Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1917-09-15
Appeal to Land Board in
Differences Between Local
Water Users and Owners
of System.
USERS CLAIM TWO
ACRE FEET WON'T DO
Ask Voiding of Contract Only SO Far
as it Named Amount of Water to
be Delivered to Each Acre.


In the last issue of the Republican
1t was stated that the local Water
Users Protective association was
seeking the cancellation of the con
tract between the water users and
the Mountain Home Cooperative
irrigation company, This statement
was CLEANED from report of the pro-
ceedings of the state land board, and
was only partially correct, in that the
representatives of the water users
presented communication to the
land board in which they asked that
that part OF the contract fixing two
acre feet of water per acre as the
amount to be furnished, be declared
void. The communication alleged
that the contract was not being lived
up to and asked Its enforcement, and
asked such other relief as the land
board might see fit to grant. The
communication was as follows:
The Water Users Protective Asso-
citation OF Mountain Home, Idaho,
through its Board of Directors, re-
pectfully submit to your honorable
body the following facts, to-wit;
On June 18th. 1912, the State
Board of Land Commissioners made
the following entry on their minutes,
Said Company (meaning the Noun
tain Home Cooperative Irrigation
Company is hereby authorized to
and permitted to use the following
form of contract" Then follows
copy Of the contract authorized
About February 9Th, 1917, the Presi-
dent OF the Water Users association
presented to your honorable body a
request asking that your Board by
virtue OF authority given by para
graph " of the authorized contract,
have the State Engineers office In
apGAl lig ~ lb dNlOb pJD at hchh
tain Home and report to your body
he condition found to exist. together
with his recommendation as to the
changes found to be necessary in
said system.
After somewhat lengthy discus
sion your Board granted the request
and about April Sth, 1917, the State
Engineer, J II Smith and deputy
Bear, inspected the system, and under
date of May 3rd, 1917 the State
Engineer filed with your Board
36-page report covering in detail the
work necessary to be done to make
the distributing system compare
tavorably with other projects"
On June 24th, 1917 the President
Of the Water Users Association was
given copy Of said report, and on
July 23rd, 1917, the Board of Di-
tectOrs of said association met, and
heir minutes contain among other
things, the following The Report
If the State Engineer made to the
Land Board, covering the distribu-
tion portion OF the two irrigation
iystems at Mountain Home, was read
in full and discussed in detail The
president was then instructed to re-
uest the Land Board to take the
Necessary steps to enforce the recon-
OF the State Engineer,
in accordance with paragraph Nv of
the water deed and contract hereto
fore approved by the State Board OF
Land Commissioners
Paragraph " of the water con-
tract says, in part, The company
hall devise and make. subject to the
APPROVAL of the State Engineer and
the State Board OF Land Commits
3ioners of Idaho, all needful rules and
regulations governing the manage
ment distribution and disposition of
the water from said canal and reser-
yoir system, not inconsistent with the
laws of the United States, the laws of
the State of Idaho, and this contract,
which rules and regulations shall
provide for the distribution of water
to the irrigators in turn or rotation
rs will best protect and serve the in
terests of all of the users of water
therein"
From the above, it is clear that
The rules and regulations in so far as
hey pertain to the distribution of the
water can only provide for rotation
Or in turn, but there is no restriction