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

(1) Every corporation organized under ORS 554.005 to 554.340 shall submit to the Office of Secretary of State for filing an annual report that sets forth: (a) The name of the corporation and the state or country under whose law it is incorporated; (b) The street address of its re…

The property and income of a corporation organized under the provisions of ORS 554.005 to 554.340, but not for profit, or a corporation organized under ORS 554.380, shall be exempt from taxation. The property and income of corporations which were incorporated under chapter 172, O…

(1) The board of directors of any corporation organized under the provisions of ORS 554.005 to 554.340, or of any corporation organized before March 4, 1937, which amends its articles and landowners’ notice pursuant to the provisions of ORS 554.420, may, after adopting a resoluti…

(1) A corporation organized pursuant to ORS 554.005 to 554.340 may obligate itself by written contract to utilize the corporation’s delivery system to deliver water for any beneficial use authorized under Oregon law on lands not described in its articles of incorporation if its b…

(1) The board of supervisors of a drainage district organized under ORS chapter 547 and existing prior to January 1, 1993, or the advisory board of a diking district organized under ORS chapter 551 and existing prior to January 1, 1993, may call a meeting of the owners of land si…

(1) After the vote held under ORS 554.375 and the delivery of a certified copy of the order proclaiming the results of the vote to the Secretary of State, the board of supervisors or the advisory board of the district shall proceed with the organization of a corporation for drain…

(1) When the decision of the landowners described in ORS 554.375 authorizes the dissolution of a drainage district or a diking district and the reorganization of the district into a corporation for drainage or flood control under this chapter, the board of supervisors of a draina…

A drainage district or a diking district shall not be dissolved and reorganized under ORS 554.320 and 554.375 to 554.390 after December 31, 2004. [1993 c.502 §4; 2001 c.703 §1] CORPORATIONS ORGANIZED UNDER 1911 ACT

Nothing in ORS 554.005 to 554.340 shall be so construed as to affect the validity of any district improvement company organized before March 4, 1937, under the provisions of chapter 172, Oregon Laws 1911, or its rights in or to property, or any of its rights or privileges of what…

(1) Articles of incorporation of any district improvement company organized before March 4, 1937, under the provisions of chapter 172, Oregon Laws 1911, and the recorded notice of the owners of the lands described in such articles of incorporation, may be amended as provided in t…

To the extent only that, by reason of the provisions of ORS 554.410, they have not been superseded, sections 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12, chapter 172, Oregon Laws 1911, as amended by section 2, chapter 101, Oregon Laws 1917, and by chapters 267 and 420, Oregon Laws 1927, and a…

(1) Any person holding land within the Malheur Improvement Company district created under chapter 172, Oregon Laws 1911, who desires to have the land of the person excluded from the Malheur Improvement Company district, may file a petition with the secretary of such district. The…

A corporation formed under ORS 554.005 to 554.340 may amend its articles of incorporation to include or exclude land as provided in ORS 554.510 to 554.590. [1963 c.103 §2; 1987 c.94 §158]

When a corporation receives an application of one or more landowners either to include the lands of the landowner in or exclude the lands of the landowner from the corporation, the application shall be acted upon at a meeting of the members. If at the meeting the members present …

The application of the landowner shall: (1) Be in writing and certified by the applicant. (2) State the legal description of the land the applicant wishes either included in or excluded from the corporation. (3) Contain a brief statement of the reason for request of the inclusion…

At the next meeting of the board of directors of the corporation after an application is filed and the deposit for expenses paid, the secretary of the corporation shall present the application to the board of directors. The board shall fix a date and time for the members to consi…

The secretary as directed by the board shall cause notice of the meeting to be published once each week for three successive weeks prior to the meeting in a newspaper published within the boundaries of the corporation, if any, or in a newspaper of general circulation in the count…

Notwithstanding the provision of ORS 554.070 (2) providing for a quorum to do business, the members of the corporation present shall constitute a quorum to approve or reject the application to include land in, or exclude land from, the corporation. [1963 c.103 §7]

(1) An amendment to exclude land shall not relieve any land from any lien existing at the time of the exclusion of the land, affect the date of priority of any lien of the corporation upon any land or relieve any landowner from any obligation to pay any valid outstanding bonds or…

(1) As a condition to approval of an application, if the meeting is on an application to include lands, the members may require the applicant to agree to pay a pro rata share of all unpaid obligations incurred for improvements which the applicant would have been required to pay i…

(1) If an application to include or exclude lands is approved, articles of amendment shall set forth: (a) The name of the corporation. (b) A reference to the provision in the original or amended articles of the corporation affected and a statement of the particular land by legal …

The State of Oregon hereby accepts the conditions of section 4 of the Act of Congress approved August 18, 1894 (28 Stat. 422), and amendments thereto, known as the “Carey Act,” together with all grants of land to the state under the provisions of that Act.

