IOCSD Rules and Regulations
Governing the Distribution and Use of Water

Th request water service each season, each Customer must file with the District a written application on forms supplied by the District specifying the number of miners inches of water requested, and the Assessor's Parcel Number(s) of the lad on which the water is to be used.  All applications for service are subject to the approval of the Board of Directors.

Application forms will specify that the water service is for irrigation purposes only, and by signing the application form the Customer acknowledges that the water is not for domestic use and agrees to abide by such restriction and accepts responsibility for the proper use of the water on his land, and agrees to abide by these Rules and Regulations.

An annual application fee shall be paid by each Customer prior to delivery of water. Failure to file an application and pay fees by the first day of April, or earlier as my be determined by the District by resolution, ay result in denial of water service for that season.

In any case where two or more Customers will share a common distributary after the water leaves the District facility, each Customer shall complete an application form and pay the annual application fee.  All such applications for service from the common distributary must be submitted to the District together, and all must designate the same person as agent responsible for payment of regular monthly bills, as only a single bill will be sent each month for water delivery to the distributary.

Each application form will contain a brief statement giving the substance of Rules #9 and #10 herein, regarding payment of bills, disputed bills, and discontinuance of service, and will refer to these rules as the governing provisions in the event of any related questions.

Water will be delivered to the Customer at a point on the existing District conduits approved by the District: the District is not obligated to construct any extensions to its existing facilities. The prospective Customer shall, at his own risk and expense, construct and/or install a siphon, gate, conduit, or other takeout device from the District's facility; no such construction shall occur without prior approval of the District, and work shall be conducted in the manner and at such a time as directed by the District.  Takeout device shall include a valve or other such regulating device to be controlled by the District to provide adequate adjustment of delivery to each private conduit, and must deliver the water through an approved weir before it may be used by consumer.

Water from a District canal, lateral, or conduit shall not be allowed to enter any private conduit or Customer's land without first being measured by a weir or other such measuring device installed at the outlet of the District's facility. All measuring devices are subject to advance approval by the District as adequate for measuring water delivery.

When two or more Customers receive water from a common distributary, the approved weir will be placed and the water measured at the junction of such common distributary with the District's facility.  The total number of miners' inches of water requested by all Customers on the distributary will be delivered to the head of such distributary and the District shall not be responsible for the distribution of water among the Customers on the distributary.

The Customer shall, at his or her own risk and expense, furnish, install, maintain, and repair his private conduit and weir, and shall be entirely responsible for transporting the water from the District's facility to the land on which the water is to be used.  District shall not be responsible for any loss or damage caused by the improper installation of such private conduit or weir, nor for the negligence or wrongful act of the Customer or any other person installing, maintaining, using, operating, or interfering with Customer's facilities.

When a Customer's private conduit must cross over another landowner's property, all agreements, responsibilities, and rights of way shall be negotiated and agreed upon by and between the Customer and the landowner; the District shall not be involved in such private negotiations and agreements.

In any case where two or more Customers have united in the construction and operation of a common distributary, all such Customers shall be jointly and severally responsible and liable for the distributary, as provided for in the first paragraph of this Rule.

Reasonable enlargements and/or extensions of District canals, laterals, and conduits may be made if determined by District to be appropriate and feasible.

Additional provisions for District laterals will be adopted at a later date.

Pumps shall be allowed only in the event there is no other feasible method to deliver water.  Pumps shall not be allowed in any District facility without prior approval of District.

Pumping of District water is done at Customer's sole risk.

Additional provisions regarding pumps will be adopted at a later date.

The rate to be charged per miners' inch per day of delivery shall be determined by District prior to the beginning of each water season, and shall be printed on the application form.  Each Customer shall receive a bill for all water charges on a monthly basis; it is the Customer's responsibility to make certain that the charges shown on the monthly statement are correct.

All claims of errors in charges must be made in writing and filed with District within ten days from the date of the bill which is disputed.

In any case where two or more customers share a common distributary, only one bill shall be sent to the designated agent responsible for payment; however, all Customers sharing such distributary shall be jointly and severally liable for payment.

Bills for water charges are due and payable upon presentation and shall become delinquent thirty calendar days after billing date.

