Committee Prints Bill Letting Canal Companies Receive Petitions on Lateral Disputes

The Senate Resources and Environment Committee voted to print RS31978, a draft bill that would expand who can receive and act on petitions about laterals — the privately owned channels that distribute water from district canals to individual users.

Paul Arrington, with the Idaho Water Users Association, told the committee that current code allows irrigation districts to receive petitions from users on laterals and assist in appointing managers when disputes arise, but the code does not explicitly grant that authority to canal companies. "So the main substantive changes [are] allowing canal companies and other irrigation entities who manage the main canals to also receive those petitions," Arrington said, noting the language also adds terms such as "conduit" to reflect piped laterals.

Arrington said the change responds to requests from water users in the Wood River Valley, where canal companies have been asked to help resolve lateral disputes but lack explicit authority under current law. Committee members asked whether the change would interfere with local billing or maintenance arrangements; a staff member answered it would not, saying local arrangements for billing and maintenance would remain unaffected.

Senator Van Orden and others moved and seconded introduction of RS31978; the committee approved the motion on a voice vote with no recorded roll-call tally in the transcript. If printed, RS31978 will proceed into the drafting and committee-review process.