Section 13(b)(12) requires for exemption of irrigation work that the
ditches, canals, reservoirs, or waterways in connection with which the
employee's work is done be ``used exclusively for supply and storing of
water for agricultural purposes.'' If a water supplier supplies water
for other than ``agricultural purposes,'' the exemption would not apply.
For example, the exemption would not apply where a portion of its water
is delivered by the supplier to a municipality to be used for general,
domestic, and commercial purposes. The fact that a small amount of the
water furnished for use in his farming operations is in fact used for
incidental domestic purposes by the farmer on the farm does not,
however, require the conclusion that the water supplied was not
exclusively ``for agricultural purposes'' within the meaning of the
irrigation exemption in section 13(b)(12). Accordingly, if otherwise
applicable, the exemption is not defeated merely because the water
stored and supplied through the ditches, canals, reservoirs, or
waterways of the irrigation system includes a small amount which is used
for domestic purposes on the farms to which it is supplied. On the other
hand, if the water supplier
should maintain separate facilities for storing and supplying water for
domestic use, it is clear that employees employed in connection with the
maintenance or operation of such facilities would not be employed in
activities to which the exemption applies. Water used for watering
livestock raised by a farmer is ``for agricultural purposes.''
