CHAPTER 06 Title 5 Irrigation Works
CHAPTER 6
IRRIGATION WORKS
SECTION:
5-6-1: Interference With Ditches
5-6-2: Obstruction of Overflow, Gauge, or Waterway in Dam
5-6-3: Wrongful Diversion of Water
5-6-4: Interference With Headgate--Cutting Banks of Stream
5-6-5: Injuries to Ditches and Appurtenances
5-6-6: Injury to Measuring Devices
5-6-7: Enclosed Headgate
5-6-8: Penalty
5-6-1: INTERFERENCE WITH DITCHES, CANALS, OR RESERVOIRS: Every
person who shall, without authority of the owner or managing agent, and with intent to
defraud, take water from any canal, ditch, flume, or reservoir, used for the purpose of
holding or conveying water for manufacturing, agricultural, or domestic uses, or who
shall, without like authority, raise, lower, or otherwise disturb, any gate or other
appurtenance thereof used for the control or measurement of water, or who shall empty
or place or cause to be emptied or placed, into any such canal, ditch, flume, or reservoir,
any rubbish, filth, or obstruction to the free flow of water, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
5-6-2: OBSTRUCTION OF OVERFLOW, GAUGE, OR WATERWAY IN DAM:
Any person or persons who obstructs any overflow, gauge or waterway placed in any
dam by order of any water master so as to impede the flow of water over such dam as
regulated by the water master, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
5-6-3: WRONGFUL DIVERSION OF WATER: Any person who, without the
consent of the water master of the district, diverts any water from a ditch or channel
where it has been placed, caused, or left to run by the water master or his deputies, or
who shuts or opens any ditch, gate, or dam, or in any way impedes or increases the flow
of water in any stream or ditch diverting water from a stream while the same is under the
charge of a water master, or who cuts away any embankment of a stream whereby the
water of such stream is diverted, or who breaks, injures, or removes any gate, flume, or
other device used for the equitable distribution of the water of such stream by the water
master, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
5-6-4: INTERFERENCE WITH HEADGATE--CUTTING BANKS OF STREAM:
Any person who willfully and maliciously places any obstruction on any overflow gauge
in any stream of water which is used for irrigation and is under control of a water master,
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and such obstruction retards or impedes the free overflow of the water of such stream,
thereby increasing the pressure against a headgate through which water is diverted by
means of such dam, or who removes, breaks, injures, or interferes with any headgate
regulated by a water master so as to disturb the distribution of the water therein, or who
cuts away any bank of the natural stream, the water of which is being used for irrigation
and is being distributed by a water master, so as to decrease the flow of water from such
stream, thereby interfering with the distribution of the water thereof, is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
5-6-5: INJURIES TO DITCHES AND APPURTENANCES: Any person who
cuts, breaks, damages, or in any way interferes with any ditch, canal, headgate, or any
other works in or appurtenant thereto, the property of another person, corporation, or
association of persons, and whereby water is conducted to any place for beneficial use
or purposes and when said canal, headgate, ditch, dam, or appurtenance is being used
or is to be used for said conduct of water, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
5-6-6: INJURY TO MEASURING DEVICES: Any person who cuts, breaks,
injures, destroys, enlarges, changes, or alters any headgate, sluiceway, weir, water box,
or other measuring device, the property of any irrigation district, corporation, or
association of persons, or in the possession of or in the use of said irrigation district,
corporation, or association, or the property of another, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
5-6-7: ENCLOSED HEADGATE: Enclosed headgates and boxes for the
diversion of irrigation waters with openings at the top are recognized and declared to be
attractive and dangerous to small children who are likely to play about the same and on
occasion to fall into the water therein contained. Any person who uses, maintains, or
operates an enclosed headgate or diversion box having an opening of a width of at least
twelve inches (12") and a length of at least twelve inches (12") and for which no locked
cover is placed thereon, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
5-6-8: PENALTY: Any violation of the provisions of this chapter deemed to
be a misdemeanor shall be subject to penalties prescribed for such violations under
section 1-4-1 of this code, subject to the provisions of Idaho Code 18-113 and 18-303.
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