Beware Of Canal Bank Closures In 2014

By Steve Goldstein
Published: Wednesday, December 25, 2013 - 2:58pm
Updated: Wednesday, December 25, 2013 - 3:14pm
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Leisure activities on a couple of stretches of Phoenix canal banks will be on hold as 2014 gets underway.

If you are a jogger or bicyclist or simply like taking the dog for a walk along one of Salt River Project’s canals in Phoenix, you will not be able to do any of those things in a couple of areas. The banks from 56th Street to 32nd Street and from 43rd to 51st Avenues will be off limits beginning in January.

Jim Duncan is a senior analyst of water engineering for SRP. He said silt and debris are going to be removed from the canals.

"Maintenance work in the canals needs to be done when water demand is lowest, and that of course here is in the winter months. So, this is the best time for SRP to be able to drain water from the canals and then be able to go in and do the maintenance, because there’s less of a demand by agriculture and by the municipal water treatment plants," Duncan explained.

SRP’s signs indicate the banks will be closed to leisure activity until April, but Duncan said they could reopen as early as February if the work gets done and if weather allows.