Perry elected to MLIRD board
A worker with the Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District places the lake fountain in May 2022. The fountain goes out each summer and is maintained and operated by the MLIRD as part of its management of Moses Lake.
FILE PHOTO
MOSES LAKE — Long-time Moses Lake resident Charles Perry was handily elected in early December to fill the vacant seat on the Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District board of directors.
Perry, who was appointed to fill the seat following Kaj Selman’s resignation in October, received 225 votes in the Dec. 13 balloting compared to eight votes for challenger Andreas Koeppen.
“The best lakewater quality possible is my major concern,” said Perry, who has lived in the city for 55 years. “It encourages visitors to come to Moses Lake, and local people to use the lake. It’s something that makes living in Moses Lake worthwhile.”
Perry said his wife Mary served a single term as a director on the MLIRD’s board of directors as well.
“I have the time and the interest,” Perry said. “I can contribute to what the board wants to accomplish.”
“He’s pretty thoughtful and when he speaks, he says something that’s worth listening to,” said MLIRD Board President Bill Bailey. “He’s a great addition to the board.”
While all other elections in Washington state are conducted by mail-in ballots, irrigation districts still have in-person polling, which was done at the MLIRD’s headquarters on Wheeler Road. In addition, under the state law covering irrigation districts, only property owners within the district can cast ballots and receive two ballots for each five acres they own within the district.
According to MLIRD Interim Manager Beth Yonko, there are over 11,000 parcels within the district, while only 233 ballots were cast in December’s board election.
Bailey said the board will focus this year on resolving the district’s assessment issues and changing the portion of the law that pertains to rehabilitation districts. In 2022, the Washington State Appeals Court upheld a Grant County Superior Court ruling that found the district could not levy the irrigation portion on property owners within the district since it had no system of distributing water.
“What value is Moses to all the people of the district? Those who live on the lake may have one value, and those who live farther away another value. We will establish a pattern for assessing,” Bailey said. “But we need an expert to tell us and have all the information we need to back it up.”
“It’s a big step. But we will have to do that whether the law is changed or not,” he added.
In addition, Bailey said the MLIRD is working with the city of Moses Lake to eventually provide lake water — the MLIRD has the right to use 50,000 acre-feet of water per year for irrigation — to both the city and the Moses Lake School District to water parks and fields.
Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.