LeClair Irrigation District

Riverton, Wyoming

Policy Manual

LeClair Irrigation District was formed in 1921 to provide irrigation water to approximately 13,600 acres of farmland in the Riverton, Wyoming area through the LeClair-Riverton Number 2 Canal. The District is authorized to divert water from the Big Wind River by virtue of Wyoming state and reserved water rights totaling 220 cubic feet per second (more or less), with the ability to increase that amount when the river is in a surplus condition, and deliver it to landowners within the boundaries of the District who are current on their Irrigation District assessments. There are approximately 180 separate individual headgates and a number of pumps along the main canal which are used to serve the 13,600+ acres.

Wyoming law regarding Irrigation Districts is found in Title 41, Chapter 7. LeClair Irrigation District adopts this policy manual to provide district employees with the guidance and direction needed to fulfill the statutory functions of the district. The current manual incorporates all previously adopted policies of the district.

1) Administration and Personnel:

Policy 1.a.) The LeClair Irrigation District is governed by an elected three-person Board of Commissioners (Directors) as authorized by Wyoming law. The canal system is divided into three separate sections along its length, and there is one Commissioner elected from each section on a three-year rotating basis. The three Commissioners are the official body of the district and are responsible for the employment, compensation, and ultimate supervision of all staff and employees of the district.

Policy 1.b.) The LeClair Irrigation District will maintain a business office, business address, listed business telephone, and an employee to staff the office. Patrons of the District may contact the business office during normal business hours regarding matters pertaining to the District. If no one answers the telephone, messages left on voice mail will be responded to as promptly as possible. E-mails may be left on the district’s computer at .

Policy 1.c.) In addition to the elected three-person Board of Directors, the District will employ adequate personnel to handle the demands and needs of District business, including, but not necessarily limited to: ditchriders, an irrigation district manager, maintenance workers, a business manager, and clerical help.

Policy 1.d.) Chain of Command. The ditch rider(s) are the first line of contact in the District. If they notice any irregularities in the way an irrigator is caring for his/her water such as flooding roads, leaving irrigation sets unattended for too long, dumping unused water off in draws or wasteways, etc., they have the authority to cut or close and lock the headgate of the offender. Any appeal from their work shall go first to the Irrigation District Manager and from there to the Board of Commissioners. According to Wyoming law, the Commissioners are declared to be public officers, and the presumption shall be in favor of the regularity and validity of their official acts.

Policy 1.e.) The irrigation season, generally between April 15thand October 1st, is the most critical time for the personnel of the District. It is the policy of the District that ditchriders and canal managers shall not be allowed more than three consecutive days off during the summer irrigation season, unless under special circumstances as approved by the Board of Commissioners. It is the employee’s duty to make arrangements for his/her substitute during his/her absence.

Policy 1.f.) For a complete definition of the duties of its employees, the District will maintain job descriptions in the business office.

Policy 1.g.) The District Manager willmake recommendations to the Board of Commissioners regarding salaries, wages, raises, and other compensation for the ditch riders and maintenance workers.

Policy 1.h.)District employees are required to keep an accurate accounting of their time for submitting to, and approval by, the District Manager on a weekly basis.

Policy 1.i.) Employee paychecks are issued semi-monthly, on the 1st and 15th of each month.

Policy 1.j.) Employee performance is evaluated based on timeliness in reporting for work, attendance on the job, accurate reporting of weekly activities, care of district equipment, tools, and property, attitude toward water users, attitude toward supervisors and the Board of Commissioners, and adherence to the provisions of their job descriptions.

Policy 1.k.) The use of District property, such as vehicles, tools, gasoline, etc. for personal use is strictly prohibited and may be grounds for employee termination.

Policy 1.l.) The use of non-prescribed drugs and/or alcohol during working hours, or other misconduct, such as refusing orders from superiors, is strictly prohibited and may be grounds for dismissal.

Policy 1.m.) It is district policy to keep the landowners and patrons of the district informed at all times of all operations pertinent to the delivery of water, as well as any district operations which may affect the property or livelihood of a landowner or water user in the district.

2) Water distribution:

Policy 2.a.) It is the policy of the LeClair Irrigation District that the canal be in properly maintained and ready-to-go condition by April 15th of each year. The actual beginning diversion date will vary each year depending on river conditions and landowner demand. No requests for water delivery will be accepted for the first five days to a week after water has been first turned into the canal, to allow for district employees to adequately flush and clean the system, and verify the canal’s condition of safety for water delivery.

