F
845
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N36
NEVADA
IRRIGATION
DISTRICT ACT,
1920
BANCROFT
University of California • Berkeley
STATE
OF NEVADA
0 THE NEVADA IRRIGATION
DISTRICT ACT
Pamphlet No. 9
. ISSUED BY
J. G. SCRUGHAM, State Engineer
CARSON CITY, NEVADA
STATE PRINTING OFFICE : : : JOE FARNSWORTH, SUPERINTENDENT
1920
THE NEVADA IRRIGATION DISTRICT ACT
Stats. 191.9, page 84
CHAP. 64 — An Act to provide for the organization and gov-
(rnment of irrigation districts, for the irrigation and
drainage of lands and other related undertakings thereby,
and for the acquisition and distribution of water and
other property, construction, operation and maintenance
of works, diversion, storage, distribution, collection, and
carriage of water, cooperation with the United States; and
matters properly connected therewith.
[Approved March 19, 1919]
SECTION 1. A majority in number of the holders of title,
or evidence of title, to lands susceptible of one mode of irri-
gation from a common source or combined sources, and by
the same system or combined systems of works, may propose
the organization of an irrigation district under this act;
provided, said holders of title or evidence of title shall hold
such title or evidence of title to at least one-half part of the
total area of the land in the proposed district ; provided, fur-
ther, that every signer of a petition for the organization of
an irrigation district shall be the holder of title or evidence
of title to at least five acres of land within the proposed dis-
trict. The equalized county assessment roll next preceding
the presentation of a petition for the organization of an
irrigation district shall be sufficient evidence of title for the
purpose of this act, but other evidence may be received,
including receipts or other evidence of rights of entrymen
on land under any law of the United States, and such entry-
men shall be competent signers of such petition, and the land
on which they have made entries shall, for the purpose of
said petition, be considered as owned by them. Such entry-
men shall share all the privileges and obligations of free-
holders and owners of private land within the district, under
the several provisions of this act, including the right to vote
and hold office, subject to the terms of the act of Congress
entitled "An act to promote reclamation of arid lands,"
approved August 11, 1916. The petitioners may determine
in said petition whether the proposed district shall be divided
into three, five, or seven divisions, and whether it shall have
three, five, or seven directors, but if no number is named in
the petition the board of county commissioners may deter-
mine whether the number shall be three, five, or seven.
SEC. 2. Whenever it is proposed to organize an irrigation
district a petition shall first be presented to the board of
county commissioners of the county in which the lands or
the greater portion thereof are situated, signed by the
required number, possessing the qualifications provided for
in section 1 of this act, which petition shall set forth and
particularly describe the proposed boundaries of such dis-
trict and shall pray that the same may be organized under
the provisions of this act. The petitioners must accompany
the petition with a good and sufficient bond to be approved
by the said board of county commissioners in double the
amount of the probable cost of organizing such district, con-
ditioned that the bondsmen will pay all said costs in case
said organization shall not be effected. Such petition shall
be filed in the office of the county clerk and a notice thereof
shall be published for at least two weeks before the time at
which the same is to be presented to the board of county
commissioners in some newspaper printed and published in
the county where said petition is presented, which newspaper
shall be designated by said board as the paper most likely to
impart notice of the hearing of said petition ; the said notice
to set forth that said petition has been filed, the time of the
meeting of said board to consider said petition, and a descrip-
tion of the territory to be embraced in such proposed district.
SEC. 3. When such petition is presented, and it shall
appear that the notice of the presentation of said petition
has been given and that said petition has been signed by
the requisite number of petitioners as required by this act,
the commissioners shall hold a hearing on said petition and
may adjourn such hearing from time to time not exceeding
three weeks in all. Contiguous or neighboring lands sus-
ceptible of irrigation from the common source or combined
sources aforesaid, not included in such district as described
in the petition, may at such hearing upon application of the
holder or holders of title or evidence of title thereto as pre-
scribed in section 1 hereof be included in such district, and
lands described in said petition not susceptible of irrigation
from such system or systems may upon similar application
be excluded therefrom; provided always, that said board
shall not modify the boundaries described in the petition so
as to change the object of said petition or so as to exempt
from the operation of this act any land which is susceptible
of irrigation by the system. or systems aforesaid. In the
hearing of any such petition the board of county commis-
sioners shall disregard any informalities therein, and in case
it deny the same or dismiss it for any reasons on account of
the provisions of this act not having been complied with,
which are the only reasons upon which it shall have the right
to refuse or dismiss the same, it shall state its reasons in
writing therefor in detail, which shall be entered upon its
records, and in case the reasons are not well founded a writ
of mandamus shall upon proper application therefor issue
out of the district court of the county compelling it to act in
compliance with this act, which writ shall be heard within
twenty days from the date of issuance, such time to be
excluded from the time given the county commissioners to
act upon the petition. Upon the completion of the hearing
the count v commissioners shall forthwith make an order
denying or granting the prayer of said petition, and if the
same is granted shall, in said order, define and establish the
boundaries and designate the name of such proposed district
;nid divide the same into three, five, or seven divisions, as
proscribed in the petition, as nearly equal in size as may be
practicable. Thereupon the said commissioners shall by fur-
ther order duly entered upon their record call an election of
the qualified electors of said proposed district to determine
whether such district shall be organized under the provisions
of this act, and by such order shall submit the names of one
or more persons from each of the divisions of said district to
be voted for as directors of the district. One director shall
be elected from each division and shall be a qualified elector
of the district and holder of title, or evidence of title, as
prescribed in section 1 of this act, to land within the division
from which he is elected. Each division shall constitute an
election precinct for the purposes of this act. The board of
county commissioners shall give notice of such election,
which shall be published for two weeks prior to such election
in a newspaper within the county where the petition is filed.
Such notice shall require the electors to cast ballots, which
shall contain the words " Irrigation District — Yes," or "Irri-
gation District — No," or words equivalent thereto, and the
names of persons to be voted for as directors. For the pur-
pose of this election the board shall establish a polling place
in each election precinct aforesaid, and shall also appoint
three qualified electors to act as inspectors of election in
each election precinct, and also appoint for each precinct
two clerks of election. The number of directors and the
number and boundaries of divisions of any district organized
under the laws of this state shall not be altered or changed
except by a petition of a majority of the qualified electors of
the district and a majority of the directors.
SEC. 4. Except as in this act otherwise provided, all such
elections shall be conducted as near as may be practicable in
accordance with the general election laws of this state. The
board of county commissioners shall meet on the second
Monday succeeding such election and proceed to canvass the
votes cast thereat, and if upon such canvass it appear that a
majority of the electors voted "Irrigation District — Yes" the
board, by an order entered upon its minutes, shall declare
such territory duly organized as an irrigation district under
the name and style theretofore designated, and shall declare
the persons receiving respectively the highest number of
votes for directors to be duly elected, and shall cause a copy
of such order and a plat of said district, each duly certified
by the clerk of the board of county commissioners, to be
immediately filed for record in the office of the county
recorder of each county in which any portion of such lands
are situated, and certified copies thereof shall also be filed
with the county clerk of such counties, and thereafter the
organization of the district shall be complete. No lands
while they remain within a district shall be included in any
other district.
