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

Within 30 days after organizing, the board of supervisors shall appoint a competent civil engineer as chief engineer, who may be an individual, partnership or corporation, and who shall engage such assistants as the board of supervisors may approve. The chief engineer shall: (1) …

(1) The chief engineer shall make a report in writing to the board of supervisors whenever the board requires. Upon receipt of the final report of the engineer concerning surveys made of the lands contained in the district, and plans for reclaiming the same, the board shall adopt…

Upon adoption of the plan for reclamation, the county judge shall, by order, appoint three commissioners (who shall not be landowners in the district nor of kin within the fourth degree of consanguinity to any person owning land in the district), one of whom shall be a civil engi…

The county clerk upon the filing of the order of appointment shall notify each commissioner of appointment by written or printed notice, and in the notice the county clerk shall state the time and place for the first meeting of the commissioners. The secretary of the board of sup…

(1) Within 30 days after qualifying, the commissioners shall begin their duties. The chief engineer shall accompany them at all times, and render an opinion in writing when called for. (2) The commissioners shall proceed to view the premises and determine the value of all lands w…

(1) Upon the filing of the report of the commissioners, the county clerk shall give notice thereof by publication once a week for three consecutive weeks in some newspaper published in each county in the district. It shall not be necessary for the notice to name the parties inter…

The drainage district or any owner of land in the district may file exceptions to the report or to any assessment of either benefits or damages, within 10 days after the last day of publication of the notice provided for in ORS 547.230. All exceptions shall be heard by the court …

If after determining the objections made to the commissioners’ report, the court finds that the estimated costs of works and improvements as reported by the commissioners, or as amended by the court, exceed the estimated benefits, the court shall then render a judgment, declaring…

At any time after the expiration of five years from the confirmation of the report of the commissioners, as provided by ORS 547.235, and upon the filing of a petition with the county clerk signed by at least one-tenth of the owners of the lands within the drainage district or the…

The board of supervisors shall have power to make any change in the plan for reclamation by action of the board until such time as the commissioners have filed their report. After that all changes shall be made as follows: (1) The board of supervisors, for and in behalf of the di…

Any owner of land located in the district, or any owner of land located outside of the district that will be affected by the proposed changes, amendments, and corrections enumerated in the petition, may file objections to the granting of the prayer of the petition, on or before t…

(1) If the judgment of the court provides that the plan for reclamation may be amended, changed or corrected or the boundary lines of the district extended, the court shall appoint three commissioners, possessing the same qualifications as the commissioners appointed under ORS 54…

Where the works set out in the plan for reclamation of any drainage district are found insufficient to reclaim in whole or in part any or all of the land of the district, the board of supervisors may formulate new or amended plans containing new ditches, levees or other works, an…

(1) The officers and employees of any drainage district shall have the right to: (a) Enter upon any land in the manner provided by ORS 35.220. (b) Locate the necessary drainage or irrigation works and the necessary branches for the same, on any lands that may be deemed best for s…

(1) The board of supervisors shall have full power and authority to: (a) Build, construct and complete any works and improvements needed to carry out the plan of reclamation. (b) In the name of the district, make all necessary water filings and appropriations of water for the sub…

(1) At the time of the construction in any district of the plan for reclamation, all ditches or systems of drainage already constructed in the district and all watercourses shall, if necessary to the drainage of any lands in the district, be connected with and made a part of the …

Whenever it appears necessary, proper or beneficial to irrigate any of the lands within any drainage district, whether or not the drainage works have been actually acquired or constructed, the district may cause irrigation reservoirs, canals, ditches, and other works to be constr…

(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…