2017 Board Meeting Minutes

NOTICE OF MEETING

Big Lost River Ground Water District

— Regular Board Meeting –

This and all meetings of the Board of Directors are public and subject to pertinent Open Meeting Laws.

Date:          Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Time:         1:00 P.M.

Location: Business Incubation Center — Arco, Idaho

Agenda Items:

1.                 Call to Order and Roll Call

Vice Chairman Mike called the meeting to order at 1:08 pm. Those present were Mike Telford, Jack Jensen, Jake Johnson, Terry Monson, Todd Perkes, Mitchell Sorensen, and Moj Broadie arrived shortly after the meeting was called to order. Office Manager Debbie Broadie was also present.

2.                 Approval of Agenda

Jake moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Jack, voting was unanimous.

3.          Approval of July 11, 2017 Minutes
The July 11, 2017 minutes were reviewed with corrections noted. Those corrected minutes will be reviewed again at the September board meeting.

Moved by Todd, seconded by Terry, voting was unanimous.

4.         Office Manager’s Reports (Debbie)
a.       Financial Reports

Debbie handed out and reviewed the financial reports. Copies are attached to these minutes.

Debbie also requested she be authorized to upgrade the “Quick Book” accounting program and be trained in that computer program.

Mitchell moved to approve that upgrade and training, seconded by Todd, voting was unanimous.

b.       Other items

Debbie reported the current website page has limitations, but could be upgraded to the capacity that would meet the GWD needs for a cost of $10.00 per month.

Jack moved the upgrade be approved, seconded by Jake, voting was unanimous.

5.         Watermaster Recharge Report (Lucas)
Lucas gave a report of the 2017 managed recharge efforts in the basin. The total amount of managed recharge was 103,294 acre feet. Incidental recharge is not included in this report. The following table shows the amount of recharge conducted in each of the six recharge sub-districts.

INL*
ABOVE RES.
MACKAY
ANTELOPE
MOORE
ARCO
46,531 AF
6,675 AF
20,502 AF
14,814 AF
11,648 AF
3,120 AF
Lucas also reported there were substantial river flows leaving the valley that could have been diverted for the benefit of the valley if more recharge projects were further developed. A recent agreement between WD34 and DOE did capture the diversion of water into INL* spreading ponds as “credit” for Basin 34 irrigators. He also reported the river reaches below the Moore and Arco Diversions and will begin to dewater as river flows diminish. There were 48 WRs (totaling 26 cfs) with an Arco Diversion Pt. of Div. that have not been called for again this season even though flows at the Arco Gages shows available river flows for most of May, June, and July. (See attached USGS chart and WD34 report.)

The board then had a discussion regarding these facts and concluded there remains periods of time when river water supplies continue to be available for further development, and some senior surface water users may be at risk of forfeiture due to extended periods of non-use. These circumstances also provide an opportunity for the GWD to promote the “Water Bank Initiative” and local water use projects as contemplated in the 2017 Management and Aquifer Stabilization Plan.

Mitchell moved to authorize Mike, Jack, and Mitchell to meet with interested water users from the Arco and Moore areas and form “Teams” that would promote and develop at least one water project in each area using the available water supplies, seconded by Mike, voting was unanimous.

6.         Officer and Committee Reports
a.       2018 Annual Meeting and Assessment Preparations (Todd)

Todd gave a report of “Collections and Audits”. He also introduced an initial proposed budget for the 2018 operating year. (See handout) The board expressed their desire to be very conservative in budget expenses, but also understood there will likely be many unknown projects and mitigation/stabilization plans in the coming months that will most likely require money.

Mike moved the initial proposed budget be set at $1.00 per acre or the equivalent of $1.00 per .02 cfs of WR factored by the lands in the GWD (to be split as $.50 per acre and $.50 per usage) with a $35.00 minimum, seconded by Jake, voting was unanimous.

b.       Exclusions: Draft Position Statement (Mitchell)

Mitchell read a draft position statement regarding petitions for exclusion. Members of the board generally agreed with the draft, but asked that the ‘approval of an IDWR management plan’ language be emphasized by underlining that portion of the draft.

Todd moved to approve the Position Statement as emphasized, seconded by Terry, voting was unanimous.

c.       Dialogue with IDWR (Mike)

Mike reported he had spoken to Jennifer Sukow, of IDWR, regarding her analysis of the basin’s groundwater, and invited her to meet with us and Jaxon Higgs on Aug. 8, 2017.

