In their regular board meeting held this week, the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District Board of Directors voted to set the District General assessment for Fiscal Year 2021-22 at $6.10, up from $5.96 during FY20-21.
According to Rusty Jardine, TCID General Manager, “District General” is the assessment levied upon all lands in the District, water righted or not. Nevada law authorizes an annual assessment of not more than $5.70, as adjusted by the Consumer Price Index to a current level of $6.10, on all lands in the District for capital improvement including construction, reconstruction or maintenance of the irrigation system of the District. The general assessments in most instances are paid by landowners. The fee is on their property tax bills and collected by the county clerks. The monies collected are then forwarded to TCID.
The underlying basis for “District General” is that all property owners in the District benefit generally from the irrigation that occurs on lands within District boundaries. Residents also benefit directly and specifically from irrigation practices through the recharge that occurs to private and municipal wells. “Naturally, another benefit to all of us is in the contribution that occurs from agriculture production that sustains a local economy of hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Jardine.
The board also recognized two long-time board members who have recently passed away: Ray Peterson who served for 18 years, and Don Travis who served for nine. Board president Eric Olsen said he is thankful for the time and effort these two men put into the district over the years. “The time away from family and the devotion to TCID can at times be a sacrifice,” he said. A presentation with a plaque will be made to the families of each man.
In other business, the board set the date for the annual water users’ meeting which will be held on March 16th at 6:00 p.m. Traditionally there are two meetings held on different nights, one in Fernley for the users of the Truckee Division and one in Fallon for the Carson Division users. Because of COVID restrictions, there will be one meeting this year held using Zoom and water users will be able to attend remotely from their homes. Items that will be discussed include the annual allocation, rules for water ordering, information on the existing database, and regular management reports.
The board heard a report from Ian Lyle, Executive Director of the National Water Resource Association in Washington, D.C. The district is an affiliate of the NWRA which serves farmers with issues relating to water resources and infrastructure.
Lyle said that this past couple of weeks have been an interesting time with the transition in presidential administrations and the change in the balance of power in Congress. “All the work you do at the local level,” he said to the board, “helps us at the federal level and is more important than ever. This has been a pretty big shift from Trump to Biden.”
He spoke regarding water policy in both the Department of Agriculture and Department of Interior saying that Tom Vilsack has been confirmed to serve at the Department of Agriculture and had served in that capacity during the Obama administration. Congresswoman Deb Holland from New Mexico has been nominated to serve at the Department of Interior and would be the first tribal member to serve in that capacity. She has extensive experience with water rights settlements. Additionally, there are good people who have been nominated to serve as assistants in those departments.
Because of the transition, there has been a “pause” with all new regulations for 60 days. However, Lyle said, “you are still well-positioned because there are several other districts with transfers in the works as well.”
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