SEC. 5. The regular elections of irrigation districts shall
be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in April
of the second calendar year after the completion of the
organization thereof, and on the same day biennially there-
after, or as to districts heretofore organized, biennially after
the first regular election therein. The directors elected at
the organization election shall be selected by lot so that
one, two or three directors, according to whether there are
in all three, five, or seven on the board, shall hold office until
their successors are elected at the next regular election and
qualify, and two, three, or four directors, as the case may be,
shall hold office until their successors are elected at the
second regular election after organization and qualify, and
at the regular election biennially thereafter directors shall
be elected, to replace the directors whose terms expire, for
terms of four years, or until their successors are elected and
qualify. Directors so elected shall have the qualifications
prescribed in this act for directors elected at the time of
organization. Nominations for the office of directors shall be
made by filing a declaration with the secretary within fifty
days before the date of election and not later than ten days
before such election. Candidates shall pay twenty-five ($25)
dollars filing fee with such declaration.
SEC. 6. Not less than fifteen nor more than twenty days
before any election held under this act subsequent to the
organization of the district the secretary shall cause notice
specifying the polling places and time of holding the elec-
tion to be posted in three public places in each election pre-
cinct and in the office of the board of directors. Prior to
the time for posting the notice the board of directors shall
appoint three qualified electors to act as inspectors of elec-
tion in such election precinct and shall also appoint two
clerks of election for each precinct. If the board of directors
fail to appoint a board of election or the members appointed
do not attend the opening of the polls on the morning of elec-
tion the electors of the precinct present at that hour may
appoint the board or supply the place of absent members
thereof. The board of directors shall, in its order appointing-
the board of election, designate the hour and the place in each
precinct where the election shall be held. At least four weeks
before any such election said board of directors shall appoint
a registrar for each precinct of the district. Such registrars
shall be governed in the performance of their duties by the
general election laws of the state as far as they are applicable
and shall be at their places of registration to receive applica-
tions for registrations from nine o'clock a. m. to nine o'clock
p. m. on each of the three Saturdays next preceding the
date of election. The registrars shall require registrants to
take the following oath, in substance : "I am, or have declared
my intention to become, a citizen of the United States, am
over tin* ;»«••»• of t wentv-one years, and am, or properly rep-
resent, under the law in pursuance of which this election is
to he held, the holder of title or evidence of title, as denned
in said law, to land within the boundaries of the
irrigation district." No election for any purpose except for
organization shall be held in any irrigation district without
such rejristration, and only electors duly registered shall be
entitled to vote thereat.
SEC. 7. Before opening the polls each inspecto^and each
clerk must take and subscribe to an oath to faithfully per-
form the duties imposed upon him by law. Any elector of
the precinct may administer and certify such oath. Vacan-
cies occurring during the progress of the election may be
filled by the remaining inspector or inspectors, and any
inspector of election may administer and certify oaths.
The time of opening and closing the polls, the manner of
conducting the election, canvassing and announcing the
result, the keeping of the tally-list, and the making and cer-
tifying of such result and the disposition of the ballots after
election shall be the same, as near as may be, as provided
for elections under the general election law of this state,
but no registrar or election officer shall receive any pay for
services at any district election. The returns shall be
delivered to the secretary of the district and no list, tally-
paper or returns from any election shall be set aside or
rejected for want of form if it can be satisfactorily under-
stood. The board of directors shall meet at its usual place of
meeting on the second Monday after an election to canvass
the returns and it shall proceed in the same manner and
with like effect, as near as may be, as the board of county
commissioners in canvassing the returns of general elections,
and when it shall have declared the result the secretary shall
make full entries in his record in like manner as is required
of the county clerk in general elections. The board of
directors must declare efected the person or persons having
the highest number of votes given for each office. The sec-
retary shall immediately make out and deliver to such per-
son or persons a certificate of election signed by him and
authenticated with the seal of the board. Within ten days
after receiving the certificate of his election, each director
shall take and subscribe to an official oath and file the same
with the secretanr of the board of directors. Each member
of said board of directors shall execute an official bond in
the sum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), which shall be
approved by the judge of the district court in and for the
county where such organization is effected. Such bonds
shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder and
filed with the secretary of the board.
SEC. 8. Any person, male or female, of the age of 21 years
or over, whether a resident of the district or not, who is or
has declared his intention to become a citizen of the United
States and who is a bona-fide holder of title, or evidence of
title, as defined in section 1 hereof, to land situated in the
district, shall be entitled to one vote at any election held
under the provisions of this act, and shall be held to be
referred to whenever the words elector or electors are used
herein. Any elector residing outside of the district owning
land in the district and qualified to vote at district elections
shall be considered as a resident of that division and precinct
of the district in which the major portion of his lands are
located f£- the purpose of determining his place of voting
and qualifications for holding office. A guardian, executor
or administrator shall be considered as the holder of title
or evidence of title as prescribed in section 1 hereof to the
land in the estate for which he is such guardian, executor, or
administrator, and shall have the right to sign petitions, vote
and do all things that any elector may or can do under this
act. Corporations holding land in the district shall be con-
sidered as persons entitled to exercise all the rights of natural
persons and the president of the corporation, or other person
duly authorized by the president or vice-president in writ-
ing, may sign any petition authorized by this act or cast the
vote of the corporation at any election.
SEC. 9. The officers of such district shall consist of three,
five, or seven directors, as aforesaid, a president and vice-
president elected from their number, a secretary and a
treasurer. The secretary and treasurer shall be appointed
by the board of directors and may or may not be members of
said board. Such officers shall serve at the will of the board.
One person may be appointed to serve as secretary and
treasurer. The board of directors shall designate some place
within the county where the organization of the district was
effected as the office of the board and the board shall hold a
regular monthly meeting in its office on the first Monday in
every month and such special meetings as may be required
for the proper transaction of business; provided, that all
special meetings must be called by the president or a major-
ity of the board. The order calling such special meeting shall
be entered of record, and the secretary shall give each mem-
ber not joining in the order five days' notice of such special
meeting. The order must specify the business to be trans-
acted at such special meeting, and none other than that-
specified shall be transacted. Whenever all members of the
board are present at a meeting the same shall be deemed a
legal meeting and any lawful business may be transacted.
All meetings of the board shall be public and a majority of
the members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of
business, but on all questions requiring a vote there shall be
a concurrence of at least a majority of the members of the
board. All records of the board shall be open to the inspec-
tion of any elector during business hours. On the first
Monday in May next following their election, the board of
directors shall meet and organize, elect a president and vice-
president and appoint a secretary and treasurer. The
appointees aforesaid shall file bonds which shall In- approved
by the board, for the faithful performance of their duties.
Any vacancies in the office of director shall be filled from the
division in which the vacancy occurs by the remaining mem-
bers of the board. A director appointed to fill a vacancy, as
above provided, shall hold his office for the unexpired term
of his predecessor in office, and until his successor is elected
and qualifies.
SEC. 10. The board of directors shall have power to
manage and conduct the business and affairs of the district,
to make and execute all necessary contracts, to employ and
appoint such agents, officers, and employees as may be
required and prescribe their duties, and to establish by-laws,
rules and regulations for the distribution and use of water
in the district. Said by-laws, rules, and regulations shall be
printed in convenient form for distribution throughout the
district. For the purpose of acquiring control over govern-
ment lands within the district, and of complying with the
provisions of the aforesaid act of Congress of August 11,
1916, the board shall have power to make such investigation
and base thereon such representations and assurances to the
secretary of the interior as may be requisite. The board and
its agents and employees shall have the right to enter upon
any land to make surveys, and may locate the necessary irri-
gation and other works, and the lines of any canal or canals,
and the necessary branches for the same, on any lands
which may be deemed best for such location. Said board
shall also have the right to acquire, either by purchase, con-
demnation, or other legal means, all lands, rights, and other
property necessary for the construction, use and supply,
operation, maintenance, repair, and improvement of the
works of the district, including canals and works constructed
and being constructed by private owners, lands for reser-
voirs for the storage of waters, and all other works and
appurtenances, either within or without the State of Nevada.