Policy 2.b.) As long as their assessments are current, all patrons of LeClair Irrigation District have equal standing and are entitled to an equitable and proportionate share of the water that is available to the District at any given time based on the relative priority dates of their water rights as established under Wyoming law and court decrees, and as administered by District personnel. The ditch rider(s) will fairly divide the available water supply based on their knowledge of the system and their water users.

Policy 2.c.) The District will employ an adequate number of ditch riders to facilitate the delivery of water to its patrons. Ditch riders employed by the district are obligated to fairly deliver water to the landowners at the individual headgates out of LeClair Canal which serves their assessed properties. Water delivery will be carefully documented so that the ditchrider can prove to any water user at any time that he/she is being treated equitably with all other users. It is not the ditchriders’ duty to follow delivered water to each assessed parcel after it leaves the main canal, but they have the authority to make any measurements, divisions, or other allocations at any point in the district where such may be necessary to settle complaints or disagreements among ditch users. In those cases, the decisions of the district officials are the rule. The ditch rider(s) have broad discretion in handling the day-to-day use of water upon the lands of the district.

Policy 2.d.) Water users within the District are expected to know the basic components of their delivery system, i.e. how many acres in their ownership are entitled to water, how water gets from the main canal to their property, which headgate out of the main canal serves their property, who else shares the use of that ditch and headgate, where their wastewater goes, who maintains their ditches, etc. This can be found out by walking their delivery ditch from their property to the canal, and/or by asking neighbors, previous owners of the property, or their realtor. The District is not obligated to conduct a private training session each time a new water user purchases land within the boundaries of the District, or to deliver water to individuals who aren’t familiar with these basic facts.

Policy 2.e.) Residential subdivisions having numerous water users all being served by one common headgate diverting water from LeClair Canal shall be represented by a single duly-chosen contact person for communicating with district officials. LeClair officials are not obligated to deliver water to individuals within such subdivisions beyond dealing with the contact person, nor are they obligated to respond to calls from individuals in the subdivision who are not the designated contact person.

Policy 2.f.) Patrons of the irrigation district are obligated to contact their ditch rider any time they wish to have water turned on or off at their headgate out of the main LeClair canal. Unauthorized manipulation of canal headgates by water users or others can result in locking of those headgates, and breaching of those locks can result in legal action as authorized by Wyoming law (W.S. 41-3-614). Requests by water users to turn water on or off should be made to the ditchrider before 8:00 a.m. so that he/she knows how much he/she has to manipulate the flow in the canal for that day. Calls made after 8:00 am during the day may not be able to be accommodated until the next morning, and it may take from 24 to 48 hours before the water can actually be turned on or off. Water users are obligated to know the number of their headgate so that when they contact District personnel, their location and delivery facilities can readily be identified by that identification number and dealt with accordingly. Ditch riders are not obligated to respond to calls from water users who cannot tell them the headgate number of their turnout. Ditch riders will routinely clean headgates and do minor daily work on the canal structures in their area as the needs arise.

Policy 2.g.) The original LeClair-Riverton No. 2 Canal was engineered and constructed with enough headgates (turnouts) to deliver adequate water to all 13,600+ acres assessed by the District. With the exception of the original City of Riverton, those acres were alloriginally large farm units, and the sole purpose of the canal was to deliver irrigation water for agricultural crop production to contribute to the farming economy of Fremont County. The canal system was notdesigned with the intent of supplying river water to hundreds of small parcels for whatever uses the owners might choose, and so it is imperative that the owners of those small acreages that are today parts of what used to be large farm units integrate their water use with the original ditch systems.The district looks with disfavor on requests by water users for additional canal headgates to be installed for their convenience. Some irrigators feel that they are entitled to all the water they want, whenever they want it, at the location they want it, but the canal cannot accommodate that expectation and there is no obligation on the part of the District to provide it. The District has established a policy of charging up to $5000 for a new canal headgateinstalled for the convenience of a water user, and requires that such an installation must be approved by the District Board. The irrigation district is responsible for maintaining, replacing, and keeping in good condition the historic existing headgates, headwalls, and other district-constructed facilities, and retains ownership of those structures.

