QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
What is ELS 5692?
Electric Light Switch (ELS) 5692 is an association of water users (you) who access irrigation water from a lateral line off the Ridenbaugh Canal.
Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District manages the Ridenbaugh Canal and ELS 5692 manages our lateral.
What is the Watermaster's responsibility?
A Watermaster is the person elected or appointed to distribute water in the order of priority to those water users entitled to its use (individuals who hold a water right and are current with associated water user fees - see below). The Watermaster is also authorized to close the headgate of a party who is not entitled to the use of water or who is not using the water in compliance with Idaho Water Law.
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What are water user responsibilities (in other words, what are your responsibilities)?
Water users are required to pay water right fees to Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District prior to water access.
Water users are also required to pay ELS 5692 association fees prior to water access.
If you do not intend to use water in a given season, you do not need to pay association fees for that season. If this is you, please contact the Watermaster so the association can update your water user status to inactive.
Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District fees will still be required yearly to hold on to your water right.
Each water user is responsible for the maintenance and repair of ditches and pipes located on their property as to prevent damage or injury to any other property.
No water user or property owner can deny access of water to subsequent users on the line.
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What do you do if no water is being delivered to your property at your designated time?
Check the ELS 5692 Irrigators Facebook page or this website for updates on the system. These platforms are used as message boards to alert water users about water-related issues. If no water is being delivered to your property, there may have been an issue that required the water to be shut off.
If there are no updates listed, go find your water. It is your responsibility to find out where your head of water is being blocked. A water user schedule is included in this website and can be used as a guide to investigate lack-of-flowing water issues. If the issue is a closed gate, open it. If this issue is a blockage within a pipe that cannot be identified, call the Watermaster. Calling the Watermaster should not be your first action.
Do not ignore the issue. If you have turned your water in, and it is not making it to your property, you may be flooding someone else's. Maintenance of our irrigation laterals are the responsibility of every user and it is up to all of us to remain diligent.