The Customer's water service may be discontinued if a bill has not been paid in full within sixty days after billing date.  In case a deposit to guarantee bill has been made, the service will not be discontinued until the amount of the deposit has been fully expended.  District shall mail Customer a 15-day notice of intention to discontinue service; if Customer fails to pay full amount due by the 15th day after mailing of such notice, District may discontinue water delivery to Customer without notice.

After such discontinuance, service may not be restored until full payment of the amount due, together with interest at the rate established by Board resolution, has been made. In addition to such payment, the District may require the Customer to make a cash deposit with the District of the total anticipated water delivery charges for the remaining months of the season.

The District will refund Customer's deposit when:

1.  the Customer has received service for a period of 12 consecutive billing months and has paid his water bills on the average within 30 days of each billing date;
2. The service is discontinued by the Customer, except when there are charges due the District for water service in which case the deposit will be applied to the charges, and any excess portion of the deposit will be returned.

Pursuant to Sections 25806 and 25807 of the Water Code of the State of California, District may request that County Auditor add to the County Tax Bill all delinquent charges for water deliveries which have not been received by the District by December 31 of each year, which will result in a lien being filed at the County Recorders Office against the land on which the water was used.

District reserves the right to refuse future service to any customer who is or has been delinquent in the payment of water charges, and to any land on which water charges are or have been delinquent.

Any Customer who takes or causes to be taken more than his authorized quantity of water may be required, at the sole discretion of the District, to forfeit his future delivery of water for one year:; in addition, an appropriate charge for the water improperly taken will be determined by the District and the bill will be sent to the Customer.

Any person interfering with the regulation of water in the canals, conduits, and laterals of the District, or changing any valves regulating water delivery to any Customer, shall be subject to all available legal remedies, including but not limited to prosecution.

District shall use due diligence in restoring, maintaining, and otherwise protecting the flow of water in the system, and in the distribution of such water to Customers.  When necessary for making repairs or improvements to its system, the District will maintain the right to temporarily suspend the delivery of water.  In all such cases, to the extent reasonable, advance notice will be given to the Customers as circumstances will permit, and the repairs or improvements will be made as rapidly and conveniently as practicable.

In case of shortage of water supply the District will apportion its available supply of water among Customers in the most reasonable manner possible to continue service equitably and without discrimination.  Revised deliveries in times of shortage will be approved by Board resolution and all affected service users will be notified.

The employees or other authorized agents of the District shall have unobstructed access at all times to all District facilities, including all canals, conduits, and laterals, for the purposes of monitoring, operating, and maintaining the facilities, or for any other proper purpose connected with the distribution of water or the maintenance and operation of the system.  Access shall be confined to the area immediately adjacent to the District's facilities as determined to be reasonable and necessary for the performance of such work, and for reasonable ingress and egress to the facilities.

All due consideration will be extended to the landowner as to the method and timing of access, based on advance consultations to the extent possible.

The District shall notify the landowner if there is to be extensive or abnormal construction or repair on the facilities.  Permission shall be obtained from the landowner in advance for access other than by District's normal right of way.

No structure, bridge, crossing, ditch, fence (other than necessary cross fences), or other obstruction shall be placed, and no trees, vines, or brush shall be planted across or upon any canal, lateral, conduit, or right of way of District without prior approval of District and in the manner directed by them.

Cross fences on District right of way shall be constructed in a manner approved by the District, with gates to permit passage along canal banks by ditch tenders and District equipment and in a manner that will not interfere with the flow of water.

Any obstructions of District right of way may be removed by the District without notice and the cost of removal charged to the landowner.

The removal and disposal of debris from the right of way resulting from District's maintenance work shall be the responsibility of the District, unless other arrangements have been made with the landowner in writing.

No tree or vine pruning, brush, weeds, grass, garbage, manure, carcass, or any other material that will become offensive or injurious to health or adversely affect the quality of water, or obstruct the flow of water, shall be placed or dumped in any conduit of the District or be placed or left so as to roll, slide, flow, or be washed or blown into any such conduit.  Any violation of this rule shall be considered a public nuisance and may subject the offender to legal remedies available to the District, including prosecution.

Installation of septic tanks or other waste disposal facilities in a location which would result in pollution of the water in a District conduit is a misdemeanor offense.

The cost of repair for any damage to District conduits caused by livestock or the crossing of a canal or conduit by machinery or other vehicles may be charged to the landowner.

