Ditch companies, canal companies and irrigation districts
HeadgateLog is irrigation water ordering software for ditch companies, canal companies and small irrigation districts: shareholders order water by turnout, start time, hours and flow, the office approves each order onto a running board, ditch riders log every headgate change from a phone, and acre-feet used per shareholder is worked out from that gate log against the season allotment.
30 days free first, no card.
The phone, the ride book and the spreadsheet
Orders come in as calls and texts to whichever rider picks up. The office learns what was promised for tomorrow when the rider gets back.
With HeadgateLog: Orders land on one running board by lateral, with every request the office still has to approve.
Gate changes go in the rider's notebook in the truck. A dispute over how much water a farm got means finding the page and redoing the arithmetic.
With HeadgateLog: Every open, adjust and close is logged with the time and flow, and anyone in the office can read it the same minute.
Acre-feet per shareholder gets tallied by hand weeks later, so a shareholder overruns their share before anyone notices.
With HeadgateLog: Acre-feet used is worked out from the gate log, against shares times acre-feet per share, while the season is running.
One order on Lateral 3
The shareholder, the office and the ditch rider each see the same order. Nobody calls anybody to find out where it stands.
Jun 2, 5:40 AM 路 Shareholder
Miller Ranch requests 24 hours at 3 cfs on the Miller north gate, Lateral 3, starting 6:00 tomorrow.
Jun 2, 8:15 AM 路 Office
The secretary sees the request on the running board with Miller's 18.2 of 30 acre-feet used, and approves it.
Jun 3, 6:05 AM 路 Ditch rider
Next morning the rider opens the gate to 3 cfs and logs it from the truck. The order shows as running.
Jun 3, 2:30 PM 路 Ditch rider
The lateral runs short, so the rider adjusts the gate to 2.5 cfs and logs that too.
Jun 4, 6:10 AM 路 Ditch rider
The rider closes the gate and logs it; the order completes. Miller's acre-feet used goes up by what actually ran.
Season allotment used
Each gate change records the flow the gate is running afterwards. That flow counts until the next change at the same headgate, so the ride log turns straight into acre-feet: one cfs for one hour is 0.0826 acre-feet. Miner's inches and gpm are converted first, at your state's miner's inches per cfs.
Miller Ranch holds 12 shares at 2.5 acre-feet per share, so its allotment is 30 acre-feet. The office sees used and remaining for every shareholder while the season runs, sorted by who is closest to running out.
| Logged | Gate | Ran for | Acre-feet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 3, 6:05 AM | Open to 3 cfs | 8.4 hours | 2.09 AF |
| Jun 3, 2:30 PM | Adjust to 2.5 cfs | 15.7 hours | 3.24 AF |
| Jun 4, 6:10 AM | Close | ||
| This order delivered | 5.33 AF | ||
What is in it
Who signs in
Secretary, manager or district office
Opens the season, sets up shareholders and turnouts, assigns riders, enters phoned-in orders, approves or denies requests, and sees allotment used for everyone.
Watermaster or canal patrolman
Sees the turnouts assigned to them, logs every gate change, marks orders running or completed, and enters an order a shareholder gives them at the gate.
Farm or landowner holding shares
Requests water for their own headgates, cancels a request that isn't running yet, and watches their acre-feet used against the season allotment.
Before the water is turned in
Enter the year, the day water was turned in and the acre-feet each share gets.
Paste or upload the stock ledger and turnout list you already keep: shareholder, account number, shares, phone, turnout and lateral.
Each rider gets a login by email and sees only the headgates on their laterals.
Approve orders onto the running board; acre-feet used fills in as riders log their gate changes.
Pricing
Every plan starts with a 30-day free trial on Ditch Office, no card. After the trial your records stay readable until you pick a plan. Yearly billing is two months free.
$29 /month, or $290/year
$59 /month, or $590/year
$99 /month, or $990/year
Questions from ditch offices
From the gate log. Each gate change records the flow the gate is running after the change, and that flow counts until the next change at the same turnout. One cfs running for one hour is 0.0826 acre-feet (3,600 cubic feet out of 43,560). Miner's inches and gpm are converted to cfs first, using the miner's inches per cfs your state sets. It is a calculation from what riders log, not a meter reading.
Yes. It is a web page that works on any phone, with big buttons and one form to log a gate change. There is nothing to install. Riders see only the turnouts assigned to them, and can correct their own entries on the day they made them; the office corrects anything older.
No. On the Ditch Office and Rider plans the office types phoned-in orders in itself. The Shareholder Portal plan adds a login for every shareholder, so they can request water and check their allotment without calling.
Both, on one record. The office runs orders, shareholders, turnouts and the season; riders use the same orders and turnouts from the field. Anything a rider logs shows up in the office at once.
Yes. Pick cfs, miner's inches or gpm as your company's default and set how many miner's inches make a cfs in your state (40 in Idaho and Montana, 50 in Arizona, Nevada and Utah, 38.4 in Colorado). Orders and gate changes can still be entered in any of the three.
Most irrigation district software is sold through a demo and a custom quote, or bundled with canal automation hardware, and is built for large districts. HeadgateLog has public prices from $29 a month, a 30-day trial without a card, and is built for a ditch company with one office and a few riders.
Start on Ditch Office for $29 a month after a 30-day trial, and add riders or shareholder logins when you want them.
Start your ditchUpdated October 12, 2026
