2006 Utah Code - 17A-2-711 — Board of trustees -- Organization -- Powers and duties -- Other provisions applicable.

     17A-2-711.   Board of trustees -- Organization -- Powers and duties -- Other provisions applicable.
     (1) The board shall establish boundaries of election precincts and may change them, but no change may be made less than 30 days prior to an election. Upon the completion of the organization of the district, the board of trustees may request the state engineer to conduct a water survey and allotment which shall be paid for by the district. Thereupon it will be the duty of the state engineer to cause to be made a water survey of all lands within the district for the purpose of determining and allotting the maximum amounts of water which could be beneficially used on such land; each 40-acre tract or smaller tracts in separate ownership within each such legal subdivision shall be separately surveyed and the allotment made therefor. On completion of said survey and allotment, the state engineer shall file with the county legislative body with which the petition for the creation of the district was filed, his return of survey and report of allotment. Before any bond issue or contract is voted on, any assessment levied, or toll or use charge imposed, the board of trustees, having first determined the amount of water available for the use of the district, shall upon notice and a hearing and under rules determined by the board, make a final revision and allotment of the available water to each 40-acre tract or smaller tract in separate ownership within each legal subdivision; but no allotment may be increased above the amount originally allotted by the state engineer without the consent of the state engineer and the final allotment may not be decreased as long as there may be any outstanding indebtedness in excess of .4% of the fair market value of the lands within the district. The allotment may, however, be increased to an amount not exceeding the amount allotted by the state engineer if the additional amount of water becomes available for the use of the district. The final allotment in acre-feet may be the basis of the vote at all elections subsequent to the creation of the district. The final allotment in acre-feet, or other units of measurement, the service, turnout, construction, distribution charges, or other charges, if any, may be the basis for any use charges. A copy of the order making the allotment or any increase provided, certified to by the secretary of the district, shall be immediately filed for record in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the office of the district is located and a certified copy filed with the county recorder of each county in which any lands of the district are situated. Nothing in this part may prohibit the state engineer, upon petition by the board of trustees after the organization of the district has been perfected, from increasing the maximum allotment of water for any tract or tracts of land embraced within the district when in the opinion of the state engineer the tract or tracts of land cannot be beneficially irrigated with the amount of water allotted. The board of trustees may construct facilities or may acquire facilities by contract, purchase, or condemnation pursuant to Title 78, Chapter 34, Eminent Domain, or otherwise. District lands may be leased when leasing will not interfere with their use for irrigation purposes. The board may also purchase stock of irrigation canal, and reservoir companies. The board may exchange bonds of the district for any such property upon terms and conditions the board considers best, subject to the approval of the State Board of Certification. The board, its agents, and employees may enter upon any land in the district to make surveys and to locate and construct any canal or canals, and the necessary laterals. The board may, by condemnation, acquire rights of way for the enlargement of any ditches, canals, or reservoirs, but the board may not occupy the premises proposed to be condemned pending the determination of a suit, except upon filing the bond required by law in the case of suits by other corporations and individuals. The right-of-way is given, dedicated, and set apart, to locate, construct, and maintain the works, or reservoirs, over, through, or upon any of the

lands which are now, or may be the property of the state. The board may make these investigations and based on them, make representations and assurances to the Secretary of the Interior, as may be requisite under the act of Congress, approved August 11, 1916, or other applicable law, and may enter into any obligation or contract with the United States for the construction or operation and maintenance of the necessary works for the delivery and distribution of water or for the assumption, as principal or guarantor of indebtedness to the United States on account of district lands, or for the temporary rental of water under the provisions of the Federal Reclamation Act, and all acts amendatory of that act, or supplementary to it, or any other Acts of Congress now enacted or which may be enacted, and the rules and regulations established under them; or the board may contract with the United States for a water supply under any act of Congress providing for or permitting the contract, and may convey to the United States as partial or full consideration water rights or other property of the district, and in case the contract has been or may be made with the United States as provided in this section, the board of trustees shall include as part of any use charges now provided for by law, an amount sufficient to meet each year all payments accruing under the terms of the contract and the board may accept on behalf of the district, appointment of the district as fiscal agent of the United States, or authorization of the district by the United States, or authorization of the district by the United States to make collections of moneys for or on behalf of the United States in connection with any federal reclamation project, at which time the district shall be authorized so as to act and to assume the duties and liabilities incident to that action, and the board may do any and all things required by the federal statutes enacted in connection with it, and all things required by the rules and regulations established by any department of the federal government. Districts cooperating with the United States may rent or lease water to private lands, entrymen, or municipalities in the neighborhood of the district, in pursuance of a contract with the United States. The board shall establish equitable rules for the distribution and use of water among the owners of lands included in this district, and may provide that no water may be delivered to lands which are delinquent or in default in the payment of any amount due to the district. The rules shall, as soon as adopted, be printed in convenient form for distribution in the district; but water, the right to the use of which is acquired by the district under any contract with the United States, shall be distributed and apportioned by the district in accordance with the Acts of Congress, the rules and regulations, and the provisions of the contract.
     (2) The board of trustees may annually instruct the county assessor of the county in which the lands to be affected are located to remove from the assessor's roll any land publicly dedicated to streets, highways, and roads, and also other land the use of which has so permanently changed as to prevent the beneficial use of water, and the assessor shall do so. The instructions to the assessor shall be accompanied by a written consent to the removal from the assessor's roll signed by all owners of private land affected by it.
     (3) When any tract of land in the district which has no water allotment becomes susceptible to irrigation and use of water, or when any tract has an insufficient water allotment, the board of trustees, upon written application of the owner of the land, may temporarily permit water to be applied on the land, and in that case the board may impose use charges upon that owner. Nothing contained in this section may affect the permanent water allotments in the district.
     (4) The board of trustees may lease or rent the use of water not needed by the landowners of the district and in addition may contract to supply and deliver the water to municipalities,

corporations, associations, or individuals, within or without the district for irrigation or any other beneficial use, at prices and terms the board considers best. No lease or rental agreement running for a period of more than five years may be made, and no vested or prescriptive right to the use of the water may attach to the land by virtue of the lease or rental; and any landowner in the district may, where practicable, with the consent of the board of trustees, assign the right to the whole or any portion of the water apportioned to the landowner's land for any one year to any other bona fide landowner, for use in the district for the year; if the landowners have paid all use charges due. The board shall, at the end of each fiscal year, prepare and submit to a public meeting of the landowners within the district, called for that purpose, a report covering all transactions and operations of the district during the year.
     (5) (a) The provisions of Title 17B, Chapter 2, Part 4, Board of Trustees, apply to each irrigation district to the same extent as if the irrigation district were a local district under Title 17B, Chapter 2, Local Districts.
     (b) (i) If a change in the expiration date of the term of a board of trustees member is necessary to comply with the requirements of Subsection 17B-2-403(1), the term of each board member whose term expires on a day other than the first Monday in January shall be extended to the first Monday in January after the normal expiration date next following the special district election date under Section 17A-1-305.
     (ii) If a change in the length of the term of a board of trustees member is necessary to comply with the requirements of Subsection 17B-2-403(2), the change may not take effect until the expiration of the term of the member whose term length is to be changed.

Amended by Chapter 285, 2002 General Session