Any damage to any District facility caused by wrongful act or negligence of any person is a misdemeanor, and such person shall not only be responsible for costs of repair of such damage, but shall be subject to any and all remedies prescribed by law.

Neither the District nor its Directors or employees will be liable for any of the following:

a) defective quality of water, shortages or excess of water, either temporary or permanent, or for failure to deliver such water;

b) any damage of any kind resulting directly or indirectly from a conduit not owned by the District or the water flowing therein, or for improper construction, maintenance, or use of conduits, or for negligent, wasteful, or other use or handling of water by the Customers thereof;

c) any damages to irrigation or pumping equipment or other damages as a result of turbulent water, or shortage or excess of water, or defective water quality, or any other causes;

d) any liability or damages that may occur as a result of Customers allowing the water to be used for purposes other than irrigation; every Customer putting the water to such other uses does so at his or her own risk, and by doing so assumes all liability for such use, and agrees to hold District and its Directors, employees, and agents free and harmless from any liability and damage resulting from such use.

The District desires harmonious relations with it's Customers at all times.  Employees and agents of the District are instructed to treat all persons in the District courteously at all times.  All Customers shall be treated equally in all matters of water distribution.  All Directors, agents, and employees of the District are strictly forbidden to demand or accept any personal compensation or benefit for services rendered to a Customer.

In order that effective investigation may be made, all complaints, concerns, questions or claims of any kind against the District shall be made in writing and delivered to the District at P.O. Box 92, Igo, California 96047 within ninety (90) days following commencement of the event giving rise to the complaint, claim, etc.

Any items to be addressed at a regular District meeting may be placed on the agenda by written request to the District at least seven (7) days prior to the next scheduled board meeting.

Any notice the District may give to any Customer may be written and mailed, postage prepaid, addressed to the  Customer as specified on Customer's application for service, or at such address subsequently given in writing by the Customer to the District. Any notice from any Customer to the District may be written and mailed, postage prepaid, addressed to the District's office at the address specified above.

In case of emergency, any employee of the District may be contacted by telephone.

If any Customer should fail to comply with any of the District's Rules and Regulations as set forth herein, the District will advise the Customer of such failure.  If the Customer does not remedy same within reasonable time, the District shall give written notice advising the Customer in what manner such Rule and Regulation as been violated, and that service will be discontinued if the violation is not remedied within five (5) days. Should violation not be remedied within the time specified, District shall then have the right to discontinue service to the Customer until such violation is remedied to the satisfaction of the District.

In cases of emergency, or of discovery of a dangerous condition on a Customer's Premises, or Customer utilizing the water in a manner in which endangers other lands, the 5-day notice is waived and the immediate discontinuance of service will be considered imperative.

The District shall have the right to refuse to serve water to any Customer or land, and at any time to discontinue service, if found necessary to do so to protect itself against fraud or abuse, or violation of any other law or regulation, or for any other reason that such discontinuance is determined to be in the best interests of the District and its Customers.

Use of a pump in a District facility will be considered only in the event there is no other feasible method to deliver water to a prospective Customer, and District shall have sole authority to grant or deny permission for such use.

To apply for permission to use a pump in a District facility, the prospective Customer must file with the Board a written request for such use, and District will analyze each request on an individual basis, considering both the benefit to prospective Customer and the impact on other services.  District is under no obligation to grant permission for use of a pump in District facilities.

Within sixty days of receipt of pump request, District shall determine the conditions and restrictions under which the request may be approved, or if request is to be denied, and will notify prospective Customer in writing; such conditions and restrictions will include but are not limited to type and size of pump, pipe, and metering device.

Upon Customer's agreement to conditions and restrictions, approval of use of pump shall be granted for a one-year period only; at District's sole discretion, approval may be extended for an additional one-year period, or may expire, in which case District shall notify Customer in writing of such expiration.

The monthly billing rate for pumped water service shall be the maximum pumping capacity of the Customer's system, as determined by District based on size and type of pump, pipe, and other devices used.  District shall have the right o examine and test Customer's pumping facilities at any time, and to modify Customer's billing rate appropriately.

Any and all changes made to Customer's pumping system shall be subject to District approval. Failure by Customer to abide by all conditions for approval of request will result in revocation of approval.  Upon expiration or revocation of approval, Customer will remove all pumping facilities within 30 days of receipt of written notice of such expiration or revocation.

Any and all pumping of District water is done at Customer's sole risk.