In case of purchase of property the bonds of the district
hereinafter provided for may be used to their par value in
payment. The board may appropriate water in accordance
with the law, and also construct the necessary dams, reser-
voirs, and works for the collection, storage, conservation and
distribution of water for said district and for the drainage
of the lands thereof, and do any and every lawful act neces-
sary to be done in order to accomplish the things and pur-
poses herein described. The collection, storage, conveyance,
distribution and use of water by or through the works
of irrigation districts heretofore or hereafter organized,
together with the rights of way for canals and ditches, sites
for reservoirs, and all other works and property required to
fully carry out the provisions of this act, is hereby declared
to be a public use.
SEC. 11. The said board is hereby authorized and empow-
ered to institute, maintain, and defend, in the name of the
.: 10
district, any and all actions and proceedings, suits at law,
and in equity.
SEC. 12. The members of the board of directors shall each
receive five dollars per day and actual traveling expenses for
each day spent attending meetings of said board or while
engaged in official business under the order of the board.
The board shall fix the compensation to be paid to the other
officers named in this act; provided, that said board shall,
upon the petition of a majority of the electors within such
district, submit to the electors at any general election of said
district a schedule of salaries and fees to be paid the direc-
tors and officers thereof. Such petitions shall be presented to
the board twenty days prior to such general election and a
schedule fee submitted upon a two-thirds vote therefor shall
be put into effect upon the first of the month next ensuing.
SEC. 13. No director or any other officer named in this
act shall in any manner be interested, directly or indirectly,
in any contract awarded by the board, or in the profits to
be derived therefrom ; and for any violation of this provi-
sion such officer shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor,
and upon conviction thereof shall suffer a forfeiture of his
office, and he shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five
hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not
to exceed six months or by both such fine and imprisonment.
SEC. 14. The board of directors, or other officers of the
district, shall have no power to incur any debt or liability
whatever either by issuing bonds or otherwise in excess of
the express provisions of this act, and any debt or liability
incurred in excess of such express provisions shall be and
remain absolutely void ; provided, that for the purpose of
organization, or for any of the purposes of this act, the board
of directors may, before the collection of the first assessment,
incur an indebtedness not exceeding in the aggregate the
sum of three thousand dollars, and may cause warrants of
the district to issue therefor, bearing interest at six per cent
per annum, and the directors shall have the right and power
to levy an assessment of not to exceed ten (10) cents per
acre on all lands in said district for the payment of such
expenses. Thereafter the directors shall have the right and
power to levy an assessment, annually, in the absence of
assessments therefor under any of the other provisions of
this act of not to exceed ten (10) cents per acre on all lands
in said district for the payment of the ordinary and current
expenses of the district, including salaries of officers and other
incidental expenses. Such assessments shall be collected as
in this act provided for the collection of other assessments.
SEC. 15. As soon as practicable after the organization of
a district the board of directors shall, by a resolution entered
on its records, formulate a general plan of its proposed
operations in which it shall state what constructed works or
other property it proposes to purchase and the cost of pur-
chasing the same, and also what construction work it pro-
poses to do, and how it proposes to raise the funds for
— 11 —
carrying out such general plan. The board shall cause such
.surveys and examinations to be made as will furnish a proper
luisis for an estimate of the cost of carrying out the con-
struction work. All such surveys, examinations, maps, plans,
and estimates shall be made under the direction of a com-
petent irrigation engineer and certified by him. Upon
receiving his report the board shall proceed to determine the
amount of money necessary to be raised for the purchase of
property and construction of works, and shall immediately
thereafter call a special election at which shall be submitted
to the electors of said district possessing the qualifications
prescribed by this act the question whether or not the
expense shall be authorized and whether by bond issue or
otherwise. Notice of such election must be given by posting
notices in three public places in each election precinct in the
district for three weeks before the date of election, and the
publication thereof for three weeks in some newspaper pub-
lished in the county where the district was organized. Such
notice shall specify the time of holding the election, the
amount of bonds proposed to be issued, and shall state in
substance that such plans and estimates as have been made
are on file for inspection by the electors of the district at
the office of the board. Said election must be held and the
result thereof determined and declared in all respects as
nearly as practicable in conformity with the provisions of
this act governing the election of officers, and no informali-
ties in conducting such an election shall invalidate the same
if it shall have been otherwise fairly conducted. At such
an election the ballot shall contain the words "
(Question) Yes," or " (Question) No," or
words equivalent thereto. If two-thirds or more of the
votes cast are "Yes," the board of directors shall be author-
ized to incur the expense, and if a bond issue be authorized
shall cause bonds in the amount authorized to be issued. If
more than one-third of the votes cast at any bond election
are "No," the result of such election shall be so declared and
entered of record. Thereafter, whenever said board in its
judgment deems it for the best interest of the district that
the question of the issuance of bonds in such amount, or in
any other amount, shall be submitted to the electors it shall
so declare of record in its minutes, and may thereupon sub-
mit such question to said electors in the same manner* and
with like effect as at such previous election, but no question
shall be resubmitted to the electors within one year after
the same has been voted upon and rejected.
SEC. 16. The bonds authorized by vote shall be designated
as a series, and the series shall be numbered consecutively as
authorized. The portion of the bonds of the series sold at
any time shall be designated as an issue and each issue shall
be numbered in its order. The bonds of such issue shall be
numbered consecutively, commencing with those earliest fall-
ing due, and they shall be designated as eleven-year bonds,
twelve-year bonds, etc. They shall be negotiable in form,
12
and payable in money of the United States as follows, to
wit: At the expiration of eleven years from each issue, five
per cent of the whole number of bonds of such issue ; at the
expiration of twelve years, six per cent ; at the expiration of
thirteen years, seven per cent ; at the expiration of fourteen
years, eight per cent ; at the expiration of fifteen years, nine
per cent ; at the expiration of sixteen years, ten per cent ;
at the expiration of seventeen years, eleven per cent ; at the
expiration of eighteen years, thirteen per cent ; at the expira-
tion of nineteen years, fifteen per cent ; at the expiration of
twenty years, sixteen per cent; provided, that such per-
centage may be changed sufficiently so that every bond shall
be in the amount of one hundred dollars, or a multiple
thereof, and the above provisions shall not be construed to
require any single bond to fall due in partial payments.
Interest coupons shall be attached thereto, and all bonds and
coupons shall be dated on January 1, or July 1, next follow-
ing the date of their authorization, and they shall bear
interest at the rate of not to exceed six per cent per annum,
payable semiannually on the first day of January and July
of each year. The principal and interest shall be payable at
the place designated therein. Said bonds shall be each of a
denomination of not less than one hundred dollars, nor more
than one thousand dollars, and shall be signed by the presi-
dent and secretary, and the seal of the district shall be affixed
thereto. Coupons attached to each bond shall be signed by
the secretary. Said bonds shall express on their face that
they were issued by the authority of this act, naming it, and
shall also state the number of the issue of which said bonds
are a part. The secretary and the treasurer shall each keep
a record of the bonds sold, their number, the date of sale, the
price received, and the name of the purchaser. In case the
money raised by the sale of all the bonds be insufficient for
the completion of the plans and works adopted, and addi-
tional bonds be not voted, it shall be the duty of the board of
directors to provide for the completion of said plan by levy
or assessment therefor; provided, further, that when the
money obtained by any previous issue of bonds has become
exhausted by expenditures herein authorized, and it becomes
necessary to raise additional moneys to carry out the adopted
plan, additional bonds may be issued if authorized at an
election for that purpose, which election shall be called and
otherwise conducted in accordance with the provisions of
this act in respect to an original issue of bonds. The lien for
taxes for the payment of interest and principal of any bond
issue shall be a prior lien to that of any subsequent bond
issue. The time for the issuance and maturity of the bonds
and the manner of their payment may be otherwise deter-
mined and directed, if submitted to a vote, by the electors of
said district at the election authorizing the said bonds.