The selection, management, and disposal of the land referred to in ORS 555.010 shall be vested in the Water Resources Commission. The commission may employ necessary assistance, purchase material and supplies, and shall have charge and control of all reclamation work undertaken, …

The Water Resources Commission, or some authorized assistant, shall: (1) Have custody of all the records and files under the provisions of ORS 555.010 to 555.160, which shall be public records and open to inspection by the public during office hours. (2) Receive and file all prop…

Upon application, made as provided in ORS 555.050, by any person desiring to reclaim any of the desert government lands in this state, the Water Resources Commission shall make proper application for the lands which the applicant undertakes to reclaim, and make and enter into con…

(1) Any person desiring to construct ditches, canals or other irrigation works to reclaim land under the provisions of ORS 555.010 to 555.160 shall, at the expense of the person, file with the Water Resources Commission an application for selection on behalf of the state, by the …

A deposit shall accompany each application in a sum not less than 10 cents per acre up to 1,000 acres, and two cents per acre for each acre over that amount, which sum shall be deposited with the Water Resources Commission and held in trust as a guarantee of good faith on the par…

Upon withdrawal of the land by the Department of the Interior, the Water Resources Commission shall enter into a contract for the reclamation of such land with the person submitting the application, which contract shall contain plans and specifications of the proposed irrigation …

For such time as is specified in the contract, and not to exceed 10 years from the date thereof, the control and management of the reclamation works shall be vested in the person having contract with the state. At the expiration of such time the clear and unencumbered title to th…

No contract shall be made by the Water Resources Commission which requires a greater time than five years for construction of the works. All contracts shall state that the work shall begin within six months from date of contract; that the contractor shall secure for the use and b…

(1) Upon the failure of any parties having contracts with the state for the construction of irrigation works, to begin the same within the time specified by the contract, or to complete the same within the time or in accordance with the specifications of the contract with the sta…

Nothing in ORS 555.010 to 555.160 shall be construed as authorizing the Water Resources Commission to obligate the state to pay for any work constructed under any contract, or to hold the state in any way responsible to settlers for the failure of contractors to complete the work…

No land shall be open to entry and no water rights shall be sold by the parties under contract with the Water Resources Commission until the construction of the works is sufficiently advanced to insure a water supply, and the entry of an order by the commission opening the land o…

Any citizen of the United States, or any person having declared an intention to become such, over the age of 21 years, may make application, under oath, to the Water Resources Commission, upon forms prescribed by the commission, to enter any of the lands reclaimed under the provi…

Upon filing with the Water Resources Commission a satisfactory release of the construction lien apportioned by the commission against the land in any application, accompanied by satisfactory proof of reclamation, cultivation and settlement, as required by the rules of the commiss…

The Water Resources Commission shall provide suitable rules for the filing of applications for constructing irrigation works, prescribing the nature of final surveys, and the gathering of engineering data upon which the contract with the state is to be based, the manner in which …

The Water Resources Commission shall issue, on or before September 30 of each even-numbered year, a full report of the work of the commission under the provisions of ORS 555.010 to 555.160, including a statement of expenditures and condition of all funds, and such recommendations…

The Oregon Irrigation Fund is hereby created. Payments to and disbursements from the fund shall be made as provided by law.

Notwithstanding the provisions of ORS 555.170, all moneys in the Oregon Irrigation Fund created by ORS 555.170 on February 18, 1955, and all moneys paid into such fund after February 18, 1955, are to be transferred to the General Fund to be available for general governmental expe…

Wherever an irrigation system has been constructed under contract with the State of Oregon pursuant to the Act of Congress known as the Carey Act, and under and pursuant to ORS 555.010 to 555.160, and it develops that the acreage of land actually irrigated in any smallest legal s…

The notice given by the Water Resources Commission shall be in writing and may be served by registered mail or by certified mail with return receipt. If the user of the water does not comply with the notice and either pay for the excess water or enter into a definite arrangement …

The Water Resources Commission is authorized and empowered to contract for the completion of the reclamation of lands in the Tumalo Project or any part thereof, and to otherwise carry out the provisions of ORS 555.310 to 555.410, with any irrigation district, organized pursuant t…

(1) The Water Resources Commission shall appoint, at a salary to be fixed by the commission, a project manager for the Tumalo Project, who shall hold office and serve at the pleasure of the commission, but not longer than two years without reappointment. In the selection of a pro…

The Water Resources Commission shall make all necessary rules and regulations for properly carrying out the provisions of ORS 555.310 to 555.410.

(1) Subject to ORS 555.350, the prices to be paid for the sale of water rights on private lands as well as Carey Act lands, in the Tumalo Project, shall be $40, with interest at five percent from the date of contract of sale, in addition to which there shall be a charge of $2.50 …

The Water Resources Commission may increase the reclamation lien against the land not now sold in the Tumalo Project as fixed in ORS 555.340, if such increase is necessary or expedient in the completion of the project. The commission may reduce the amount due the state on account…

The Water Resources Commission shall make all necessary arrangements to secure the settlement, cultivation and reclamation of Carey Act lands in the Tumalo Project; accept applications for the entry of the lands; make contracts for the purchase of water rights and release of lien…

Upon failure of any purchaser having a contract with the Water Resources Commission to make payments of principal and interest according to the terms of the contract, the commission shall notify the purchaser by registered mail or by certified mail with return receipt of the defa…

(1) All moneys received as maintenance fees on the Tumalo Project shall be applied to the cost of maintaining, repairing, operating and distributing water for the project. The money shall be collected and disbursed by the project manager under the direction of the commission, who…

The Water Resources Commission may, with due regard to the interests of the state, transfer all the right, title and interest of the state in and to the Tumalo Project, and all rights or franchises thereunto appertaining, to any irrigation district or to the federal government, w…