2010 Irrigation Season
Ditch Rider Assignments West Side– Bob Oxford East Side– Lee Siebert

During the irrigation season the District office is open to receive water orders from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday thru Friday. On nights and weekends, water users can leave non-emergency messages on the answering machine in the office, the telephone number is 773-6127.
For after-hours emergencies the phone number to call is 770-0250. The emergency answering service will contact the District’s emergency response person.
Water users should call and order water at least 24 hours in advance and call in shut-offs at least 12 hours in advance of the time you will be done with the water. This notice allows the Ditch Rider time to get the next person set up to use the water or, if there is no demand at that time put the water back in the system to reduce outflows from the reservoirs. Water users should stay in contact with their ditch riders by calling the District office. It is also important to stay in contact with other water users on their rotation schedules. Good Communication is key to efficient operations of the District.
Please keep waste to a minimum. If you observe waste, call the District office so the Ditch Riders can investigate and resolve the situation.
All private head ditches and laterals are to be kept clean and free of debris so there is no restriction in water flow. Please keep all sprinkler nozzles in good working order.

2010 Beginning of Season Water Supplies

Agate Reservoir 4708 ac foot 100% full
Emigrant Lake 37844 ac foot 97% full
Four Mile Lake 10017 ac foot 64% full
Howard Prairie 44350 ac foot 73% full
Hyatt Lake 13285 ac foot 82% full
These are good amounts to start off the irrigation season with. Which started on April 15th. The Board and staff at Rogue River Valley Irrigation District request all District water patrons to be very conscientious of your water use this season. The amount of carry over that we had from the 2009 season was a big help with our reservoir elevation coming into the 2010 season. If everybody adheres to the rotation and keeps the water moving we should be fine. Thank you.

Canal/Road Maintenance and Right of Ways
Maintenance is still going on at Rogue River Valley Irrigation District. Please remove all debris, obstacles, pipelines, bridges, walk boards, etc, in anticipation of our equipment coming your way.
Those landowners who own property along the main canal are well aware of the maintenance that has to take place on a regular basis. Each spring before water is in the canal, we have to clean the silt and vegetation from within the prism of the canal. RRVID typically removes this material and places it on the ditch bank to dry. At a later date, the District then grades the material back across the canal road or uses it to level the road from damages caused by human and animal traffic during spring. RRVID’s easements and right-of-ways are for District access, operation and maintenance only. They are not public right-of-ways. Entrance onto these easements and right-of-ways may constitute trespassing on the underlying landowner’s property.
RRVID will be mowing the canal banks again this spring. RRVID has also incorporated flail mowers that mount to our tractor to mow blackberries and brush along our right-of-ways.

Demossing Project
Demossing operations will be similar to last year. We will try to notify the water users prior to the start of each demossing operation. The problem that the District has in notifying water users ahead of time is the short time frame due to the rapid rate of moss growth in certain sections of the canal and ditches. The moss growth is very sporadic and is usually worse in certain sections.

Canal Safety / Reasons to Stay out of the Canals and Ditches
There are a lot of hidden under water dangers such as turbulence or suction, strong enough to rip off a lifejacket!
Some driveway crossings have a trash rack to catch debris as they flow through the system. The water pressure at these crossings is higher causing even more danger in these areas.
Kids building dams in the canals or ditches for fun can cause extensive damage and expense. Please tell your friends and family how dangerous ditches and canals can be, and please call the District office immediately if you see someone swimming in the canal.

Maintaing Water Rights
All Water Rights within the District must be maintain by putting the water to beneficial use at least one year in every-five year period. Oregon Revised Statue 540.610 mandates this requirement. If the water right is not used for a beneficial use, the landowner and the District could loose the water right. Maintenance of the water rights is the patron’s responsibility. The water right is an asset to your land. If you choose not to use the water right, please contact the District so the water right can be transferred to another property to be used beneficially. It is very important to the landowners and the District that all landowners maintain their water rights because the land base of water rights are the financial foundation of the District. For the District to remain financially secure it is important that the water rights remain valid.