(Please note: because this was an informal informational meeting held subsequent to this board meeting, no formal minutes of the discussion were kept. Jaxon provided a map depicting groundwater priorities overlaid on irrigated lands and a bar graph of grouped GW priorities. Jennifer discussed the different methodologies IDWR used to analysis aquifer level measurements and related data. Mitchell attached his personnel notes to these minutes. At the end of this discussion, those present indicated they would like to meet again in the fall of this year after more data is collected and analyzed.)

e.       Water Well Consultants Reports (Jaxon or Brian) (No report- see above information)

f.         NRCS Funds

Mike reported there were funds available from NRCS as Flood Funds as reported in Camas County. The deadline for these funds appears to be July 26, 2017. Todd will inquire as to the details and deadlines.

7.               Policy Review (700 and 800 series)

(Postponed again due to time restraints)

8.         Adjournment
a.       Next meeting date set for August 8, 2017 at 1:00 pm.

b.       Chairman Moj adjourned the meeting at 3:50 pm.

Minutes Approved and Accepted this        —day, of

(Secre ary Mitche Sorensen)

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NOTICE OF MEETING

Big Lost River Ground Water District

— Regular Board Meeting –

This and all meetings of the Board of Directors are public and subject to pertinent Open Meeting Laws.

Date:        Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Time:         1:00 P.M.

Location: Business Incubation Center — Arco, Idaho

Agenda Items and Board Minutes:

1.                 Call to Order and Roll Call

Chairman Moj called the meeting to order at 1:00 pm. Those present were Terry Monson, Mitchell Sorensen, Moj Broadie, Jack Jensen, Mike Telford, Todd Perkes, office manager Debbie Broadie, and Jaxon Higgs of Water Well Consultants. Jake Johnson was absent.

2.                 Approval of Agenda

Mitchell moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Jack, voting was unanimous.

3.          Approval of June 6, 2017 Minutes
Jack moved to accept the minutes as corrected in item 4.b. “per WR”, seconded by Terry, voting was unanimous.

4.          Office Manager’s Reports
a.       Financial Reports

Debbie provided the Board with copies of the Bank Statement and A/R Aging Summary (copies attached). She also reported that all “start-up” costs have now been reimbursed.

b.       Assessment Collection Reports and Penalty and Late Fees

c.       Other items

Jack reported he has reviewed the discrepancies in three of the WRs listed in the Assessment Book and found the water users were generally correct in their accounting. Six more WRs with discrepancies are yet to be reviewed. The GWD has prepared refunds and corrections as needed.

5.           Officer and Committee Reports
a.      2018 Annual Meeting and Assessment Timeline (Todd)

Todd provided copies of the relevant code sections and discussed what the District should do to begin the upcoming year’s budget process, annual meeting plans, and assessments (handouts are attached to these minutes). He also indicated he would provide an update at the next meeting.

Jack moved to authorize those preparations, seconded by Mike, voting was unanimous.

b.      Settlement Agreement and Director’s Order Vacating Hearing (Mitchell and Mike)

Mitchell provided copies of the stipulation agreement and IDWR Orders regarding this matter. Those documents were included in the Board packet. There was some discussion about informing the public concerning these actions but no formal assignments or details were made.

c.       Pending Issues “2018 Water Management Plan” and Director’s possible “GWMA Designation Order” This matter was included in the 5.b. discussion.

d.      Water Well Consultants Reports (Jaxon or Brian)

Jaxon reported on his progress in data collection and WR analysis (see attached schedule of WRs sorted by priority). The details of that report and Board action items are recorded below (Mitchell’s notes of the discussion are also attached — they are vague and ambiguous. Formal handouts and reports will ultimately be available as Jaxon proceeds with this project.)

e.      Water Management Plan Discussion

i. Configuring Plan Concepts Review (Mike)

Mike added to his “sticky notes” and provided more explanation to the plan’s concepts. Mike moved to authorize Jaxon to:

a.                   finish the map depicting WR locations by priority color code,

b.                   water data collection and analysis,

c.                    prepare formal documents and reports that could be used in plan development,

d.                   provide monthly reports to the Board,

e.                   and, work is to be billed at the rate of $55.00 per hour (not to exceed $25,000.00 for the total cost), f, Jaxon will prepare a detailed billing statement itemizing his expenses. Mike was authorized to:

a. ask IDWR to talk to us about the data collection process they are using and how they are evaluating long term trends in a transient aquifer, seconded by Jack, voting was unanimous.

ii. “Water Bank Initiative” and “Green Belts and River Flows” (Mitchell)

Mitchell reported the community of water users continue to express interest in these types of activities but have little practical knowledge regarding how to proceed.

