By Ronald Wandler, Stevensville
A lot of input has been circulated about the Three Mile sub district petition action taken by BRID. A whole lot of input about who owns what, being private, being owned by BRID, cost of operation etc… But many of you have forgotten or are not aware how the Three Mile Pipeline started.
I have lived in Ravalli County all my life and today make my living through agriculture and I know the value of water for my operation. I have attended the water meetings and have listened to all the information given out. Unfortunately, I feel the most important fact has been left out of the discussion.
The fact is, in the 1970’s, BRID had a problem. The problem was that BRID had to deliver more water to the Three Mile area than was necessary, approximately 30% more. Why, because the open ditches in the area were losing about 30% to evaporation, leaching, run off, and various other problems associated with open ditches. When BRID delivered 100% of the water needed for the Three Mile area, it was actually delivering 30% more than the gravity system uses. This resulted in a loss of approximately 8-10 irrigation days to the entire BRID system. Everyone in the BRID system, from Darby to Eagle Watch, lost irrigation days. To find an answer to the problem, BRID asked for help. The answer was to put in gravity pipelines.
BRID was not able to afford the cost of the project so BRID went to all the people of BRID. BRID put out a petition to the entire BRID District, not just the Three Mile. Why? Because the project was meant to solve the loss of water to the entire BRID District, not just the Three Mile area. When the BRID official came to my parents with the petition, they signed it, based on what the BRID official told them, that they would get water delivered to their turn outs at their properties, the entire BRID system would increase irrigation days and BRID would maintain the pipelines forever, as part of BRID’s infrastructure. Yes, Three Mile accepted the responsibility to pay for the cost under a “Special Improvement District” which was the only way to get the pipeline in the ground, at the time.
That is how the pipelines came to be, not by some wild, fly by night idea, but by the BRID commissioners looking into different ways to solve a district wide problem, picking one, and enlisting the help of the ENTIRE district to solve it.
Another thing everybody should think about is that a lawsuit will be a loss to everybody in the BRID system. Not only will it take a long time, but look at the cost. Thousands and thousands of BRID dollars will be spent. Those dollars could be spent on a new siphon, improving the Big Ditch, improving the head gates and other important items. BRID has a history of doing an excellent job of supplying water to the district. If a problem comes up, they have always put a high priority on fixing it. Back in the early eighties, BRID asked for help and everybody in the district stepped up and allowed BRID to secure a loan for a “BRID OWNED” gravity pipeline system in the Three Mile area. Let’s keep it that way and preserve a good thing for everybody.