Title 45, Water Resources: Irrigation, Drainage, Flood Control, Reclamation

(1) Any drainage district embracing less than 1,000 acres may: (a) Within and adjacent to the district, own, construct, install, contract to use and to receive service from, and buy and sell, wells, reservoirs, pumps, pipelines and other equipment used to supply water from wells …

The board of supervisors of any drainage district, whenever it is determined by the board that it is for the best interests of the district, may enter into a contract with the United States for the reclamation by drainage or irrigation of the lands within the boundaries of the di…

The board of supervisors of any drainage district shall provide by a resolution, adopted at a regular meeting or at a special meeting called for that purpose, for the payment of the amounts to become due under such contract with the United States, according to the provisions of t…

The boards of supervisors of all drainage districts lying west of the Cascade Mountains, whether or not organized under the Drainage District Act, shall have supervision and control of all drainage ditches, laterals, drains, canals, sloughs, waterways or conduits within the bound…

(1) Whenever the engineer or secretary of such a drainage district notifies the supervisors that any ditch, lateral, drain, canal, slough, waterway or conduit is less efficient, by reason of the failure of the owner of the premises upon which it is situated to repair, clean or gr…

If the owner or occupant of the premises upon which the clogged or obstructed ditch, lateral, drain, canal, slough, waterway or conduit is situated fails for 10 days after being notified of the existence of such clogged or obstructed condition, to repair, clean or grade the ditch…

(1) Upon completion of the work the board of supervisors shall bill the owner or occupant of the premises for the expense necessarily incurred in the repair, grading or cleaning of the canal, ditch, lateral, drain, slough, waterway or conduit. (2) If any charge remains unpaid bey…

No person shall: (1) Throw, dump or place or allow to be thrown, dumped or placed, any rubbish, refuse or any article or thing in any ditch, lateral, canal, slough, waterway or conduit used as a part of or in connection with any drainage works or drainage plant or drainage system…

Any person who throws, dumps or places or allows to be thrown, dumped or placed, any rubbish, refuse, or any article or thing in any such ditch, lateral, canal, slough, waterway or conduit shall, in addition to the penalty provided in ORS 547.990, also be liable to the owner of t…

(1) The board of supervisors shall each year make a computation of the whole amount of money to be raised by the district through charges or assessments for the ensuing year for any purposes whatsoever in carrying out the provisions of the Drainage District Act, including mainten…

Any land situated within a drainage district, the title to which is vested in any county, city or town, shall be subject to taxation, assessment or charge by the district. The full amount of taxes or assessments due against the land or the full amount of charges imposed upon the …

Whenever lands located in a drainage district which, because of their low elevation, were not assessed benefits in accordance with ORS 547.225, are used for growing crops, the board of supervisors may levy an annual assessment against the lands or may impose a charge upon the own…

When, in the judgment of the board of supervisors of any drainage district, it is deemed necessary or expedient to drain any lake, which entails extra or additional work in excess of that required in the drainage of lands of higher elevation and where the cost of maintenance and …

The board of supervisors shall prepare a list or record of assessments and apportionments, giving the description of the ownership or holdings of each person therein assessed, which shall be certified by the board in the manner provided in ORS 310.060 not later than June 15 of ea…

The collection of the tax shall be coincident with collection of the state and county tax, and shall be governed by the laws relating thereto, except that the tax collector shall collect and account for the tax for operation and maintenance separate from the taxes levied by the d…

For purposes of ad valorem taxation, a boundary change must be filed in final approved form with the county assessor and the Department of Revenue as provided in ORS 308.225. [2001 c.138 §42] Note: 547.482 was added to and made a part of ORS chapter 547 by legislative action but …

In case of neglect or refusal of the board of supervisors to cause such assessment and levy to be made, the assessment and levy shall be made by the governing body of the county in which the office of the board of supervisors is situated, sitting for the transaction of county bus…

All drainage districts containing not more than 2,000 acres, organized under the provisions of the Drainage District Act, may waive payment of penalty or interest, or both, on district assessments. County tax collecting officers are authorized to collect and receipt for assessmen…

(1) The board of supervisors of a drainage district may provide by resolution for the imposition, billing and collection of charges or assessments of the district in the manner provided under ORS 545.482, 545.484, and 545.494 to 545.508 for irrigation districts. The method of col…

All drainage districts organized pursuant to the provisions of the Drainage District Act shall have a lien on all crops grown on lands within such districts for that portion of the annual charges or assessments, levied against the lands on which the crops are grown, or imposed up…

The board of supervisors of every drainage district which may elect to claim the benefits of ORS 547.495 to 547.515 shall file with the county clerk of the county in which the land is located, any time before the removal of the crop upon which a lien is desired, a statement verif…

The county clerk shall record the claim in a book kept for that purpose. The record shall be indexed as the record of chattel mortgages is kept and indexed.