SEC. 17. Whenever the electors shall have authorized an
issue of bonds, as hereinbefore provided, the board of direc-
tors shall examine each tract or legal subdivision of land in
13
tin- district, and shall determine the benetits which will accrue
to each of such tracts or subdivisions from the construction or
purchase of the works proposed for the district; and the
costs of such works shall be apportioned or distributed over
such tracts or subdivisions of land in proportion to such
benefits. The board shall make, or cause to be made, a list of
such apportionment or distribution, which list shall contain a
complete description of each subdivision or tract of land of
such district with the amount and rate per acre of such
apportionment or distribution, and the name of the owner
thereof, or it may prepare a map on a convenient scale show-
ing each of said subdivisions or tracts with the rate per acre
of such apportionment entered thereon ; provided, that where
all or any portion of the lands are assessed by said board at
the same rate a general statement to that effect shall be suffi-
cient. Said list or map shall be made in duplicate, and one
copy of each shall be filed in the office of the state engineer,
and the original shall remain in the office of the board of direc-
tors. Whenever thereafter an assessment is made, either in
lieu of bonds, or an annual assessment for raising the interest
on bonds, or any portion of the principal, or the expenses of
maintaining the property of the district, or any special
assessment voted by the electors, it shall be spread upon the
lands in the same proportion as the assessments of benefits,
and the whole amount of the assessments of benefits shall
equal the amount of bonds or other obligations authorized at
the election last above mentioned ; provided always, that the
benefits arising from the undertakings for which special
assessments are made may be distributed equally over the
lands, or especially apportioned, when such course is author-
ized in the election therefor, and that assessments or tolls and
charges may be made or imposed as hereinafter provided,
when coming within the designation of operation and main-
tenance charges, by way of a minimum stated charge per
acre whether water is used or not, and a charge for water
used in excess of the amount delivered for the minimum
charge, or such other reasonable method of fixing or collect-
ing the operation and maintenance charge as the board of
directors may adopt. Where drainage works are to be con-
structed, benefits may be apportioned to higher lands not
then actually requiring drainage by reason of the fact that
their irrigation contributes water which must be carried off
or away from the lower lands.
SEC. 18. Before final action upon the apportionment of
benefits provided for in the last preceding section, the board
shall publish notice for two weeks in a newspaper published
in the county in which the organization was effected that it
will meet at its office on the day stated in said notice for the
purpose of reviewing such apportionment of benefits. At
such meeting the board shall proceed to hear all parties inter-
ested who may appear, and it shall continue in session from
day to day until the apportionment is completed. It shall
hear and receive all evidence offered, including any maps or
14
surveys which any owners of lands may produce, and may
classify the lands in such a way that the assessment when
completed shall be just and equitable. Any person interested
who shall fail to appear before the board shall not be per-
mitted thereafter to contest said apportionment, or any
assessment thereunder, except upon a special application to
the court in the proceeding for confirmation of said appor-
tionment, showing reasonable excuse for failing to appear
before the board. In case any* elector makes objection to
said apportionment before said board, and said objection is
overruled and such elector does not consent to the appor-
tionment as finally determined, such objection shall, without
further proceedings, be heard at the confirmation proceed-
ings herein provided for.
SEC. 19. The board of directors of the district shall file
with the clerk of the district court in and for the county in
which its office is situated, a petition praying in effect that
the proceedings aforesaid be examined, approved and con-
firmed by the court. The petition shall state generally that
the irrigation district was duly organized and the first board
of directors elected, that due and legal proceedings were
taken to issue bonds, stating the amount thereof, and that
an apportionment of benefits was made by the board and a
list thereof duly filed according to law. A list of the appor-
tionment shall be attached to said petition, but the petition
need not state other facts. Such petition for confirmation
of the proceedings thus far had may be filed after the
organization of the district is complete, or after the authoriza-
tion of any issue of bonds, or after any other undertaking of
the district. The court or judge shall fix the time and place
for the hearing of any such petition, and the clerk shall
publish a notice thereof for two consecutive weeks in a news-
paper published in the county. Any person interested may
on or before the day fixed for said hearing answer said peti-
tion. None of the pleadings need be sworn to, and every
material statement of the petition not controverted by answer
shall be taken as true. A failure to answer the petition shall
be deemed to be an admission of the material allegations
thereof. The rules of pleading and practice provided by the
civil practice act of this state shall be followed so far as
applicable. A motion for a new trial, and all proceedings in
the nature of appeals or rehearings, may be had as in any
ordinary civil action.
SEC. 20. Upon the hearing of such petition, the court
shall examine all the proceedings sought to be confirmed and
may ratify, approve and confirm the same or any part
thereof ; and when an apportionment of benefits is examined
all objections thereto, including those made at the hearing
before the board, shall be set up in the answer and heard
by the court. The court shall disregard every error, irregu-
larity or omission which does not affect the substantial rights
of any party, and if the court shall find that the apportion-
ment is as to any substantial matter erroneous or unjust, the
15
same shall not be returned to the board, but the court shall
proceed to correct the same so as to conform to this act and
the rights of all parlies in the premises, and the final judg-
ment may approve and confirm such proceedings in whole or
in part. In case of the approval of the organization of the
district and the disapproval of the proceedings for issuing
bonds the district may again undertake proceedings for
the issuance of bonds and have the same confirmed as herein
provided. The cost of the proceedings in court may be
allowed and apportioned among the parties thereto in the
discretion of the court.
SEC. 21. The board may sell bonds from time to time in
such quantities as may be necessary and most advantageous
to raise money for the construction of works and the acquisi-
tion of property and rights and to otherwise carry out the
objects and purposes of this act. Before making any sale
the board shall by resolution declare its intention to sell a
specific number and amount of bonds, and if said bonds can
be sold at par with accrued interest they may be disposed
of without advertising; otherwise notice shall be published
for three weeks in a newspaper in the county in which the
office of the district is situated, and in such other newspaper
in or outside of the state as the board may deem expedient,
that sealed proposals will be received at its office on or before
a day and hour set in said notice for the purchase of said
bonds. At the time appointed the board shall publicly open
the proposals, and sell the bonds to the highest responsible
bidder, or it may reject all bids; but in case no bids are
received, or all bids are rejected, it shall not again be neces-
sary to advertise the sale thereof, but they may be sold at
any time until canceled ; provided, that the said board shall
in no event sell any of the bonds for less than ninety (90)
per cent of the par value thereof and accrued interest. If for
any reason the bonds of a district cannot be sold, or if at
any time it shall be deemed for the best interests of the dis-
trict to withdraw from sale all or any portion of an author-
ized bond issue, the board of directors may, in its discretion,
cancel the same and levy assessments in the amount of the
bonds canceled; provided, that the revenue derived from
said assessments must be employed for the same purpose as
was contemplated by the bond authorization, but no levy
shall be made to pay for work or material, payment for
which was contemplated by bonds which have been author-
ized, until bonds to the amount of said assessments have been
canceled. Assessments made in lieu of bonds canceled shall
be collected in the same manner and shall have the same force
and effect as other assesments levied under the provisions
of this act; provided, that such assessments shall not dur-
ing any one year exceed ten per cent of the total bond issue
authorized by such district, unless a greater assessment shall
be authorized by a majority vote of the qualified electors
of the district voting at a general election or a special elec-
tion called for that purpose.
