42-610. COMPENSATION OF WATERMASTERS — ALLOTMENT AND CHARGE AGAINST LAND — CHARGE AGAINST CANAL. Watermasters herein provided for shall make up a sworn statement which shall be approved by the department of water resources, and shall show the number of days said watermaster has devoted to the distribution of such water, and the number of days the watermaster’s assistant or assistants have devoted to the same purpose, and such statement shall also show the volume of water, stated in cubic feet per second, the watermaster has by virtue of the allotment of said waters delivered to each user each day. The pay for the services of said watermaster and the watermaster’s assistants shall be a charge against the land of the users to which said water was so delivered, the expense for said services being first divided between all classes as to priority of allotment or decree, in the proportion which the number of days such water is received by all users in the same class of priority of allotment or decree bears to the whole number of days said watermaster is engaged in distributing said water; the amount charged to each user in the same class of priority of allotment or decree bearing the same proportion to the amount charged to all users in the same class of priority of allotment or decree as the volume of water delivered to each user bears to the whole amount delivered to all of like class of priority of allotment or decree, by the said watermaster and the watermaster’s assistants. This statement, which shall show the proper distribution of the said expenses among the various users, shall be filed with the auditor and recorder of the county or counties in which the said water was delivered, unless such county or counties have elected to not provide county services for the collection of assessments and payment of district expenses as provided in section 42-619, Idaho Code: provided, that in counties which have not so elected to decline providing the services, when any portion of the allotted waters is distributed by said watermaster to the canal of any duly organized canal company, the amount of the expense chargeable for such services shall be a charge against such canal and the account of such charge to be paid by the county in the manner herein provided shall be charged as a tax against such canal, which tax shall be collected in the manner provided by law for the collection of other taxes, and no canal in this state shall be exempt from the payment of such tax, whether the water right be decreed or undecreed, or whether the water so distributed to said canal be the natural flow of the stream, or stored water, or whatever may be its source, nature or description.

History:

[(42-610) 1903, p. 223, sec. 29; am. 1907, p. 482, sec. 1; reen. R.C., sec. 3280; am. 1915, ch. 34, sec. 15, p. 110; reen. C.L., sec. 3280; C.S., sec. 5614; am. 1925, ch. 60, sec. 2, p. 86; am. 1927, ch. 81, sec. 1, p. 99; I.C.A., sec. 41-510; am. 1992, ch. 339, sec. 12, p. 1023.]