Wise Project Update
In this WISE update there are two items that are worth discussing. First, the prefeasibility study has been completed and the results are impressive. Second, is that additional funding is needed to complete the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
The goals of the WISE Project included improving irrigation reliability and feasibility while improving stream function at the same time. The modeled results of the prefeasibility study show that even in drought conditions, irrigation would be improved with more water available for on-farm use as well as greater end-of-season carryover in the reservoirs.
Also along with these improvements is returning the tributaries of Bear Creek to a more natural flow regime. This will be possible due to the large amount of water conserved by piping all the canals and laterals. Another way is if irrigators were to take advantage of the gravity pressure and switch to more efficient irrigation systems, which will have greater benefit to the districts.
However, for this benefits to take place, the EIS will need to be completed. The WISE Project Executive Committee has been working with multiple sources to try and raise the needed funds (over $2 million) that are needed. Our congressional delegation is working very closely with us to try to make this happen.
Finally, each of the three irrigation district’s boards were given a presentation with all the details of the project as it stands now. They soon will be making a decision as to how they wish to proceed with this project. Keep your eyes and ears open for future reports on this project. Please visit the WISE website at www.wiseproject.org for the latest updates.
Contact Us!
Steve Mason WISE Project Coordinator smason@wiseproject.org (541-951-0854 www.wiseproject.org

Update on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 Consultation
The Bureau of Reclamation submitted the Supplemental Biological Assessment to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at the end of December 2009.
The Bureau and the irrigation districts are waiting for NOAA to issue a Biological Opinion which is expected any day. The hope is that the final Biological Opinion does not adversely impact the District’s ability to operate.
We will continue to keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Grant and Loan Programs
OREGON DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY has various loan and grant programs available to promote energy conservation. We have heard that energy conservation includes pumps, gaskets, sprinkler heads etc.
Check out their web site for more information. www.oregon.gov?ENERGY/ go to the link on the right side column “Energy Loan Program”

Bear Creek and Rogue TMDL Implementation Plan Update
Irrigation districts are required to have a plan under the Clean Water Act, under the direction of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), to help the local creeks meet state water quality standards in relation to bacteria, temperature, excessive aquatic weeds sediments, etc. Since the signing of Bear Creek TMDL Implementation Plan on August 4, 2009, the District has been documenting its efforts to reduce our impact on water quality in the Rogue Basin. Also, the Rogue TMDL Implementation Plan will be signed later this year. The TMDL plans are important because most of the water in the irrigation canals will eventually end up back in the natural streams.

Mico-Hydro
The District is looking into the possibility of getting a Micro-Hydro power plant at our Bradshaw drop site. The District has hired HDR Engineering for the feasibility studies. If everything comes together the way it is suppose to, we will be able to start getting some revenue hopefully by 2012. The Board of Directors and staff are excited about this possibility. The District has added a Micro-Hydro site to our web page and we will keep you posted on the progress through this site.

Reclamation REform Act
Because Federal funds of the Bureau of Reclamation were used to finance the reconstruction of the Rogue River Valley Irrigation District in the late 50’s and 60’s, the Reclamation Reform Act (RRA) applies to the users of water within the RRVID. If you own and/or lease 40.1 acres or more (this side of the Mississippi River) you must comply with the requirements or RRA. If you own, operate, or lease 40.1 acres or more and have not filed an RRA form, please contact our office IMMEDIATELY at 3139 Merriman Road, Medford OR 97501 or call (541) 773-6127. The Bureau of Reclamation requires that the RRA forms be on file in the District office before water can be delivered to the said property.

Board of Director Election Information
An Election is held on the second Tuesday of each November to elect a board member whose term is expiring. The person receiving the highest number of votes at the said election shall be elected, and hold office for three years from the first Tuesday in January next following the election, until a successor is elected and qualified. In order to qualify as a candidate to run for a board member position, the person must be a resident of Oregon and an owner or shareholder of a corporate owner of land, within the District. Nomination for board member position may be made by petition signed by at least 10 electors who are qualified to vote in the District. Nomination petitions may be picked up in the District office anytime after September 1st. If only one nomination petition is filed for the position no election will be held. If you would like more information on board member elections, please contact the District office.

"Good Neighbor Attitude and Communication is Critical in keeping th Peace
RRVID currently has set rotation schedules that allow patrons to utilize all the water allocated to a specific piece of property. These schedules only work well if the patrons adhere to their times, are diligent in keeping the water on their property and not allow flooding to adjoining lands. Flooding other properties can cause undue property damage, which has the possibility of turning into “neighborhood disputes”.
Neighbors need to work together to keep ditches and deliveries clean and free of debris and obstructions. RRVID would like to remind it’s patrons that the District can only keep the delivery systems cleaned and maintained to the District’s point of delivery, after that point, it is the landowners responsibility to ensure that the water makes it to their anticipated point. RRVID would like to remind our patrons that they should only take their allotted amount of water and to please remember that there are other patrons downstream from you who are also entitled to their fair share of the water. Good Communication with the District's staff and your neighbors is key to maintaining good relationships with all parties involved.