Mar 24, 2022	Agricultural Irrigation Hardware Upgrades v 2.0 Version presented at the March 2022 RTF meeting.
1.0	Nov 04, 2021	Agricultural Irrigation Hardware Upgrades v1.0 Prior to this version, the upgrades measure was housed with the Irrigation Hardware Maintenance measure and you can find earlier versions of the workbook on that page.

Supporting Documents

Irrigation Hardware Research Strategy

Mar 28, 2018

Most up to date research strategy for agricultural irrigation hardware, accepted by the RTF on 3/28/18

LEPA-LESA Trials

Apr 07, 2021

Low Energy Precision Application (LEPA) and Low Elevation Spray Application (LESA)Trials in the Pacific Northwest

Decisions

Expand All Decisions

Latest decision

Decision details

Decided

October 21, 2025

Approve Measure Updates

Decision Details

Approve the Irrigation Hardware Upgrades UES as presented, and:
• Average of 2013 and 2018 F&R survey hours of use for Montana
• Average of 2018 and 2022 F&R survey for lift, operating pressure, and % surface water
• Change high pressure sprinkler efficiency to 65% and MDI to 97%
• Keep the Planning Category
• Keep the Active Status
• Set the sunset date to October 31, 2028

Decided

March 18, 2025

Extend Measure Sunset Date

Decision Details

Extend the sunset date to October 31, 2025 for Irrigation Hardware Upgrades UES.

Decided

March 22, 2022

Approve Measure Updates

Decision Details

Update the Irrigation System Upgrades measure as presented:

Keep the Category at Planning
Keep the Status at Active
Set the sunset date to March 31, 2025

Decided

March 16, 2021

Approved Measure Updates

Decision Details

Separate the System Upgrade applications of the Irrigation Hardware UES into a separate measure called 'Irrigation Hardware Upgrades' and:

Keep the Category as Planning
Keep the Status as Active
Maintain System Upgrades portion of Research Strategy
Direct staff to expand Upgrades measure to include high to low pressure conversions with next update
Set the Sunset Date to March 31, 2022.

Decided

March 27, 2018

Approve measure updates

Decision Details

For the Irrigation Hardware UES measure:

Break into two measures: Irrigation Hardware Maintenance and Irrigation Hardware Upgrades
Approve the updates to these measures as presented:
- Change category from Small Saver to Planning
- Keep status as Active
- Set sunset to March 31, 2021
- Revisit sooner if upcoming Council Ag Irrigation potential estimates suggest that this is a Small Saver
- Remove requirement that all units are replaced at once
Approve the Research Strategy as presented with modification:
- Add flow rate to the Irrigation Hardware Upgrades
- Add understanding of maintenance practices to the Irrigation Hardware Maintenance

Decided

July 18, 2017

Allocate Resource to New Measure Development

Decision Details

Allocate resource to developing the following measures:

Residential Aerators
Low Elevation Spray Application

Allocate resources to scoping exercise for RTF role in addressing whole facility measures