Future of irrigation system sparks controversy

LONE ROCK - Back in the late 1970s, nearly everyone thought it was a good idea to get irrigation water out of leaky ditches and into gravity fed pipelines on farmlands in the vicinity of Lone Rock School.

To do that, the Bitter Root Irrigation District and irrigators in the Three Mile Area came together to get the financing to build a gravity fed sprinkler system that would both conserve water and cut down on the amount of silt running into the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge.

For 30 years, irrigators on the system have paid $16 extra an acre to pay off their $1.18 million share of the $3 million system.

Through those same three decades, BRID has taken care of all the maintenance and operations of the system.

Unfortunately, the forward-thinking crew that put the deal together 30 years ago didnt make it perfectly clear what should happen when the bond was paid.

That lack of foresight is now setting the stage for a fight between some of the nearly 400 irrigators on the Three Mile Gravity System and the Bitter Root Irrigation District (BRID) that already has lawyers talking back and forth.

The trouble began to brew after BRIDs board of directors let irrigators on the system know that it believed once the system was paid for, it would become a private system belonging to the water users.

If the water users wanted BRID to continue maintaining and operating the system, they would need to form a subdistrict. Once that district was formed, irrigators on the system would be required to pay an additional $10 an acre for the first two years to cover BRIDs expenses.

To form a district, 60 percent of the users have to sign a petition that BRID is currently circulating. The petitioners have to own 60 percent of the impacted lands.

BRID officials contend that if the water users opt not to form a subdistrict, then once the system is paid for, it will become their responsibility to operate and maintain. The irrigation district will only be responsible for delivering water to each inlet structure.

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Future of irrigation system sparks controversy