By SL Coulter, Corvallis
In recent weeks, drama, anger and contention regarding the Three Mile Gravity Flow System has come into my realm of awareness so I began doing some research. After getting to know several of the people at BRID, poring over all of the opinion letters written in local newspapers by both sides of the argument, studying legal documents, BRID’s standard operating procedures over past decades, and reading the original contract from thirty years ago when the Three Mile System was installed, I’ve formed my own opinion.
Here it is: I am puzzled by the level of angst, energy and effort a few people in the Three Mile district are putting into fighting against their own best interests, and confusing their neighbors into doing the same. As a “beginner” in the world of irrigation districts and a layperson, so to speak, research makes the situation perfectly clear. Thirty years ago, BRID acted as a sponsor to the Three Mile water users on a loan that they needed in order to install their gravity flow system. Similar to a friend or family member co-signing on a car loan for a person with no established credit, BRID used their status to do the Three Mile water users a favor and secure the thirty-year loan from the Soil Conservation Service for the system. Every payment on that loan has been made by the water users to purchase their system.
Within a legal contract between BRID (the loan sponsor) and SCS (the lender), BRID agreed to many very specific responsibilities to maintain the Three Mile system. This is where some people seem to get confused and, in my opinion, irrationally contentious. So much attention has been focused on BRID’s agreement to maintain the system by people who are completely ignoring part D of section 6 on page five of the original agreement which states: THIS PLAN WILL BE VALID FOR THE LIFE OF THE LOAN OF THE PROJECT MEASURE, WHICH IS DEFINED AS A PERIOD ENDING 30 YEARS FROM THE DATE OF ACCEPTANCE OF THE MEASURE. Additionally, the easements from thirty years ago are available for anyone to read. None of them are in the name of Bitter Root Irrigation District, but rather, in the name of the property owners at the time.
BRID has faithfully honored their part of the agreement with integrity and good intentions, to the letter of the law. The reason that the upcoming end of the agreement (the final loan payment will be made in February, 2016) was even brought to the attention of water users in the Three Mile district was that BRID did not want water users and owners of their paid-off system to be left high and dry (pun intended). Managers at the Bitter Root Irrigation District realized that the Three Mile water users would become responsible as owners of a now 30 year old system in need of repairs and maintenance without experience in how to manage things. Without imagining that their offer would be met with anything but appreciation, cooperation, and perhaps some discussion, BRID personnel felt that creating a sub-district would save Three Mile water users from having to figure out how to pay for their system’s maintenance, hire and pay a ditch rider, pay for insurance, form a board or committee of some sort to make decisions regarding the system, charges and payment collection from users and whatever other contingencies would surely arise.
Mixed accounts have come from a few people I know in the Three Mile area, but it is consistently stated that those fighting against a sub-district have told differing stories, including that if water users signed the petition in favor of a sub-district, they had been tricked by BRID and that their signature actually indicated that they were against it. That is categorically untrue and, frankly, absurd. Many people have been told that massive rate hikes will take place once BRID gets the sub-district approved so I studied the District’s history, including budgets, repair projects and other such financial data that would be available for anyone to look at upon request. Nothing in BRID’s history suggests that they would unjustly raise rates and charges, nor act with anything other than good intentions and water users’ best interests in mind.
Because I’m unfamiliar with the history of those opposing the sub-district and encouraging others to join them, I can’t say whether there is ill-intent, a pattern of protesting matters in the community, or simply a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire situation. For the sake of Three Mile water users, all of the users in the rest of the district who will literally pay the price if the BRID’s opposition gets their way, my hope is that people will settle down, put their egos aside and take a more educated look at the situation. Forming a Three Mile sub-district will greatly benefit those water users and it would be a shame if a few people got in the way of a good thing for their friends and neighbors.