6. Policy Review (700 and 800 series) This item was postponed.

7.         (‘Exclusion” Policy Statement
a. Gammett Petition

Debbie report two petitions were received at the office. The Board had a brief discussion about exclusions in general but wanted some time to consider how to proceed.

Jack moved to table this matter until the next meeting in August, seconded by Todd, voting was unanimous.

8.          Adjournment
a.      Next meeting date was set for August 1, 2017, at the regular time of 1:00 pm.

b.      Chairman Moj adjourned the meeting at 4:02 pm.

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NOTICE OF MEETING

Big Lost River Ground Water District

— Regular Board Meeting —

This and all meetings of the Board of Directors are public and subject to pertinent Open Meeting Laws.

Date:          Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Time:          1:00 P.M.

Location: Business Incubation Center — Arco, Idaho

Agenda Items and Board Meeting Minutes:

1.                 Call to Order and Roll Call

Chairman Moj called the meeting to order at 1:05 pm. Those present were Terry Monson, Mitchell Sorensen, Moj Broadie, Jack Jensen, Mike Telford, Todd Perkes, Jake Johnson, and office manager Debbie Broadie. A list of attending gallery persons is attached.

2.                 Approval of Agenda

Jack moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Jake, voting was unanimous.

3.          Approval of May 2nd and 9th, 2017 Minutes
Jack moved to approve the May 2nd minutes, seconded by Jake, voting was unanimous.

Todd moved to approve the May 9th minutes with the correction of adding “attending guests” as noted, seconded by Mike, voting was unanimous.

4.         Office Manager’s Reports
Financial Reports:

Debbie provided several handout reports (assessment tallies, bank statements, Reconciliation Detail, A/R Aging Summary, Start Up Cost, billing adjustment forms, and commitment to pay forms) which were reviewed and attached to this minutes.

Todd moved to approve the reports and that the “Start Up” reimbursements be paid, seconded by Jack, voting was unanimous.

b.      Assessment Collection Reports and Penalty and Late Fees

Debbie reported American Falls and IGWA charge $15.00 for late fees plus 1% per month on each delinquent assessment account. The Assessment Book will be compared to Jaxon Higgs WR Report for errors. Jack will conduct this review, the 2n review will be conducted by the {‘Errors and Omission Committee” if needed, and the 3rd review will be conducted by the Board if any errors remain unsettled. Mike moved the “Commitment to Pay” form be approved, seconded by Jack, voting was unanimous.

c.       Order Granting Intervention

Debbie also reported the Director had granted our notice of intervention in the contested “designation” matter.

5.          Officer and Committee Reports
a.      2018 Budget & Assessments and Annual Meeting Initial Planning

Todd will prepare a “timeline schedule” for this process and present it at the next Board meetings.

b.      Water Well Consultants Reports

No report was provided because neither Jaxon or Brian were invited to the meeting.

c.       Water Management Plan Discussion

i.        Configuring Plan Concepts (Mike)

Mike led a general discussion on this topic. (It is uncertain whether his notes were preserved, so I am substituting my personal notes for now. See attachment.)

ii.      “Water Bank Initiative” and “Green Belts and River Flows” (Mitchell)

Mitchell led this brief discussion. It has become clearer that the Bernal Petition signers did not understand the legal term “minimum stream flow” but are more interested in “green belts and localized recharge projects”. More information and work will follow as interested persons begin to develop a plan.

6.         Executive Session – Docket No. P*CGWA-2016-1
Moj moved to go into Executive Session, seconded by Jack, voting was unanimous. Moj moved to come out of Executive Session, seconded by Jack, voting was unanimous.

Post Executive Session motions

a.                  Mike moved we retain TJ Budge as counsel and authorize him to submit a Statement of Position and represent the GWD in this contested matter, seconded by Jake, voting was unanimous. Mike will contact TJ and make this request.

b.                  Mike moved the officers of the GWD be authorized to meet with Rose Bernal to discuss settlement options, seconded by Jake, voting was unanimous.

Policy Review (700 and 800 series) This item was postponed.

8.         Other Business
Mitchell moved the lease agreement with the BIC for office space and conference rooms be renewed for 1 (one) year, seconded by Jack, voting was unanimous.

9.          Adjournment
a.       Next meeting date (Jeee 11th, 2017 at 1:00 p.m.)

b.       Moj called the for Adjournment at 4:20 p.m.

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(two meetings in April below)

 

NOTICE OF MEETING

Big Lost River Ground Water District

— Regular Board Meeting –

This Notice is posted at the Butte County Court House, WD 34 Office in Mackay, and BLRGWD Office in the Arco BIC. This and all meetings of the Board of Directors are public and subject to pertinent Open Meeting Laws.

