This is very cool:
if you can funnel enough water volume into a pipe, and then run that pipe into a smaller pipe, thereby increasing the water pressure inside, and direct the entire project downhill, generating even more pressure, you can deliver pressurized water to farms, eliminating the need for electricity-gobbling water pumps. If the details are right, you can also place a small turbine along the way and produce a modest amount of hydropower, which you can sell back to a utility to help pay for the infrastructure upgrade.
Source: Central Oregon Is the Future of the American West – Bloomberg
The described system in the Sisters, Oregon area, is practically in my backyard (sort of). A major irrigation canal runs past my neighborhood, and a minor tributary of that is maybe within 500 feet of my house. The open canals, though, run in (mostly) unlined rock corridors, which lose water through leakage and evaporation. There are discussions about lining the canals in places and replacing some with pipes. Where the elevation drop is sufficient, the proposal above is intriguing – turning irrigation canal systems into pipe-based canals that also generate electricity.
