AGAI Membership
Who Are AGAI Members
AGAI members are mostly independent irrigation ditch companies and associations that distribute water across the valley floor. Uses for this water range from irrigation of agricultural crops to parks and golf courses. Without our AGAI water users and the associated infrastructure, the Gallatin Valley would return to a high mountain desert.
Simply, our members are water-rights holders that deliver their water rights through ditches or canals or direct from the river or stream.
Benefits of Being a Member
Protection
We believe in the doctrine of prior appropriation: first in time, first in right. We carefully monitor all legislation pertaining to water to make sure that your historically decreed water rights remain your property.
Community
By joining the Association of Gallatin Agricultural Irrigators, you are joining a community of irrigators. Each farm and ranch in the valley has unique aspects. We benefit from knowing each other, from having conversations, and from participating in the larger community. Working together we can find solutions that benefit us all as we tackle the pressures of development, the potential changes in law, and the hard work of managing our ditches. We invite you to join our community.
Voice
The Association was formed in 2004 to be a cost-effective and efficient way to object to and influence legislation in Helena. Instead of each ditch fighting the same fights alone, we join together as a single, stronger force to advocate for right action in water law. Our brand is known and understood in the community. Bring your voice into the conversation, bring your voice to