16
SEC. 22. Said bonds and the interest thereon shall be paid
by revenue derived from the annual assessment upon the
lands in the district ; and all the land in the district shall be
and remain liable to be assessed for such payment in accord
with the apportionment of benefits as in this act provided.
SEC. 23. The following funds are hereby created and
established, to which the moneys properly belonging shall be
apportioned, to wit : Construction fund, bond fund, and gen-
eral fund. Moneys accruing from the sale of bonds, and from
any assessments levied for. the direct payment of cost of con-
struction, purchase of property, or other undertakings for
which bonds may be issued, shall be deposited and kept in the
construction fund. Moneys accruing from assessments levied
for the payment of interest and principal on bonds shall be
deposited and kept in the bond fund. All other moneys,
including those realized from assessments, or, as the case
may be, from tolls and charges levied or imposed for defray-
ing the organization and current expense of the district, and
expenses and cost of the care, operation, maintenance, man-
agement, repair, and necessary current improvement or
replacement of existing works and property, including
salaries and wages of officers and employees and other proper
incidental expenditures, shall be deposited and kept in the
general fund. The treasurer of the district is hereby author-
ized and required to receive and receipt for and to collect the
moneys accruing to the several funds above named, and to
place the same to the credit of the district in the appropriate
fund. Said treasurer shall be responsible upon his official
bond for the safe-keeping and disbursement of the moneys in
such funds. Interest coupons shall be paid by him as in this
act provided. The board may establish rules and regulations
and prescribe the conditions under which the treasurer may
make disbursements from the general fund, but no other pay-
ments from any of the funds above named shall be made by
the treasurer except upon vouchers signed by the president
and secretary authorized by order of the board. The county
treasurer or treasurers who are required by this act to collect
assessments levied by the district are hereby authorized to
turn over to the treasurer of the district all moneys so col-
lected and to take his receipt therefor. Such district treas-
urer shall report to the board in writing on the first Monday
in each month the amount of money in the several funds
aforesaid and the amounts received and paid out in the pre-
ceding month, and the treasurer shall make such other report
and accounting as the board may require. Such reports shall
be verified and filed with the secretary of the board.
SEC. 24. The treasurer, upon the presentation of interest
coupons when due, shall pay the same from the bond fund.
Whenever after ten years from the issuance of bonds said fund
shall amount to the sum of ten thousand dollars, the board
of directors may direct the treasurer to pay such an amount
of said bonds not due as the money in said fund will redeem
at the lowest value at which they may be offered for liquida-
17
tion, a ft IT advertising for at least three weeks in SOUK- news-
paper published in tin* county in which the office of the
district is located, and in such other newspapers as the board
may deem advisable, for sealed proposals for the redemption
of such bonds. Such proposals shall be opened by the board
in open meeting at a time to be named in the notice, and the
lowest bid or bids shall be accepted ; provided, that no bonds
shall be redeemed at a rate above par. In ease two or more
bids are equal the lowest-numbered bond shall have the pref-
erence, and if any of said bonds are not so redeemed, that
amount of the redemption money shall be invested by the
treasurer under the direction of the board in United States
bonds or the bonds or warrants of the state or municipal
or school bonds, and such bonds and the proceeds therefrom
shall belong1 to the bond fund.
SEC. 25. The secretary of the board of directors shall be
the assessor of the district and on or before August fifteenth
of each year shall prepare an assessment book containing a
full and accurate list and description of all the land of the
district, and a list of the persons who own, claim or have
possession or control thereof during said year, giving the
number of acres listed to each person. If the name of the
person owning, claiming, possessing, or controlling any tract
of said land is not known, it shall be listed to "unknown
owner."
SEC. 26. The board shall meet on the first Monday in
September of each year to correct assessments and the secre-
tary shall publish notice of such meeting for two weeks in a
iie\vspaper published in the county in which the district was
organized. In the meantime the assessment book or books
shall remain in the office of the secretary for the inspection
of all parties interested. The board of directors, which is
hereby constituted a board of correction for the purpose,
shall meet and continue from day to day as long as may be
necessary, not to exceed five days, exclusive of holidays, and
may make such changes in said assessment book or books as
may be necessary to have it conform to the facts. Within ten
days after the close of said session the secretary of the board
shall have the corrected assessment book or books completed.
SEC. 27. At its regular meeting in October the board of
directors shall levy an assessment upon the lands in said
district in accordance with the provisions of this act, which
assessment shall be sufficient to raise the annual interest
on the outstanding bonds. At the expiration of ten years
after a bond issue or such other period as may be author-
ized, the board must increase said assessment as may be
necessary from year to year to raise a sum sufficient to pay
the principal of the outstanding bonds of that issue as they
mature. The secretary of the board shall compute and enter
in a separate column of the assessment book or books the
respective sums to be paid as an assessment on the property
therein enumerated. Except as otherwise provided herein,
assessments made for any of the other purposes of this act
18
shall be made and levied as above provided and entered in
appropriate columns of the assessment book or books.
SEC. 28. An assessment is a lien against the property
assessed from and after the first Monday in March of the suc-
ceeding year. The lien of the bonds of any issue shall be a
preferred lien to that of any subsequent issue, and such lien
is not removed until the assessments are paid or the property
sold for the payment thereof.
SEC. 29. An assessment book shall be made up for the
lands in each county in which the district is situated and
the secretary of the board of directors shall forthwith
certify the same to the county auditor or county auditors,
as the case may be, who shall enter such assessments in the
tax rolls of such county or counties. The assessments when
levied and enrolled shall become due and delinquent at the
same time and be subject to the same penalties and shall be
collected by the same officers and in the same manner as state
and county taxes. The county auditor, district attorney,
clerk and treasurer shall do and perform all acts necessary
to accomplish the collection of the same with penalties and
the sale for delinquency and redemption of the lands involved.
SEC. 30. After adopting a plan for such works as are
proposed, and then there is sufficient money in the construc-
tion fund as aforesaid, the board of directors shall cause
notice to be given by the secretary by publication thereof
for not less than two weeks in a newspaper published in
the county in which the district was organized, and in such
other publications or newspapers as it may deem advisable,
calling for bids for the construction of such works, or any
portion thereof. If less than the whole work is advertised
then the portions so advertised must be particularly described
in such notice. The notice shall set forth that the plans and
specifications can be seen at the office of the board, that the
board will receive sealed proposals for the construction of
the proposed works and that a contract therefor will be let
to the lowest responsible bidder, subject to the right of the
board to reject any and all bids, stating the time and place
for opening the bids. At the time and place appointed the
bids shall be opened in public and as soon as convenient
thereafter the board shall accept a bid or bids and contract
for the construction of the works, either in portions or as a
whole, or it may reject any and all bids and readvertise for
proposals. Contracts for the purchase of material shall be
entered into in the same manner, but if no reasonable bid is
received the material may be purchased without advertise-
ment. Any person or persons to whom a contract may be
awarded shall enter into a bond in favor of the district with
good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the board
for not less than 20 per cent of the amount of the contract
price, conditioned upon the faithful performance of said con-
tract. The work shall be done under the direction and to the
satisfaction of the engineer employed by the district and
approved by the board; provided, that no contract of any
19
kind shall be let by said board of directors unless there is
sufficient money in the district treasury at the time such
contract is let to fully pay for the work or material so con-
tracted for.
SEC. 31. On the petition of a majority of the electors of the
district, the board of directors may do any work mentioned
in the preceding section on behalf of the district without call-
in jr for bids, and it may use the construction fund therefor.
