Class Action Filed Over Allegedly Unauthorized Irrigation Services Tax on Yakama Reservation Lands

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A proposed class action looks to represent those who have allegedly been hit with fees for irrigation services upon land situated on the Yakama Indian Reservation yet have not received water delivery services.

The nine-page lawsuit, filed by the estate of an owner of a 1.9-acre parcel of land in the area of White Swan, Washington and the owner of a similar parcel of land on the Yakama Reservation, claims defendant Yakima Reservation Irrigation District’s assessment of a monetary fee for “so-called irrigation services” when no water delivery has been provided amounts to an unauthorized governmental tax. 

The suit seeks a permanent injunction requiring the Yakima Reservation Irrigation District to provide a means of exempting proposed class members, i.e. the plaintiffs and all others who “are, have been, and will be, subjected to bi-annual monetary assessments imposed upon them and lands” by the defendant, from such assessments.

According to the suit, the plaintiffs, members of the Yakama Nation, have been hit with irrigation fees despite the fact that the defendant “provides no services” in accordance with what an irrigation district is supposed to do by law. The case says an irrigation district may be organized or maintained for the purposes of: 

• Constructing or purchasing works, or parts of same, for the irrigation of lands within the operation of the district;
• Reconstructing, repairing or removing existing irrigation works;
• Operating or maintaining existing irrigation works;
• Constructing, reconstructing, repairing or maintaining a system of diverting conduits from a natural source of water supply to the point of individual distribution for irrigation purposes; and
• Executing and performing any contract authorized by law with federal or state departments for reclamation and irrigation purposes.

The complaint alleges the defendant imposes monetary assessments for irrigation district services on the plaintiffs’ and proposed class members’ land despite performing none of the above-listed services. On the contrary, the case claims the defendant put the majority of funds derived from irrigation services assessments toward “legislative lobbying and litigation, often in opposition to the proposed class members.” 

Failure to pay an assessment from the Yakima Reservation Irrigation District can and has resulted in a lien upon lands or foreclosure, the case says. 

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