Date:      Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Time:       1:00 P.M.

Location: Business Incubation Center — Arco, Idaho

Agenda Items and Minutes of the Board Meeting:

1.                 Call to Order and Roll Call

Chairman Moj called the meeting to order at 1:05 pm. Those present were Jake Johnson, Terry Monson, Mitchell Sorensen, Moj Broadie, Jack Jensen, Mike Telford, Todd Perkes, and office manager Debbie Broadie. A list of attending gallery members is attached.

2.                 Approval of Agenda

Jake moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Jack, voting was unanimous.

Approval of Mar. 21, 2017 Minutes
Mitchell read the proposed March 21, 2017 board minutes. Jack moved to accept the minutes as read, seconded by Terry, voting was unanimous.

4.         Old Business
l. Petitions for Exclusion scheduled for consideration

a.       Indexing and Recording Report

Debbie provided an indexing report of exclusions which summarized the date of exclusion, the cumulative cfs, and revenue losses to the GWD. She also provided a Reconciliation Summary and Start Up Cost reports, and asked that the “boxed highlighted items” be authorized to be paid. (see the 3 attached reports)

b.      Review pending Petitions

Chairman Moj introduced the pending petitions for exclusion by referencing the pre-conference hearing scheduled for May 3rd regarding the potential designation of the basin as a CGMA or GWMA. Moj stated one of the main purposes for organizing the GWD was to represent and protect the interests of ground water users in these kinds of matters and suggested water users might want to consider this before excluding out of the GWD. Some members decided to postpone board action on their petitions while others choose to proceed.

The Committee to Review Petitions for Exclusions then gave a report of their review of the pending petitions and made a recommendation of “approval”, “postponement”, or “table due to inadequate requisite information” regarding each of the petitions before the Board. (see attached index for details)

Jake moved to grant exclusion for those approved petitions, postpone those requested petitions, and send a letter requesting the requisite information to certain petitioners as recommended, seconded by Terry, voting was unanimous with the exception of Moj who voted “No” because many of the petitioners were the same ground water users who had previously supported the formation of the GWD and had asked Moj to represent them in Division 3.

ll. Office Manager Report

a.       Financial Report

As discussed above in item 4.1.a. Debbie provided a summary of outstanding bills which are payable.

She recommended those items ‘thighlighted” be paid, along with the accounts to Holden, Kidwell, Hahn, and Crapo, and “start-up expenses and cash bonds” be paid and reimbursed when those members pay their 2017 assessment.

Jack moved those accounts be paid as recommended, seconded by Jake, voting was unanimous.

b.       Other items

There were no other items.

Ill. (2nd Reading) Draft Policies Review

a. Policies Series 600

The 600 Policy Series were reviewed with special attention given to Policy No. 607. After discussing the current draft and identifying what additional language the board wants to be incorporated into the policy, Mitchell was assigned to redraft Policy No. 607 with the noted modifications and present it to the Board at the May 2nd meeting.

Jack moved to approve all other 600 series Policies, seconded by Jake, voting was unanimous.

IV. Committee(s) and Officer(s) Report

a. Aquifer Monitoring Program

Mike reported the monitoring equipment is now installed in the 6 additional wells and data is being gathered. He will invite Jaxon or Brian Higgs to attend the May 2nd meeting to report on the data and how the program is progressing. This data will be very useful to the GWD in developing the annual water management plans and in responding to Director Spackman’s possible designation of the Big Lost River Basin as a CGWA or a GWMA.

5.                  Petition to designate the BLRBasin as a CGWA or GWMA, Docket No. P-CGWA-2016-1

The Board had a general discussion regarding the IDWR Notice of Prehearing Conference IN THE MATTER

OF WHETHER TO DESIGNATE THE BIG LOST RIVER BASIN A CRITICAL GROUND WATER AREA OR A

th GROUND WATER MANAGEMENT AREA. Due the importance of this issue it was determined the April 18 Board meeting would be dedicated to this matter.

6.                  Other Business

l. Kim Andersen’s WR issue

After a brief discussion of this matter, Terry moved to authorize Debbie to write a letter to Mr. Andersen stating that BLRGWD would treat his ground WRs as a domestic use exemption and he would not need to pay the 2017 assessment at this time, seconded by Mike, voting was unanimous.

7.         Adjournment
The next meeting was set for April 18, 2017, at the BICenter in Arco, Idaho, for 1:00 pm. Chairman Moj adjourned this meeting at 4:01 pm.

