Hearing to be set for eminent domain suit
“A hearing will likely be set within 30 days on an effort by the City of Caldwell, Idaho, to take by eminent domain a portion of an irrigation district, the district’s lawyer says. Caldwell is using its powers of eminent domain in an effort to take over a 10,000-acre portion of Pioneer Irrigation District, court documents show.
The lawsuit follows years of legal wrangling between the city and the district over storm water runoff and other issues affecting the quality of irrigation water. Both sides have spent an estimated $4 million on the litigation.
The city filed a complaint Nov. 26 for condemnation of Pioneer’s drains and water-delivery canals, water rights and reservoir storage water.
The city’s lawsuit threatens several irrigation entities downstream of Pioneer and federal water rights Pioneer holds through Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs, said Pioneer’s attorney, Scott Campbell. “Water rights with the federal government could be significantly diminished, and it would subject citizens to increased rates for that water,” he said.
The eminent domain lawsuit is the city’s attempt to circumvent Pioneer’s 2008 lawsuit against the city over what Pioneer claims are unauthorized discharges of municipal storm water into Pioneer’s system, Campbell said.”
Dumas, Carol Ryan. capitalpress.com 8 January 2012.