Irrigators warned not to water roads

Sprinkling on roads may result in hefty fines

By DD BIXBY

H&N Staff Writer

May 29, 2008

Wheel lines spray irrigation water across a road in southern Klamath County . Water management officials say this tarnishes the image of wise water use that Klamath Basin irrigators endeavor to project. County and law enforcement officials say it’s also against the law, causing safety hazards and damaging roads over time.

    Klamath Basin irrigators must set wheel lines and pipes to water just their crops, not adjacent roadways, or face hefty fines. 

   With roads wet from daily rain, the issue seems moot. But as the year moves into a sunnier season and farming operations require more irrigation, the problem is an annual one. 

   “You can’t have a cavalier attitude about sprinkling the roads and not have somebody complain about it,” said Jerry Pyle, Tulelake Irrigation District manager. 

   On the California side of the Klamath Project, the TID office has an employee who takes pictures when irrigation lines hit roadways. Those pictures are then posted on a “wall of shame” at the Tulelake office. 

   In the Klamath Irrigation District, Manager Dave Solem said road watering violations are dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and admitted that some oddly shaped fields make it difficult for irrigators. 

   Greg Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association, said the water district leadership is aware of issue and it’s brought up in meetings several times a year. 

   “By and large, people here are very careful and sometimes it is unintended,” he said, pointing out that screens and other efforts to curtail road watering sometimes slip or get knocked down. 

   Wind sometimes a factor 

   Wind — that last week reached about 40 miles an hour in Tulelake — is sometimes a factor. 

   In Klamath County , Water Master Vern Church said the wind is not an issue, it’s the wheel lines and pipes that butt against the edge of the road or sprinklers that are put through a fence to get every little bit watered. 

   Church said he will talk to irrigators first, but if the problem continues he has authority to write notices or violations. Fines are $1,000 a day per violation and can reach $5,000. 

   Klamath County Public Works officials say water on roads interferes with road striping, weed spraying and undermines the integrity of road shoulders and chip sealing. 

   Lani Hickey, natural resources manager, said on nights when temperatures dip below 32 degrees, irrigation water can ice up the road and become a safety hazard. 

   Traffic safety hazard 

   Chief Deputy Chris Montenaro of the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office said the water does pose a significant traffic safety hazard and warned people to be alert when approaching agriculture areas. 

   Montenaro said this year people have been compliant, but when deputies find violations, they will find the irrigator and warn them. 

   Church and Hickey said though the problem is caused by probably less than 1 percent of irrigators, those errant few are very visible to the public and hard to ignore.

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