They ran a powerline through not all that far from where I am, and I thought the landowners came up with a pretty clever solution.
They got maps out, of the proposed powerline route, and overlaid it, with a map that showed the irrigation in the area.
They then, got all the landowners together, and made an agreement on a few things (that alone seems like a challenge to me).
What they did, is overlay the two maps, and point out to the power company where the poles/lines would interfere with an existing pivot, or irrigation/drainage ditch, and sat down with them, and discussed the route. Basically, what they said, was that the powerline ran across about 20 farms, and the company could either add a couple corners, here and there, to not disrupt the irrigation systems, or they could fight every farmer on the list.
Long story short, they added 4-5 more little bends in the line, and the line and poles run so that all existing pivots can go like they always did, and the other irrigators can still use the canals and ditches they always did. The landowners were satisfied, the county board was satisfied, and the power company got some good PR, about how they worked 'with' local landowners, rather than steamroll over them with eminent domain. I think if the farmers would have approached them one by one, instead of as a group, it might not have been so rosy for them, though. However the threat of fighting 20 farmers if the stopped the pivot of any one of them, did the trick.