SEC. 32. The cost and expense of purchasing and acquir-
ing property, and of constructing works to carry out the
formulated plan or plans, whether for irrigation or drainage
or both, or for the improvement or supplementing of existing
works, except as otherwise provided herein, shall be paid out
of the construction fund. For the purpose of defraying the
organization and current expense of the district, and of the
care, operation, maintenance, management, repair, and neces-
sary current improvement or replacement of existing works
and property, including salaries and wages of officers and
employees and other proper incidental expenditures, the
board may fix rates of tolls or charges, and provide for the
collection thereof by the district treasurer as operation and
maintenance, or some like designation, or may levy assess-
ments therefor, or for a portion thereof, collecting the balance
as tolls or charges as aforesaid. In this relation provision
may be made by the board for the fixing, levying and collec-
tion of a minimum, flat, or stated operation and maintenance
assessment, toll, or charge per acre, whether water is used
or not, and a further operation and maintenance toll or
charge for water used in excess of the amount delivered for
the minimum charge ; or the board may adopt other reason-
able methods of fixing and collecting the operation and main-
tenance charges. Assessments, tolls, and charges may be
collected in advance, and the assessment aforesaid, and such
tolls and charges, may be based upon an estimate of the
operation and maintenance revenue required for the current
or ensuing year ; to be adjusted as near as may be from year
to year. Water service may be refused and water delivery
may be shut off whenever there is a default in the payment
of operation and maintenance, but all other legal remedies
shall also be available for the enforcement of the debt. The
tolls and charges shall be collected by the treasurer and
deposited in the general fund, and he shall account therefor
and disburse the same as in this act provided.
SEC. 33. The board of directors shall have the power to
construct the works of the district across any stream of
water, watercourse, street, avenue, highway, railway, canal,
ditch or flume, in such manner as to afford security for life
and property ; but said board shall restore the same when
so crossed or intersected to their former state as near as may
be or in a manner not unnecessarily impairing its usefulness;
and if a railroad company or those in control of the prop-
erty, thing or franchise to be crossed cannot agree with the
board upon the amount to be paid, or upon the point or
20
points or the manner of crossing or intersecting, the same
shall be ascertained and determined as herein provided in
respect to the taking of land.
SEC. 34. The right of way is hereby given, dedicated and
set apart, to locate, construct, operate, and maintain the
works of the district over and through any of the lands
which are now or may be the property of the state.
SEC. 35. All irrigation districts organized under the laws
of the State of Nevada shall have the right of eminent domain
with the power by and through their board of directors to
cause to be condemned and appropriated in the name of and
for the use of said districts all reservoirs, canals, and works,
with their appurtenances, constructed for the irrigation or
drainage of any lands within the district for uses inciden-
tal thereto, and all lands required therefor, and all lands and
rights of way required for the works constructed, or to be
constructed, or which may be acquired by the district, and
all necessary appurtenances and other property and rights
necessary for the construction, operation, maintenance,
repair, and improvement of said works. Such districts shall
have the right by and through their boards of directors to
acquire by purchase or other legal means any or all of the
property mentioned and referred to in this section. In any
action or proceedings for the condemnation of any such
property wherein an irrigation district is plaintiff such dis-
trict, within six months after final judgment, shall pay the
amount awarded in the judgment or said judgment will be
annulled. Except as otherwise provided in this act, the pro-
visions of the laws of Nevada relative to the right of eminent
domain, civil actions, new trials and appeals, shall be appli-
cable to and constitute the rules of practice in condemnation
proceedings by irrigation districts.
SEC. 36. The holder or holders of any title or evidence of
title, as defined in section 1 hereof, representing one-half or
more of any body of lands adjacent to or in the vicinity of an
irrigation district, which are susceptible of irrigation or
drainage, as the case may be, or both, by the district system,
or combined systems of works, may file with the board of
directors of the district a petition, in writing, praying that
said land may be annexed. The petition shall describe the
land and also describe the several parcels owned by petitioners.
SEC. 37. The secretary shall cause a notice of the filing of
such petition to be published two weeks in a newspaper pub-
lished in the county where the district was organized. The
notice shall state the filing of such petition, the names of the
petitioners, and contain a description of the lands mentioned
in the petition, sufficient to identify the same, and it shall
notify all persons interested in or that may be affected by
such change of boundaries of the district to appear at the
office of the board at a time named in said notice and show
cause in writing, if any they have, why the lands mentioned
should not be annexed to said district. The petitioner or peti-
21
tinners shall advance to the district treasurer sufficient money
to pay the estimated cost of these proceedings.
SKC. ;JS. The hoard of directors, at the time mentioned in
said notice, or at such other time to which the hearing may be
adjourned, shall hear the petition and all the objections
thereto. The failure of any person to show cause as aforesaid
shall be taken as an assent on his part to a change of the
boundaries of the district so as to include the whole or part
of the land mentioned in the petition.
SEC. 39. The board of directors may require as a condi-
tion to the granting of said petition that the petitioners shall
pay to tlie district such sums as nearly as the same can be
estimated as said petitioners or their grantors would there-
tofore have been required to pay had such lands been
included in such district at the time the same was originally
organized.
SEC. 40. The board of directors, if they deem it not for the
best interests of the district to include therein the lands men-
tioned in the petition shall reject the same. But if the board
deem it for the best interests of the district, and if no person
interested shall show cause why the proposed change be not
made, or if having shown cause withdraws the same, the board
may order, without any election, that the lands mentioned in
said petition or any part thereof be annexed to the district.
The order shall describe the lands so annexed, and the board
shall cause a survey thereof to be made if deemed necessary.
SEC. 41. If any person interested shall object as afore-
said and shall not withdraw the same, and if the board deem
it for the best interests of the district to include the lands
mentioned in said objection, or some part thereof, the board
shall adopt a resolution to that effect. The resolution shall
describe the lands proposed to be included in the district.
SEC. 42. Upon the adoption of the resolution mentioned
in the last preceding section the board shall order that an
election be held within said district to determine whether
the lands described in said resolution shall be annexed to
the district, and shall fix the time at which such election shall
be held. Notice thereof shall be published, and such election
shall be held, and all things pertaining thereto conducted
in the manner prescribed by this act in case of an election
to determine whether bonds of the district shall be issued.
The ballots cast at such election shall contain the words "for
annexation," or "against annexation," or expressions equiva-
lent thereto. The notice of election shall describe the lands
proposed to be annexed to the district.
SEC. 43. If at such election a majority of all the votes cast
shall be against annexation the board shall proceed no further
in the matter ; but if a majority of such votes be in favor of
annexation the board shall thereupon order that the boun-
daries of the district be changed to include the lands to be so
annexed and cause a copy of such order, together with a plat
of said lands, each certified to by the secretary of the board,
to be filed for record in the office of the county recorder of the
22
county or counties in which such lands are situated. The
order shall describe the land so annexed and thereafter such
lands shall be subject to all the provisions of this act. Imme-
diately after the filing for record of the order annexing said
lands the directors shall state on their minutes to which divi-
sion or divisions in said district the lands shall be attached,
or may redivide the district to accommodate said lands.
SEC. 44. The holder or holders of title, or evidence of
title, as described in section 1 hereof, may file with the board
of directors a petition, in writing, praying that the boun-
daries of said district be so changed as to exclude the lands
described therein. The petition shall describe the boundaries
of the several parcels owned by the petitioners and shall state
the reasons for the exclusion prayed for. The board of direc-
tors shall cause the land described in such petition to be sur-
veyed and reported upon by a competent irrigation engineer,
and if the board shall then find said lands to be of such
character as to prevent their receiving benefits from the
existing or proposed works, the board shall make an order
changing the boundaries of said district so as to exclude the
land described in said petition. If lands are excluded as in
this section provided a copy of the order excluding same,
with a plat of land excluded, each certified by the secretary
of the board, shall be filed for record in the office of the
county recorder of the county or counties in which such lands
arc situated. If said petition be denied, the signers thereof
shall be liable to the district for the full amount of cost of
the proceedings and survey of said lands.
