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(j) li> C\l Co) (.:::> o Rio Grande Water Conservancy District TO BE OI'GANIZEU UNDI<;I' TilE LAWS OF TilE STATI<; OF COLOUADO A petition for the organization of The H.io Grande Water Conscl'vancy Distriet has hcpn prcpftxed and is now b(~ing circulated. Undel' the tcrIlls of the petition the an~a to b{~ included in the District will aggregate about 340,000 acres in a COIn pact body. This al'en has been divided into seven dirpctors' districts roughly equal in area. District No. 1 may be referred to as the Center District; No.2, the Del NOl'ie District; No.3. Sargent District; No.4, Mosca-Hooper District; No. 5, Monte Vista District; No.6, the Alamosa Distl'ict, and NO.7 the Bowen-Waverly Dis- tl'jet. A board of seven directors will be uppoint- ed, one member from each of the seven dis- tricts ()utlin(~d. What is known as the Colorado 'A'atcr Conservancy Act was adopted by the Gen- eral As~embly of the State of Colorado, and became law on May 12, 1937 on the sig-na- tUI'e of Governor Teller Ammons. Quo warranto proceedings to determine the con- stitutionality of the Act were instituted in the Supreme Court of Colorado on May 2, 1938, and the Court rendered a unanimous opinion upholding- the legislation. The Act was prepared by counsel for the North- eastern Colorado Conservancy District. \Vhcn the possibility of securing the Big Thompson Project fOl' NOl'theastern Colo- rado became assured in 1936, it was recogniz- ed then that existing distI'ict organization laws of the State of Colorado were inade- quate to meet the I'cquirclnents for the or- ganization of such a project. New lcgisla- tion was obviously required to provide fol' an organization to guarant.ee repayment of the reirnbursible portion of the construction cost to the United States and to provide for more equitable assessnlent in accordance with benefits, It was realized there, as it is here, that the need for additional water varied widely on different farms and under different irrigation systems and therefore that a plan for allotment of water should be fl(~xible and on a sounder basis so that each farm owner could secure just as much aH he needed and no more. It was also realized that husiness and industries of th(~ area affected, which depends on the basic income of the farms, would be greatly in- creased by the increased and stabilized water ~upply and therefore should in some way participate ill the "cpayment in recog- nition of the indirect benefits to be received. Many months of effort by attorneys over the state, and intercsted water users and di- recton. of lI'rig-ation syst.ems, were required -10- before a final draft was made satisfactory to all intercsted. Whil(~ t.he Act is lengthy, in brief it provides as a public benefit, fat' the cl'ganization of conservancy districts by any District Court of Colorado on the peti- tion of a required number of property 0\\.'n01'5. t,>~ A board of not more t.han eleven, and not less than five directors is appointed origi- nally, and as terms expire, by the District Court. The board appoints officers; has power to acquil'e and hold property, appro- priate and acquire water rights; enter into contracts, lcvy taxes and assessrnents and allot watt:~l', and generally to administ.er the business of the disll'ict. As a reflection of indiI'ect benefits, the bo::nd may levy on all l'eal and personal propel'ty of the District, a tax of not to exceed onc-half mill during the constl'uction of the project and not ovel' one mill thereaftel', In case of a default 01' deficiency an additional levy of one half mill may bc made. The act provides for the sale of water to water users at a pl'ice to be stipulated and set forth in the application therefor and for alloting watel' to individuals, municipalities and irrigation districts and for collection of special taxes and assessments for water purchased. The bmu'd has the powcr to con- tract wit.h the United States fOl' the con- struction of works \vl1en authorized by an election on the proposed contract by the r!'operty owners of the District. Aftcr the construction of the San Luis Valley Project was aut.horized, it became apparent to those sponsoring the construc- tion of the I)l'oject, including the Rio Grande Wate!' Users Associa tion and the Conejos Water Users ASHociation, that some similar organization would be necessary to represent the water users on bot.h the Conejos and the Rio Grande. Conservancy District Acts, Irrigation Dis- trict Acts and lITigation Company organi- zations available under the laws of the State of Colorado and other states, were inten- sively studied by the directors and attor- nc:ys of these associations, and it was found that other sections of t.he state desired to avail themselves of some such agency, in- cluding arcas on the \\lestern Slope, the Colorado River and the Arkansas, where rc- quirements similar to those in Northeastern Colorado prevail. They all uecame convinced that this Con- sel'vaney Act was the best sort of organiza- tion yet devised to meet our needs. The Aet as originally passpd could only be utilized in areas having an assessed val- uation of over $20.000,000. In 1939 steps were tal<en to amend the Act so as to make it available for use in thc San Luis Valley and athel' like localities. The Conejas Water Conservancy District has already been or- ganized and is now in operation. . . I t. 1 ,