County commissioners agree to limit deputy watermaster’s duties

Jim Ingram led a group of farmers and ranchers who convinced the Baker County Board of Commissioners last week to modify the job description for a deputy watermaster for the Powder River Irrigation District.

At the Jan. 4 commission meeting, Ingram, Elmer Hill and others who use water from the Powder River Irrigation District asked the commission to delete from the job description duties such as driving a truck or snowplow during the winter, when nobody is irrigating.

“As farmers, we don’t want a snow plow operator. This is too critical. There is too much money at stake for it to be water deliver, snowplow operator etcetera,” said Ingram, who raises hay on his ranch near Haines.

Ingram also submitted written testimony from Curtis Martin, a rancher and water committee chairman with the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association.

Ingram said the skills and knowledge needed to be a watermaster are apples and oranges compared to a truck driver or snowplow operator.

Fred Warner Jr., commission chairman, said he and commissioners Carl Stiff and Tim Kerns wanted to build some flexibility into the job description so the deputy watermaster could do other tasks when the county runs short on snowplow drivers.

“In this tight economy, whenever somebody leaves, we look at the position to see if we really need it, and to look for ways to combine positions or expand duties as a cost-saving measure,” Warner said.

But Ingram said farmers and ranchers want the county to hire a person who has experience irrigating crops, who knows the Baker Valley, knows water rights laws, has an agricultural background and roots in the county.

He said Tom Rudolph, the previous deputy watermaster, stayed on the job for 21 years before retiring last fall. It will cost a lot to train a replacement, and they don’t want the county to hire someone from outside the area who might stay a year or two and then leave, requiring another person to be hired and trained.

Warner said Baker Valley ranchers have made it abundantly clear that they want the county to replace Rudolph before the start of irrigation season this spring, and they don’t want a mixed job description with secondary duties such as driving snow plows.

The water supply in area reservoirs serving the Powder River Irrigation District is about 80 percent of normal. Dispensing the water appropriately, given a potential short supply, requires knowledge of water laws and irrigation practices. Timing is important when different crops like hay, potatoes, wheat, mint and others need water, Ingram said.

In response to the concerns raised by area farmers and ranchers, the commission deleted a paragraph from the job description that said “Secondary duties may include snow removal under the supervision of the Baker County Roadmaster, and natural resource information gathering and collection under the supervision of the Baker County Board of Commissioners.”

Ingram said he was pleased with the outcome.

“Everybody wants the same thing. We want what’s best for the county,” Ingram said.