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Committee advances bill clarifying irrigation easement work and permissions
Summary
S 1304 would clarify that routine work within an irrigation easement does not require advance notice or written permission from landowners; written consent remains required only when moving ditches or structures outside the easement. The committee voted to send the bill to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.
Senator Harris told the Senate Resources & Environment Committee that S 1304 clarifies when ditch owners must obtain landowner permission for work within irrigation easements, and creates a common term, "irrigation conduit," to replace multiple overlapping terms in statute. "When work was done within an irrigation easement, the ditch owner was not required to provide advance notice to, or obtain written permission from, the landowner," Senator Harris said.
Paul Arrington, representing the Idaho Water Users Association, testified in favor, saying the bill "addressed landowners who asserted ditch owners needed to obtain written permission to do critical work on integral parts of their ditches within an easement." Senator Guthrie asked whether moving a head gate could change a landowner's irrigation system; Arrington acknowledged that moving a head gate could cause problems in some cases but said the bill grew from a case where a head gate was being moved without changing collection of water. The committee voted to send S 1304 to the Senate floor with a do-pass recommendation by voice vote; Senator Kohl reserved the right to change his vote after receiving district feedback.
