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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994.05.27 CITY COUNCIL MINUTEScl ~ DATE: (052794) IRRIGATION COMMITTEE MEETING 5-27-94 7:00 A.M. Present: Mayor, Nile Boyle Glen Pond Farrell Young Also Present: Kay Beck Nyle Fullmer Bruce Sutherland J.D. Hancock, Attorney Janet Williamson was present to take minutes.. RE: IRRIGATION MEETING, 05/27/94 TOPIC: (19,94,,,IRRIGATION,REXBURG DITCH,TETON PIPELINE) J.D. called Water District # 1 in Idahc Falls, The Department of Water Resources, Fremont and Madison Irrigation District, The Rexburg Irrigation Company and Doug Barney, Water master of the Rexburg Ditch and requested a copy of all their records. (Handout). On the first page J.D. explained that he had penciled out what the decreed rights are of the City of Rexburg. We have 1650 inches with an April 1, 1898 decree. In one c.f.s. there are 50 inches. If you go to acre feet there are 25 inches in 1 acre foot. The big pitch that Rexburg Irrigation Canal Company gave him, with their board of directors when they met, was we don't have enough water to take care of the people on the south end of the City, the City ie not providing them with adequate water and so forth. It ie our responsibility because they were originally part of the Rexburg Ditch. Lyle Swank at Water District #1 said the water right accounting that they keep every year shows this: R.I.C 1992 had storage remaining 397 a.f. City of Rexburg 1992 Used up all - 84 a.f. deficit R.I.C 1993 had storage remaining 3,901 a.f. (mostly their owned storage water) City of Rexburg 1993 Used up all - 49 a.f. deficit (cost: $2.95 per a.f.) Nyle Fullmer asked if we were liable for the deficit. We had to pay for it so we just turned around and billed the people up on the Rexburg Ditch. The long sheet (handout) is the Rexburg Ditch Records. 1960 is the earliest that we have. They show the number of shares for each individual. Dell Palmer has an asterisk by hie name because he Bays he had 10 shares originally but nothing shows on the books. They were charging $9.00 per share. J.D. explained the handout and the distribution of shares. According to these City Records we have never billed or charged anybody south of town since 1964 for any water. The watermaster'a records are photocopied on the back of the long sheet. J.D. wanted to know how many acres they were watering with their shares and thin ie what they gave him. Total acreage watered is °`" 326 acres. J.D. asked the Rexburg Irrigation what they were watering south of town and they come up with 105 total acres watered. (Distribution on handout.) Checks by their names indicate they no longer irrigate or there ie no record of ever having any shares or having paid any assessment to the City. J.D. said he can't see that we have a duty to deliver them any water if they never had any shares in the ditch or if they have never paid any assessments to the City. Going back to the summary on the short handout, based upon these facts that we have come up with, if the 45 shares equal 1 cubic foot, or in other words 50", that is 2250" or 45 c.f.s. for the City Ditch. We have 60 c.f.s. from our decreed rights. We have been giving Rexburg Irrigation, on a transfer, 7 c.f.s. We have been renting 6.5 c.f.s. to the Teton Pipe Line. That totals 58.5 c.f.s. so there is a discrepancy of 1.5 c.f.s. to make our 60. We don't know who has been getting that 1.5 c.f.s. It has been diverted because we have taken all of our water out of the head gate at the Teton River. Val Richards, the assistant watermaeter for Water District #l, checks the headgatea so that we know we are getting our share out of the Teton River. Doug maintains that he has been giving the full 7 c.f.s. to the Rexburg Irrigation because he dumps it in. If we come back to usage, the most beneficial use ie 1" per acre; if you sprinkle irrigate that ie all you need. Those who flood irrigate say that is totally unrealistic because they use on an average about 4" per acre when they flood irrigate. We have one of the very beet water rights in all of Eastern Idaho. We will never lose our water. We will be the last to lose our water if they go off decrees. Everyone that he has asked what an inch of water ie worth if you lease it has told him, with that 1883 decree, $25-$45 an inch and for the earlier decree $10-$40 an inch. Farrell asked why such a range and J.D. explained that ie because different canals have storage water to supplement their decreed rights and so because of that some of them have a greater availability then others for water because they have storage water in Island Park or Grassy Reservoir or Jackson or Palisade, etc. Those that have the better storage water then they charge their people who lease water leas then those who give of decreed rights. Nyle Fullmer asked if the water that goes down to the South End, if we have been leasing that or giving it to them. The Mayor said we charge them $300 a year. (Discussion of where the water is going and who is being charged what.) - The City ditch water ie deeded to City. The City owns that water - Newdale had excess and put it out to highest bidder. -- - There is 30 c.f.s. going somewhere that is not being used. Mayor said moat of that is going into the Rexburg Ditch but if you use that guide line that is a little high. J.D. said both I.F. and Fremont pointed out that is high. He is wondering if their acreage ie off. - Mayor said we have an obligation to those on the City Ditch. - Kay asked are they entitled to 45 c.f.s. that used to water all of downtown Rexburg? Do we have that much of an obligation? (More discussion of shares, inches, crops, etc.) J.D. said that according to our original decree it is for municipal and agricultural use. Rexburg Canal ie saying they need more water but all the records show they are getting more then they have users for. They are asserting that they are supplying our water to people that we don't even show have a water right. We need to go and issue the number of shares. Mayor said that in the past all we have done ie charge enough money for those guys to pay any assessments they have and to keep the ditch clean. Nyle Fullmer said, that at a time when we are continually having to raise service fees and raise everything else, when we have a resource and it ie a sellable resource it seems like we should be selling it for '. its market value or at least close to market value and we ought to be doing it equally across the board. Kay said he has a problem with why somebody that is in the City limits has to pay for their water when somebody else outside the limits doesn't. We have an obligation to them but not the residents? Discussion of charges. At $10 an inch the Teton Pipeline would be paying $3,250. At $10 an inch the Rexburg Irrigation Canal would be paying $3,500. We may have an obligation to provide water to the Rexburg Irrigation Canal but not give it to them. (Biggest problem with the Rexburg Ditch. We ought to be getting a fair return on that water.) r f ~~" Bruce suggested that this year renew Teton Pipeline and Rexburg Irrigation Co. ae ie thru December without complaint but eay that the rates are going to change, we are going to discuss this and there will be a change. Y~~'~,~ Mayor, Nil L. Boyl f' ~ ~.*, City Clerk, Ro~'Ba~jYey