Rules and Regulations for the Distribution of Water
The Board of Directors shall have and exercise full charge and control over the distribution of water among the several users thereof in the district, and the officers for carrying out the orders of the Board shall be a superintendent and a ditch rider or riders.
The superintendent or ditch rider or riders shall, at all times, carry out these rules and regulations and all orders of the Board supplementary thereto or amendatory thereof in the distribution of water belonging to the district.
The irrigation system of the district and all parts thereof, including headgates and head boxes for the delivery of water to the consumers thereof in the district, shall be under the control and direction of the Board of Directors.
All headgates and head boxes taking water from the distributing canal of the district shall be installed under the supervision of the superintendent of the district, who, in turn, shall be under the control and direction of the Board of Directors, and no head box or headgate shall be installed in any other manner or under the direction of any other person or persons.
All headgates or head boxes installed otherwise than under the direction of the superintendent shall be subject to removal under the orders of the Board and to be reconstructed under the supervision of the superintendent of the district.
All headgates and head boxes shall be constructed at the expense of the party or parties wishing to install the same.
From and after this date, all headgates and head boxes shall be constructed in a good and substantial manner of two-inch material with irons and locks to aid the Board and superintendent and ditch rider or riders to carry out these rules and regulations and all supplementary or amendatory rules and regulations or orders of the Board for the distribution of water.
From and after this date, all headgates on delivery ditches shall be forthwith fitted with locks on the installation thereof, and all headgates to such ditches now in existence shall forthwith be fitted with locks so as to aid the Board of Directors, its officers and agents, in regulating the flow of water therethrough.
All headgates and head boxes out of repair at any time shall forthwith be put in proper condition on notice from the superintendent of the district, at the expense of the person or persons installing, using, or claiming said headgate and head box, and if not so placed in proper condition within five (5) days from the time said notice is given, then the person or persons taking water therethrough shall be denied the right to the use of water until such time as said headgate or head box is so properly repaired under the direction of the superintendent of the district, and said repairs shall be made at the expense of said person or persons owning the same.
The Hendrie & Bolthoff table of measurements of water is hereby adopted by the Board as a method of measuring the flow of water from the main canal of the district through the head box or headgate of each user thereof from the canal of the district, which said table of measurements is in words and figures as follows, to wit, to the extent given: Multiply the number of square inches in the opening through which the water flows by the number of cubic feet found in the table under the head measured in inches from the center of the opening to the surface of the water. Suppose the opening to be 36 inches wide and 2 inches high, and the head of water above the opening being 25 inches: 36 times 2 times 3.03 equals 218.16 cubic feet per minute.
The meter system of measurement is hereby adopted for the measurement of water in the main distributing canal of the system, and also for the determination of loss from seepage, evaporation, and percolation; said flow of water in the main canal shall be measured at two points, namely: near the headgate of the distributing canal, and at or near the second tunnel on said distributing canal, and at any other points deemed necessary by the Board, and there shall be placed at each point a scale or device for determining at all times the flow of water at said points, and said measurement shall be made at said two points as soon after this date as the Board can secure the services of the Division Engineer of the State to make said measurements.
Whenever the supply of water in the main distributing canal of the district shall equal one-third of an inch per acre for all the irrigable lands of the district, after allowing for loss from seepage, evaporation and percolation, as shown by the meter system of measurement, then water shall be distributed to all users in the district at the rate of one-third of an inch per acre as nearly as practicable in the distribution of water, and also at all other times when the demands of all persons shall not equal the rate of one-third of an inch of water per acre, it being the intention of the Board to deliver water to all persons at all times during the irrigation season when practicable to do so.
If an any time the flow of water in the main canal of the district shall be less than one-third of an inch for every irrigable acre of land in the district after allowing for seepage, percolation, and evaporation as shown by the meter system of measurement, then and in that event, unless the needs at the time be less than one-third of an inch per acre, the system of rotation is hereby adopted; in such case the Board shall divide the district into diversions or sections and deliver water to each division or section alternately, so that each division shall receive as nearly as practicable the same quantity of water when the quantity of water flowing in the main canal of the district is sufficient to properly irrigate one-half thereof, then said district shall be divided into two divisions, and in that case, the first division shall consist of that part of the district extending from the headgate of the canal of the district to the second tunnel on said main distributing canal; and division No. 2 shall be that portion of the district from the second tunnel to the lower end of the main canal of the district. Said divisions being, in the opinion of the Board, about equal in territorial extent or acreage, and in such case the water shall be delivered alternately to each division, the same quantity of water to be given to each division as nearly as practicable; in such case all water shall be delivered to one or the other of said divisions for a period not exceeding five (5) days, during which time said water shall be prorated to each user according to the amount being furnished, after which said time, water shall be delivered to the other division of the district until such time as the quantity delivered shall equal the amount delivered to the other division under the first period of rotation, and in like manner, if a less quantity of water is being delivered after allowing for loss from seepage, percolation and evaporation than will supply one-half of said district, or either of said divisions, then the Board shall divide said district into smaller divisions and alternate as above set forth.
In case any user’s headgate is closed by order of the Board for rotation or any other purpose, the officer closing the same shall case to be tacked on each headgate so closed a notice stating that rotation is necessary or any purpose for which said headgate is closed, which said notice shall also inform he owner of such headgate of the time when he may next expect to receive water through said headgate, and if, for any cause, the period shall be longer than that first indicated on said notice, then said officer shall post a new notice informing said owner of that fact and the reason therefor; all headgates shall be opened or closed by the superintendent of the district of the ditch rider or riders, and when so opened shall be regulated by said superintendent or ditch rider or riders, so as to give each owner his pro rata share of water flowing at said time or times; said headgates shall at all times be regulated by the superintendent or ditch rider or riders to conform to the head of water at all times as nearly as practicable, and no person other than the superintendent or ditch rider or riders shall at any time raise or interfere with said headgate as regulated by the superintendent or ditch rider or riders, other than to close down said headgates when through irrigating.
The periods of rotating the water delivered to all persons shall be charged against them by the day and night, and no extension of time will be granted to any person by reason of the fact that he does not wish his water delivered in the nighttime.
In case the quantity of water delivered shall be in excess of the needs of one division of the district and not enough for the whole district, then and in that event, said excess shall be extended into the next division and rotated back and forth between the said divisions during the periods of rotation in such manner as shall be equitable to all persons.
The carrying out of these rules and regulations by rotation of water, the establishment of divisions of the district for the rotation of water, and all matters pertaining to the distribution of water shall be regulated by the Board from time to time by orders duly made and entered on the minutes of the Board of Directors of the district.
These rules may be amended by the Board of Directors of the district at any meeting thereof; whenever so amended, the Board of Directors shall cause copies of the amended rules to be printed and distributed among the several users of water in the district within ten (10) days from the time said rules are so amended; said copies to contain the amendment only, and to indicate the number of the rule amended.