Dear Dewey Lateral Members,
I would like to take a moment to thank all of you for being part of this organization and having
patience with us as we grow together . Our Dewey Lateral Organization has been in existence for only a
short time and we are slowly making progress and improving the lateral year by year. Your verbal input
and physical help is not only appreciated but needed for us to continue to grow and to continue to
improve our lateral. To ensure consistency across our Organization the Dewey Lateral Board would like
to institute some "Organizational Administrative Regulations". These Regulations will keep consistency
water user to water user and ensure we continue to focus on the positive items that will continue to
improve our lateral. Below you will find our new regulations that will commence this year and are based
on the "Idaho Irrigation Water Rights and Reclamation" statutes. If you have any questions please do
not hesitate to contact one of the board members.
Sincerely,
The Dewey Lateral Board
1. Yearly Spring Meeting - The yearly spring meeting is held to ensure we have open communication
amongst our members and give everyone a venue to voice their concerns, either positive or
negative. This meeting is very important and having at least one individual per household there is
extremely important. In order to ensure the highest turnout we will be having this meeting each
year at least 2 weeks prior to the water turning on to give us enough time to prepare our ditches to
receive water. Unfortunately the Nampa Irrigation District cannot tell us year to year what the true
water turn on date is prior to April so we need to ensure they are clean by the middle of April in
preparation for water turn on.
1.1. Our meeting will be held every year on the last Saturday of March at 9am. The location this year
will be at 6100 East Victory at Andrew Evans shop.
1.2. At the meeting we will review improvements made to our lateral the prior year, improvements
needed to maintain the current system and concerns our members have as well as monies spent to
improve the lateral.
1.3. At the meeting we will also use this time to vote on any open items to continue to improve our
lateral and to vote in the Board Leadership team. Your attendance at this meeting is
strongly recommended as the voting made at the meeting will be implemented based on the
majority vote made at the meeting by the attending members. If you are not at the meeting
then you will miss voting and we want everyone to be involved in the decisions the Lateral
members make.
2. Fees - The money collected is used to improve our lateral and no board member is getting paid for
their work, it is strictly voluntary.
2.1. There will be a $30 dollar per acre fee. This money is directly used to improve our lateral by
buying new head gates, piping, concrete, etc., to maintain our lateral in the best condition
possible. From time to time we also have to hire outside companies for things like tractor work
because unfortunately our members do not have the heavy equipment or knowledge needed to perform
some of the repair work needed. As we grow we will continue to assess this fee and increase it as
our organization sees fit by voting on it.
2.2. There will be a $40 dollar single charge per household for a no-show to the spring Lateral
cleanup. This money will also be used for lateral repair work. Cleaning the lateral is "All" our
responsibility since we "All" use the water. It is not fair to the contributing members that show
up to clean the lateral if we are all not doing our part to prepare the lateral for the water.
3. Fee due Dates - The fees must be collected early enough so that we can use that money to fix the
lateral prior to the water turning on. Failure to pay the "Fees" will result in that
irrigation address not been able to take any irrigation water until that addresses fees are paid in
full. This keeps consistency within our organization and ensures we are all abiding by the same
Irrigation statutes.
3.1.1. $30 dollar per acre fee - This fee is due on the 1st of May, it would be nice at the Yearly
Spring meeting to use for cleanup. You can also drop the money off to the Secretary of the Board
prior to this date, If that works better for you. A 10% late fee after June 15.
3.1.2. $40 dollar per household fee for cleanup - This fee is due prior to that irrigation address
receiving water.
3.1.3 There will be a 10% late fee after June 15, 10% will be added to amount due each year on June
15. Again, we want to ensure we hold everyone to the same standard.
4. Spring Cleanup Dates - We will be holding 2 spring cleanup dates per year. This will give us the
opportunity to ensure our canals are ready to accept the water without any issues. We cannot turn
the water on without the lateral canals being cleaned. The cleanup dates will be the following two
Saturdays following the "Yearly Spring Meeting" and starting at 9am each Saturday. The meeting
locations and discussion of necessary tools will be discussed at the Yearly Spring meeting. We
apologize for not having a solid meeting place but again, one of our members must open their house
to meet at so it will change year to year. You will be able to sign up for either Saturday and
attendance per household is required for only one Saturday. The more people that show up the
faster the cleanup will go.
5. Web page - We will try to keep our web page updated with the most current information
concerning our lateral. You can find many good items on it like the Idaho Irrigation Laws, our
irrigation schedule, water calculations, meeting notes, etc.
5.1. The web address is DEWEYLATERAL.ORG
6. Member Resolution Responsibilities - We are all human and will make mistakes time to time but we
all need to work together to succeed.
6.1.1. We understand that issues will pop up time to time with your neighbor but please try to
work together to resolve the issue at hand and find a resolution that will work for both of
you before contacting a board member. Please remember we are "All" adults and as such
please act like one when working with your neighbor. If a resolution cannot be worked out
then please contact a member of the board so a meeting date/time can be set up to work
on finding a resolution that will work for both of you.
7. Irrigation Watering Schedule - We have a good schedule that we have been using for the past
several years and it has worked well for us. Ever since the schedule was instituted there have been
less conflicts on watering times.
7.1. Closing and opening your gate during your water time is your responsibility. You can also work
out a plan with the member that receives water before or after you on closing or opening the
gate during the appropriate address watering time. Again, teamwork is the best approach.
7.2. Taking water when it is not your irrigation time is stealing and this practice is "not"
acceptable. If someone is found stealing water then the board members will meet with that
address representative. If a member is found to be a continual offender of over three incidents
then the Board has the Legal right, based on the "Idaho Irrigation Water Rights and
Reclamation" statutes, to turn off the water completely to that address and will
hold an emergency meeting to review the issue and come up with a resolution.
8. Irrigation Member Property Responsibility - Continual maintenance of the ditch that runs through
your property is your responsibility. Please ensure you are checking your ditch for obstructions
throughout the week to ensure water flow stays at optimal levels.
8.1. Any improvements you want to make to the ditch running through your property that must be
brought to the board. This will ensure the correct materials are used, water flow is not impeded
and we follow the Idaho Irrigation Laws.
8.2. Failure to maintain the lateral on your property that impedes the water to the following
individuals on that lateral will cause the Board to hire a subcontractor to fix the issue. If
this happens the Board will send the monies due to the subcontractor to the property owner so
they can pay the bill.
9. Culvert Cleanups - There are several culverts that need cleaned on a weekly basis to ensure
optimum flow to all our ditches. The cleanup of these culverts is "All" our responsibility and
failure to clean these impedes water flow and can cause property damage to the property the culvert
is located. At the Yearly Spring Meeting we will ask for volunteers so that we can set a schedule
for these cleanups.
10. Leasing Irrigation Water time - We realize that sometimes you do not want to use
your water and there is no reason letting it drain to the waste ditch to only be
wasted. If you lease your water or lease someone’s water, please let the Board Water
Master know in case any issues come up. The following statutes must be adhered too:
10.1.1.Leasing agreements are to be done on a season by season basis thus protecting the
rights and flexibility of both parties involved and agreements must last the duration of the
agreed upon time with the exception of sold property. With sold property it is your
responsibility to make sure the agreement works with the new owner and the person who
leased the water or you need to resolve the leasing agreement .
10.1.2. If you lease water, you assume all of the responsibilities associated with the water,
including but not limited to only using water during assigned time, responsibility for
opening and closing gates, responsibility of maintaining the ditch and responsibility for
assigned dues.
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