Kennewick Irrigation District
Irrigation in the area now served by the Kennewick Irrigation District (KID), Yakima,
Washington began in the late 1800s. The
district was officially organized in 1917. Farmers
are still the “#1 customer” in the irrigation district operations plan. The district has 88 miles of canal, four ditch
riders, and a maintenance crew of 6. There
are 19,171 water accounts in the district. Household
water is normally from wells, and some water is pumped directly from the Columbia River. However, KID draws its main water supply from the
Yakima River, as do 7 other neighboring districts. Like
a typical irrigation district, KID delivers only raw water.
It is not involved in managing a potable domestic water supply system for
anyone in its service area.
Water users who have been managing small
amounts of raw water for lawns and gardens at an old irrigation turnout or lateral,
approach the Kennewick Irrigation District about forming a Local Improvement District. These are referred to locally as “LIDS.” A local improvement district is like a small
incorporated lateral or homeowners association, but in this case organized for the purpose
of obtaining a reliable raw water supply for irrigating lawns and gardens. In reality, it is the subdivision that is
organized into a LID.
Upon a subdivision or homeowner’s
request to consider the organization of a LID, a determination is made by the Kennewick
Irrigation District (the “mother” district if you will) as to the feasibility
and desirability of such a small improvement district within its service area. A vote is then taken of the people affected by the
proposed improvement district. The
“voting public” in this case might consist of a small subdivision of 50
households. If the resolution passes among
the water users affected (e.g., homeowners), Kennewick Irrigation District then assists
the small improvement district in finalizing its membership. However, the newly proposed LID must be approved
by the Kennewick Irrigation District board of directors for the cost, because the mother
district (Kennewick, that is) finances the cost of developing the LID. In one example, the Kennewick Irrigation District
lent $100,000 to a new local improvement district to develop its secondary supply system,
amortizing the cost for the LID homeowners and charging some interest.
The development costs and annual operation costs of the secondary supply system for the
local improvement district is obviously tied to the number of members in the LID. These operation costs are prorated across all
members. Generally, the more people there
are in the LID, the cheaper the water for each homeowner.
Thus, the cost of untreated water service varies from one LID to the next.
The Kennewick Irrigation District system comes right into
the local improvement district with a ¾-inch valve from the mother district’s main
line. The local improvement district can have
this connection installed above or below the ground.
Changes or breakage are billed back to the local improvement district, not to the
individuals within the improvement district. Again,
these local improvement districts are like small affiliated homeowners associations, or
incorporated laterals in irrigated areas. The
Kennewick Irrigation District only interacts with the improvement district as an
association, not with single individuals in the association. The local improvement district also pays for its
own street cutting and road repairs. If a
line breaks in the road, the local improvement district pays for those repairs too.
In summary, canal companies and irrigation
districts are entering into many new forms of agreements with cities to make more
efficient use of water and to accommodate urban growth in innovative ways. Farmers express a strong desire to remain in
business as long as their water supply can be guaranteed, and as long as their irrigation
enterprise can effectively work with county commissions, developers and new homeowners. Pressurized secondary water supply systems
represent a major new form of business venture for traditional irrigation districts and
canal companies that can be used to address these challenges. In addition, these systems are capable of
generating new revenue to upgrade existing irrigation facilities for agricultural water
use and to meet new environmental concerns.
The entry of irrigation enterprises into
secondary water supply management has been a revenue generator in most instances. It is financing the upgrading of irrigation
systems in a way that could not be achieved otherwise.
It often allows the irrigation enterprise to have more control over its water
rights too. However, it also raises new
concerns and new demands for water service which are not common in irrigation districts
and canal companies. It is certain that
secondary water delivery to subdivisions and other fractional water users for
non-agricultural purposes is not possible for all irrigation enterprises. However, it is clear that the potential is there
for additional revenue sources to meet future enterprise needs for some time to come.
Davis & Weber Canal Company
Back