I probably could but not sure it's worth the effort. The ditch I cleaned out carries runoff from the fields to the south of me. The highway runs along the bottom of a valley between 2 hilly ranges and there's fields and orchards on both sides for a couple miles. The runoff flows through ditches that all run together before they come through my property. The farmers don't go out of their way to overwater so my ditch is dry more than it's full. The most effective way is probably to bury a 55 gallon drum next to my ditch and divert water, then submerge a pump in the barrel. I'm going lazier than that and just using garden hoses with the feed side anchored to the upstream culvert under my driveway. The other end just gets left in the field to flood irrigate.
It's a weird gray area. The canal and pumped water is heavily scrutinized but the runoff really isn't. As a water rights holder I can basically do what I want with it before it drains back into the canal to be recirculated. The actual supplied water that I specifically pay for is only available on certain days based on a scheduled allotment by the water district and is turned on and off by the rotation boss, who happens to be my neighbor's son. There are also ditch riders that patrol the canals and ditches to make sure nobody is stealing.
It's a weird gray area. The canal and pumped water is heavily scrutinized but the runoff really isn't. As a water rights holder I can basically do what I want with it before it drains back into the canal to be recirculated. The actual supplied water that I specifically pay for is only available on certain days based on a scheduled allotment by the water district and is turned on and off by the rotation boss, who happens to be my neighbor's son. There are also ditch riders that patrol the canals and ditches to make sure nobody is stealing.