(1) A claim for lien substantially in the following form shall be sufficient: ______________________________________________________________________________ NOTICE OF LIEN UPON CROPS Notice is given that_____, a drainage district organized under and pursuant to the provisions of …

When such crops are removed from the county in which the notice of lien is recorded, the lien shall be suspended as to subsequent purchasers and mortgagees thereof in good faith and for a valuable consideration, from and after 30 days from the time of such removal, unless within …

(1) The board of supervisors may, if in its judgment it seems best, and subject to the approval of the electors of the district, issue bonds of the district for any purpose necessary or convenient to carry out the provisions of the Drainage District Act, including refunding of ou…

The board of supervisors may sell, from time to time, the bonds which have been authorized, in such quantities as may be necessary and most advantageous. Before making any sale, the board shall, at a meeting, by resolution, declare its intention to sell a specified amount of bond…

The bonds and the interest thereon and all obligations for the payment of money authorized and incurred by such district shall be general obligations of the district and shall be paid by the revenue derived from the annual assessments upon the real property within the district. A…

(1) The treasurer shall account for and pay over as required by law and as ordered by the board, any money received by the treasurer on the sale of the bonds. (2) If the board deems it more expedient, the board may, by resolution, select some suitable bank or other depository as …

The treasurer shall keep a bond fund account into which shall be covered all moneys arising from the sale of refunding bonds and sufficient money arising from assessment and levy to meet the next installment of principal and interest upon the bonds of the district. From the fund …

(1) After five years from the issuance of bonds, the board may direct the district treasurer to redeem so much of the bonds not yet due as surplus funds permit at the lowest value at which they may be offered for liquidation, or call bonds at a premium of three percent. Notwithst…

The board of trustees of any drainage or levee district having an outstanding indebtedness of not less than $3 per acre for each acre of land included in the district, evidenced by bonds or warrants of the district, may, if the board considers it for the best interests of the dis…

(1) The board of trustees shall sell or exchange the bonds so issued, on the best available terms, for any legal indebtedness of the district. If the sale is made for money, the proceeds shall be applied to the payment of liabilities existing against the district at that time. Wh…

The board of trustees shall cause to be assessed and levied each year upon the assessable property of the district, in addition to the levy authorized for other purposes, a sufficient sum to pay the interest on outstanding bonds issued in conformity with the provisions of ORS 547…

(1) Whenever there is in the sinking fund a surplus of $500 or more, over and above the interest maturing before the next levy, the district treasurer shall give notice for two weeks in one or more newspapers of general circulation printed and published in the county in which the…

Any drainage district desiring to refund its outstanding indebtedness or issue bonds for any purposes may, in lieu of the procedure otherwise provided by law, elect to adopt the procedure provided by ORS 547.660 to 547.695.

The board of supervisors of any drainage district desiring to issue refunding bonds to replace or in satisfaction or discharge of any outstanding indebtedness may exchange such refunding bonds for the outstanding indebtedness in full compromise, satisfaction and discharge thereof…

(1) The bonds shall be numbered consecutively, beginning with number 1 and following in numerical order. They shall mature in the manner provided by ORS 547.660, in annual amounts of principal and interest approximately equal, in not less than five nor more than 40 years from the…

(1) Before authorizing the issuance of such bonds, the board of supervisors shall require that the known holders, or their representatives, of all evidences of indebtedness to be refunded, shall submit to the board for its acceptance an offer to deliver and surrender all such evi…

(1) Upon delivery of the bonds, the secretary of the district shall furnish to the county clerk of each county in which lands of the district are situated: (a) A certified copy of the resolution of the board authorizing the bonds, of the resolution of the board fixing the annual …

(1) In addition to the annual payments for retirement of the bonds, the board of supervisors shall, during the first five years after the issuance of the refunding bonds, levy an annual assessment of 20 cents per acre upon each acre within the district. Thereafter, whenever there…

Notice of the call of bonds before maturity shall be given in the manner provided for retirement of irrigation district bonds before maturity. No bond issued under ORS 547.655 to 547.695 shall be called for payment before maturity except upon the day for payment of interest, or i…

Bonds authorized and issued under ORS 547.655 to 547.685 may be confirmed by a court of competent jurisdiction in the manner provided by ORS 548.105 to 548.115.

The district shall appear as a bidder at the sale of any lands for delinquent annual charges or assessments made under ORS 547.655 to 547.690 or any other statute, and may purchase and take title to the lands and thereafter dispose of the same. On any sale by the district of land…

(1) The district treasurer shall deposit all money arising from the sale of refunding bonds, and sufficient money arising from assessment and levy to meet the next installment of principal and interest on the bonds of the district, in a bond fund separate from its general fund. F…

No part of a drainage district annexed to a city shall be withdrawn from the district, except upon the consent of the voters of that part of the district. The votes shall be counted in the same manner as in elections for officers of the district. If three-fourths of those voting …

Violation of ORS 547.425 is a Class C misdemeanor. [Amended by 2011 c.597 §229] _______________