Policy 2.h.) LeClair Canal was designed and constructed with three operational spillways to accomplish the maintaining of a constant level of water in the canal, and to evacuate water in times of excess. The first spillway is in the Blue Cut area below headgate #48, the second is on a natural draw (Rousseau Draw) near headgate #50, and the third is in Haymaker Draw below headgate #125. These spillways are part of the original safety infrastructure of the canal system and may be used any time the District needs them to control the level of water in the canal. The District will maintain these spillways to the extent necessary and in a manner commensurate with their purpose. It is District Policy that property owners whose property the water from these spillways runs through are obligated not to obstruct or otherwise inhibit the proper operation of these waterways. The District is not liable for injury or loss of any items of personal property left below the expected high water line of the spill channel unless such items were authorized by the Board in writing to be there.

Policy 2.i.) In accordance with Wyoming law, it is District Policy that the irrigation district may close and lock the headgate of any patron whose annual assessments are due and unpaid, and such denial of water shall continue until the assessments are current.

Policy 2.j.) The nature of LeClair Canal, diverting water from a river that naturally fluctuates in flow on a constant basis, dictates that the canal flow cannot be held at a constant level at all times. This, coupled with the fact that delivery headgates along the canal are being turned on and off on a daily basis as irrigators need water or have finished with water, causes the District to be continuously taking more water from the river or turning some back in order to keep the canal from running over its banks or going dry at the lower end, while serving the needs of its patrons. It is District Policy that the District will make every attempt to keep a steady flow to accommodate the needs of its water users, but that there will be times when the natural fluctuations in the river and canal cause excesses or shortages at certain locations within the system and water user needs cannot be met. Patrons of the District who create difficulties for the ditch riders as a result of these routine operational occurrences will be dealt with accordingly.

Policy 2.k.)Wyoming law requires that every water user is responsible to care for his or her ditches so that the water therefrom may not damage the property of others. It is the policy of the District that any water user who fails to properly care for his or her water or wastewater may have their headgate closed and locked, and not re-opened until the District is satisfied that the problem has been corrected.

Policy 2.l.) LeClair Canal is constructed across private lands throughout most of its length, and the Irrigation District personnel have, by virtue of Wyoming law, “the right to go upon all lands along any reservoirs, ditch, canal, or embankment in their district to inspect, deepen, widen, and repair the same whenever necessary, doing no unnecessary damage, and shall not be liable for trespass therefor.”

Policy 2.m.) Since the irrigation district generally does not own, but instead has a perpetual easement over,most of the private land which the canal traverses, canal bank roads are not public roads.No persons other than the irrigation district personnel, a headgate owner, or the owner of lands across which the canal traverses, and his/her representatives, have legal authority to travel the LeClair Canal ditchbank road, unless special written permission has been obtained from the Irrigation District Board of Commissioners. Maintenance of the ditchbank road is done by the district strictly for the use of its employees to carry out the business of the district with no intent to provide a public thoroughfare. Unauthorized travel on the canal ditchbank road is a trespass on the lands of the property owner, and may be prosecuted by contacting the Fremont County Sheriff’s office. The policy regarding gates on the ditchbank road is found in the District Rules and Regulations.

Policy 2.n.) Livestock owners will be held liable for any damage to the main canal or any district-owned structure caused by their livestock. Costs of repair incurred by LeClair will be billed or assessed to the landowner.

3) Maintenance:

Policy 3.a.) Irrigation canal systems require constant maintenance. The LeClair Irrigation District owns adequate light and heavy equipment to properly care for and maintain its diversion, canal, and lateral system. In accordance with Wyoming Statutes 41-7-314(b) and 41-9-201, the District has a perpetual easement on all lands through which the canal and its laterals, sublaterals, wasteways, and drains run, and may at any time exercise its rights to use those easements either with or without notice to the affected landowners. In the upper section of the canal, there are nine laterals (numbered 0 through 8) for which the District has historically provided “lateral service.” Additionally, the Armstrong, Lone Bear, and Sandell laterals have historically been maintained by the district. All other laterals, sublaterals,and irrigator waste ditches of the canal system are required to be maintained by the water users who benefit from them. The District retains the authority to decide when and if it will participate in maintenance of any of those laterals or other ditches.

Policy 3.b.) The District is committed to continually improving and upgrading its canal system for the good of all water users, and will explore various sources of funding for such improvements in an effort to keep water user assessments as low as possible.