In later October WHIN went to Lincoln County to do the Fall adopt a highway clean up. Due to hunting season we had a low turn out for this project. It took about 2 hours to complete and then breakfast was served at the windmill, a WHIN tradition. We look forward to the spring clean up in 2017.
In August WHIN once again went to McFarland Spring, this time with a roto rooter with a 100 foot long snake. We had great expectations of being able to increase the water flow but there was nothing in the pipe preventing water flow as had been in the past. What we need is a very wet winter and hopefully that will restore the normal good flow to the spring. We will pray for rain and hope it happens.
In July WHIN was asked to help NDOW and the Meadow Valley Mule Deer Association build a new elk drinker in area 23 in the Mount Willson Range. Work started early, there needed to be an apron built 2 water tanks and the drinker placed and all the plumbing run to everything. Old fencing also need to be removed and a new fence built to keep the horses out so they would not be able to destroy all the work that had been done. It took till dark but all the work was completed, thanks to everyone that showed up to help with this project.
In the 3rd week of June our roto rooter was repaired so WHIN went back up to McGFarland Spring to try our luck again. Water was finally at all the drinkers so we went to the spring head and started to work on improving the water flow. We used all of the 75 foot line that our roto rooter has and after chasing the pipe many times, we had not improved the water flow. A decision was made to rent a roto rooter with a longer snake on it, so we left with water to all the drinkers but with very low flow from the spring.
WHIN made it back to McFarland Spring in the 3rd week of May, the water made it to drinker 1 and was on its way to drinker 2 but there were a couple of major breaks in the line. All the breaks were fixed and water was starting to flow into drinker 2. We then headed back to the spring head with the roto rooter and started to clean the pipe when the roto rooter broke so we had to stop and plan another trip after the roto rooter was fixed.
In the second week of May, WHIN went to McFarland Spring to turn on the water to the elk drinkers and to check the entire system for any repair that might be needed. The water flow was the lowest we have seen in 25 years, we fixed all the leaks between drinker 1 and the spring head. Water flow was so slow that we will be back later in the week to see how far the water had traveled. We also decided to bring the roto rooter on the next trip to see if we could increase the water flow.
In the last week of April, WHIN went to Pine Spring to do our spring check on the water flow of the spring and the condition of the feed line, float and trough. The feed line was in good condition, the water flow was normal and the float and trough were also in good condition. Cattle are the problem and keep the trough empty in the summer months and we are loosing deer because of them. Matt Flores of NDOW has got approval to put a steel pipe fence around the existing corral, but not until 2018.
In the first week of April WHIN went to Lincoln County to do the first of 2 adopt a highway clean ups. As usual we all met at Love’s at I 15 and the 93. It is only about a 40 minute drive to our section of highway and the weather was cool and clear. We finished the clean up in about an hour and a half, and then went to the Windmill for breakfast. The highway looks so much better after we clean it up and kind of makes you feel proud that you were part of doing it. WHIN welcomes anyone that would like to help, just check our web site for the month and time.