 

NOTICE OF MEETING

Big Lost River Ground Water District

— Regular Board Meeting –

This Notice is posted at the Butte County Court House, WD 34 Office in Mackay, and BLRGWD Office in the Arco BIC. This and all meetings of the Board of Directors are public and subject to pertinent Open Meeting Laws.

Date:        Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Time:         1:00 P.M.

Location: Business Incubation Center — Arco, Idaho

Agenda Items and Minutes of the Board Meeting:

  1.  Call to Order and Roll Call

Chairman Moj called the meeting to order at 1:15 pm. Those present were Terry Monson, Mitchell Sorensen, Moj Broadie, Jack Jensen, Mike Telford, Todd Perkes, and office manager Debbie Broadie, Jake Johnson was absent. A list of attending gallery members is attached.

2.    Approval of Agenda

The agenda was modified to include reports from consultants and the recent IGWA meeting. Jack moved to approve the agenda as modified, seconded by Terry, voting was unanimous.

3.     Approval of April 4, 2017 Minutes

The April 4th Board Meeting minutes were read by Mitchell.

Todd move to accept the minutes as read, seconded by Mike, voting was unanimous.

Pivotrac and Water Well Consultants Reports

Jake Robertson gave a presentation explaining the pivotrac monitoring system of the four well sites he has equipment in. He also walked the board members through the web site which records ground water level with statistical data and graphic depictions.

Brian Higgs reported he had met with some “exclusionists” (exclusionists are defined as ground water users who were initially included in the BLRGWD as members when it was organized and then have subsequently petitionedfor exclusion from the District) from the upper portion of the valley who had inquired as to what Water Well Consultants was doing for the GWD. Although those ground water users were interested in the ground water monitoring program, they continued to express a lack of willingness to cooperate and work within the GWD. Brian expressed to these “exclusionists” that he would not work for them in completion or adversely to the ground water users in the GWD.

Brian also gave a presentation of the work he was doing in the Raft River area, and how that monitoring and modeling project could be very similar to the project in the Big Lost River Basin management plan. As part of this presentation the Board identified two substantive questions;

  • Will Director Spackman require the GWD Management Plan to fully address the effects of all basin ground water pumping impacts and/or potential reduction of use agreements for both GWD members and non-members (i.e. “exclusionists”) as a condition of his approval of any plan?
  • What or how is the Director going to deal with the “exclusionists” or non-participants of any approved management plan?

The Board expressed to Jaxon and Brian they wanted them to work exclusively for the GWD, regarding matters relating to the Big Lost River Basin, and to proceed with data collection and WR priority categorical grouping similar to the Raft River project.

Mike moved the GWD remit a retainer check in the amount of $1,000.00 to Water Well Consultants and authorized them to proceed in the monitoring and modeling project, seconded by Jack, voting was unanimous.

4.b.  IGWA Meeting Report

Mike reported on the April 10th IGWA meeting he had attended. IGWA continues to express an interest in our joining this state wide association and has made offers of reduced membership fees over the next three years. Mike indicated that what IGWA really wants from BLRGWD is our participation in some kind of a reduction in ground water usage program which demonstrates our “buy in” to the same kind of principles and efforts they are engaged in. Mike asked them to be patient with us while we deal with exclusions and first year assessment collections.

  1. Petition to designate the BLRBasin as a CGWA or GWMA, No. P-CGWA-2016-1 The Petition(s) pending before the Director and scheduled 3rd was discussed in considerable detail. It was determined the GWD is already a participant and does not need to submit a $25.00 check to intervene. The Director, as the Hearing Officers, will determine how and to what extent the participants participate during the pre-conference hearing. And the GWD Board should attend and be prepared to participate as needed. Jaxon Higgs will prepare a brief statement that Chairman Moj will be prepared to read into the record. This statement will be reviewed at the May 2nd meeting and may be modified if the Board so chooses. The May 2nd board meeting will include an agenda item allowing for final pre-conference preparations.

Mike reiterated that it is always a good principle of board etiquette to be unified in our decisions and we should take the time to discuss any matter until there is board consensus.

6.  Other Business

The Board reviewed again the Petition for Exclusion for Ramshorn Ranch. The petition had been updated with the requisite information, map, and $25.00 check.

Jack moved to approve the petition, seconded by Mitchell, voting was unenimees.                   47

5.   Adjournment

The next meeting will be on May 2, 2017, at the Arco BICenter, beginning at 1:00 pm. Chairman Moj adjourned the meeting at 4:30 pm.

Minutes Approved and Accepted

 

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