A California contractor was awarded one of the largest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contracts for a $5-million irrigation project in the National Elk Refuge near Jackson, Wyo. Yerba Buena Engineering and Construction, Inc., a San Francisco-based minority-owned small business, will install more than five miles of irrigation pipe in the 25,000-acre park to replace what Fish and Wildlife Service Spokesman Michael Mascari called “pioneer-era canals.”
Yerba Buena proposed using polyethylene pipe and small sprinklers. The raw materials are more expensive than polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe, but because of their flexibility, less expensive to install and more durable than the rigid alternative. The K-Line irrigation system can be moved around by Fish and Wildlife employees as needed and eliminates the need for diesel-fueled pumps.