SEC. 45. No state lands shall become a part of an irriga-
tion district except by the consent of the state land register,
who is hereby authorized to consent thereto on behalf of the
state in writing when in his judgment, with the advice of
the state engineer, such lands will be benefited by inclusion
in the district. Such consent may be indicated by signing a
petition for organization or annexation as in this act pro-
vided. District assessments, charges, and tolls against said
lands shall not be assessed as taxes, but shall be billed to the
state land register, who shall voucher the same to the appro-
priate officer or officers for payment, and such officer or
officers are hereby authorized to pay the same out of any
state funds not otherwise appropriated. Contracts for the
sale of such lands shall be conditioned upon the payment by
the purchaser of such assessments, charges and tolls, and
upon cancelation of such contracts payments due the district
shall be made by the state as above provided.
SEC. 46. Vested interests in or to structures, works and
property or water rights owned or used in connection with
mining or power development shall never be affected by or
taken under the provisions of this act, saving and excepting
that rights of way may be acquired by the district over or
across such works or property.
SEC. 47. Upon the filing of a petition in the district court
23
setting forth that an irrigation district should be forthwith
dissolved, such petition to be signed by at least a majority of
the electors owning at least two-thirds of the land in said
district, the court shall make its order setting said petition
for hearing, giving at least three weeks notice by publica-
tion in a newspaper published in the county in which the
district was organi/ed; provided, that before the order can
be entered dissolving the district the directors must show
that the district does not owe any money nor that there are
any outstanding bonds of the district or other evidence of
indebtedness. Upon a proper showing1 being made, the court
shall enter its order dissolving such irrigation district.
SEC. 48. The board of directors of a district may at any
time when deemed advisable call a special election and sub-
mit to the qualified electors of the district the question
whether or not a special assessment shall be levied for the
purpose of raising money to be applied to any of the pur-
poses provided in this act. Such election shall be called and
the same shall be held and the result thereof determined and
declared in all respects in conformity with the provisions of
this act in respect to bond elections. The notice shall specify
the amount of money proposed to be raised and the purpose
for which it is intended to be used, and whether an equal
rate of assessment or a special apportionment of benefits
is to be made in that relation if either is proposed. At
such election the ballots shall contain the words "Assessment
— Yes." or "Assessment — No." If two-thirds or more of the
votes cast are "Assessment — Yes/' the board shall immedi-
ately proceed to apportion the benefits, if such apportionment
is to be made, and to levy an assessment sufficient to raise the
amount voted. The assessment so levied shall be entered in
the assessment book or books by the secretary of the board
and collected in the same manner as other assessments pro-
vided for herein and when received by the treasurer of the
district shall be deposited and kept in the construction fund.
At such an election there may be submitted the proposition
of authorizing the board of directors to levy each year for a
stated number of years assessments not exceeding a stated
amount per acre for the purpose of providing a fund from
which repairs may be made and replacement and extensions
of existing works may be constructed and paid for as the
necessity for same arises. In such case plans and specifica-
tions need not be made in advance — a general description of
the contemplated undertaking shall be sufficient. If said
proposition be carried by two-thirds of the electors the board
shall be authorized to levy such assessment and same shall be
collected as are other assessments under this act. Moneys
realized from such assessments shall be deposited and kept in
the general fund and disbursed by the treasurer in accord
with the direction of the board or rules and regulations estab-
lished by it.
SKC. 49. Any one of the several divisions of a district may
provide for the construction of local drains, laterals or other
24
improvements, or the replacement or extension of existing1
works or structures, the benefits of which are limited to such
division, in the following manner: Upon presentation to
the board of directors of the district of a petition, signed by
a majority of the electors of such division representing at
least one-half of the total acreage thereof, describing in a
general way the local matters proposed to be undertaken
and naming two electors of such division for local directors
thereof, the board of directors of the district shall consider
such petition at a regular meeting and if it finds that the law
has been complied with shall approve the same and appoint
the electors named in the petition as members of the local
board. One shall hold office until his successor is elected at
the next biennial district election and qualifies, and the other
until his successor is elected at the second biennial district
election after his appointment and qualifies. The terms of
such local directors shall be determined by lot and their
successors shall be elected for four-year terms at the biennial
elections. The said two local directors, with the director of
the district from that division, shall constitute the local board
of such division, and such board may provide for the local
undertakings above named ; being hereby authorized for that
purpose in so far as applicable to exercise the powers and
perform the duties granted to or imposed upon the board of
directors of the district in connection with its affairs. Such
local board shall thereupon prepare plans and estimates of
the local undertakings proposed to be accomplished by such
division, stating therein whether the funds therefor are to be
raised by a single special assessment or the said board is to
be authorized to secure the necessary amounts by way of
annual assessments extending over a stated number of years,
and not in excess of a stated amount per acre; and if the
latter method is to be used a general statement of the pur-
poses for which the money is to be raised may be substituted
for more explicit plans and estimates. Such plans and esti-
mates or statement shall be filed with the secretary of the
district, accompanied by a request of the local board that an
election be called in the division to authorize the proposed
special assessment or assessments and the construction of the
proposed works; thereupon the secretary of the board shall
give notice of the purpose, time and place of such election,
naming the polling place, and inspectors and clerks of elec-
tion suggested by the local board ; such notice to be published
and election to be held, as near as may be, as provided in this
act for an election for special assessments in the district. If
such election fail of the required two-thirds vote of the elec-
tors of the division, the terms of office of the local directors
shall thereupon terminate and the said local board shall be
dissolved. If the special assessment or assessments and con-
struction of the proposed works be authorized at such elec-
tion, the local board shall levy such assessments, or, as tin1
case may be, shall proceed to the levying of annual assess-
ments, and a list of such assessments or the first annual
25
assessment, if to be made that year, shall be delivered to
the treasurer of the district and by him entered in the assess-
ment book or books thereof, and such assessment or assess-
ments and the collection thereof shall thereafter take the
course of assessments of the district as in this act provided.
All of the above-described proceedings relating to the local
undertakings of a division, including apportionment of bene-
fits for undertakings authorized by special election, may be
confirmed in court as a part of the confirmation proceedings,
or upon petition of the board of directors of the division.
Karh member of the local board of a division shall receive
three dollars per day for each day in attending meetings of
the board, or while engaged in official business under the
order of the board. When the local undertakings above pro-
vided for are accomplished and paid for, a showing to that
effect shall be made to the board of directors of the district,
and upon the approval thereof by such board the terms of
office of the local directors shall terminate, and any moneys
of such division in the district treasury shall be appropriately
credited to the lands of the division in connection with future
assessments against such lands.
SEC. 50. At least as often as once a year after the approval
of said plans the board of directors shall make a report to
the state engineer of the progress of the work of the district
and whether or not the plan formulated under the provisions
of this act is being successfully carried out, and whether or
not in the opinion of the board the funds available will com-
plete the proposed works. Upon receipt of such report by
the state engineer, he shall make such suggestions and recom-
mendations to such board of directors as may be necessary
to conserve the best interests of the district.
SEC. 51. On or before the first Tuesday of February of
each year the board of directors of each irrigation district
shall publish in at least one issue of some newspaper pub-
lished in the county where the office of the district is located
a full, true, and correct statement of the financial condition
of said district on the first day of that year, giving a state-
ment of all liabilities and assets of the district.
SEC. 52. The board of directors of each irrigation district,
or the secretary thereof, shall at any time allow any member
of the board of county commissioners, when acting under
the order of such board, to have access to all books, records,
and vouchers of the district which are in the possession or
control of said board of directors or said secretary.
SEC. 53. Water may be supplied by the district, or by a
division thereof when a local board of such division is created
and authorized, to towns within or in the vicinity of the dis-
trict, and an appropriate charge made therefor, when such
supply can be developed as an incident of or in connection
with the works of the district or the local undertakings of a
division.
SEC. 54. In addition to the powers with which irrigation
districts are or may be vested under the laws of the state,
, 26 •
irrigation districts shall have the following powers : To
cooperate and contract with the United States under the
federal reclamation act of June 17, 1902, and all acts amenda-
tory thereof or supplemental thereto, or any other act of
Congress heretofore or hereafter enacted authorizing or per-
mitting such cooperation, and to cooperate and contract with
the State of Nevada under any law heretofore or hereafter
enacted authorizing or permitting such cooperation, for pur-
poses of construction of works, whether for irrigation or
drainage, or both, or for the acquisition, purchase, extension,
operation, or maintenance of constructed works, or for a
water supply, or for the assumption as principal or guaran-
tor of indebtedness to the United States on account of dis-
trict lands or for the collection of moneys due the United
States as fiscal agents or otherwise.
SEC. 55. The board of directors shall generally perform
all such acts as shall be necessary to carry out the enlarged
powers in the foregoing section enumerated. Said board may
enter into obligations or contracts with the United States for
the aforesaid purposes, and may provide therein for the deliv-
ery and distribution of water to the lands of such district
under the aforesaid acts of Congress and the rules and regu-
lations established thereunder. The contract may provide for
the conveyance to the United States as partial consideration
for the privileges obtained by the district under said contract
of water rights or other property of the district ; and in
case contract has been or may hereafter be made with the
United States as herein provided bonds of the district may
be transferred to or deposited with the United States, if so
provided by said contract and authorized as hereinafter set
forth, at not less than ninety-five per cent of their par value
to the amount to be paid by the district to the United States
or any part thereof; the interest, or principal, or both, of
said bonds to be raised by assessment and levy as hereinafter
prescribed and to be regularly paid to the United States and
applied as provided in said contract. Bonds transferred to
or deposited with the United States may call for the payment
of such interest, not exceeding six per cent per annum,
may be of such denomination, and may call for the repay-
ment of the principal at such times as may be agreed upon
between the board and the secretary of the interior. The con-
tract with the United States may likewise call for the pay-
ment of the amount or amounts to be paid by the district
to the United States or any part thereof at such times and
in such installments and with such interest charges not
exceeding the aforesaid rate as may be agreed upon, and
for assessment and levy therefor as hereinafter provided,
and the obligations of such contracts shall be a prior lien to
any subsequent bond issue. Moreover 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 to make collection of moneys for or 011
behalf of the United States in connection with any federal
27
reclamation project, whereupon the district shall he author-
ized so to act and to assume the duties and liahilities incident
to such action, and the said board shall have full power to
do any and all things required by the federal statutes now
or hereafter enacted in connection therewith, and all things
required by the rules and regulations now or that may here-
after be established by any department of the federal govern-
ment in regard thereto. Districts cooperating with the
United States may rent or lease water to private lauds,
entrymen, or municipalities in the neighborhood of the dis-
trict in pursuance of contract with the United States.
SEC. 56. Any proposal to enter into a contract with the
United States for the repayment of construction moneys, the
cost of a water supply, the operation and maintenance of
existing works, or the acquisition of property, and to issue
bonds if any be proposed, shall be voted upon at an election
wherein proceedings shall be had in so far as applicable in
the manner provided in the case of the ordinary issuance of
district bonds. Notice of the election herein provided for
shall contain, in addition to the information required in the
case of ordinary bond election, a statement of the maximum
amount of money to be payable to the United States for con-
struction purposes, costs of water supply and acquisition of
property, exclusive of penalties and interest, together with a
general statement of the property, if any, to be conveyed by
the district as hereinabove provided. The ballots at such elec-
tion shall contain a brief statement of the general purpose of
said contract and the amount of the obligation to be assumed,
as aforesaid, with the words "Contract — Yes," and "Contract
— No," or "Contract and bonds — Yes," and "Contract and
bonds — No," as the case may be. The board of directors may
submit any such contract or proposed contract and bond
issue, if any, to the district court of the county wherein is
located the office of said board to determine the validity
thereof and the authority of the board to enter into such
contract, and the authority for and the validity of the issu-
ance and deposit or transfer of said bonds ; whereupon the
same proceedings shall be had as in the ordinary case of the
judicial determination of the validity of the bonds with like
effect.
SEC. 57. All water delivered to the district or 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 applicable thereto, the rules and regulations of the
secretary of the interior thereunder, and the provisions of
said contract, and provision may be made in the contract
between the district and the United States for the refusal
of water service to any or all lands which may become
delinquent in the payment of any assessment, toll or charge
levied or imposed for the purpose of carrying out any con-
tract between the district and the United States. In case of
contract with the United States under which the district
28
assumes the operation and maintenance of the existing works,
assessments, tolls and charges may be levied or imposed by
the board of directors, as provided in this act to raise the
sums required annually therefor, including amounts due
the United States under said contract.
SEC. 58. Any rights of way or other property owned or
acquired by the district may be conveyed by the board to
the United States in so far as the same may be needed for
the construction, operation and maintenance of works by the
United States pursuant to this act.
SEC. 59. All payments due or to become due to the United
States under any contract between the district and the
United States, including such payments of interest and
principal on bonds as may be required in connection with
a deposit or transfer thereof to the United States, shall be
paid, unless otherwise provided by contract, by revenue
derived from annual assessments, apportioned as herein-
after prescribed, and levies thereof upon such real property
within the district as may be accessible for district purposes
under the laws of the state or by tolls and charges as the
case may be, and such real property shall be and remain
liable to be assessed and levied upon for such payments as
herein provided. It shall be the duty of the board of direc-
tors annually to levy an assessment, or to impose and cause
to be collected tolls or charges sufficient to raise the money
necessary to meet all payments when due as provided in the
contract. All moneys collected in pursuance of such con-
tract by assessment and levies or otherwise, and to be paid to
the United States, shall be paid into the district treasury
and held in a fund to be known as the "United States Con-
tract Fund," to be used for payments due to the United
States under any such contract. Public lands of the United
States within any district shall be subject to assessment
for all purposes of this act to the extent provided for by the
act of Congress approved August 11, 1916, entitled "An act
to promote reclamation of arid lands," or any other law
which may hereafter be enacted by Congress in the same rela-
tion, upon full compliance therewith by the district. Noth-
ing in this act contained shall be construed to relieve the
district from obligation to pay as a district in case of default
of any land, unless so provided by the said contract between
the district and the United States.
SEC. 60. The board may also provide by contract with the
United States for the release of mortgages or liens given or
reserved to the United States upon district lands, and may
provide for the assumption by the district, either as princi-
pal or guarantor, of indebtedness to the United States on
account of district lands, and apportion to each tract of land
so released, benefits in the amount of the obligations to the
United States so provided to be released; and the contract
between the district and the United States may provide for
the collection and payment of indebtedness so incurred or
assumed by the district and the tax or assessment for the
00
~* —. • '
same at the same times mid in the same amounts or install-
ments provided in the federal reclamation laws, and if so pro-
vided in the contract, sneh taxes and assessments shall
become delinquent at the same dates provided in the act of
Congress of August 13, 1914 (38 Stats. 686), known as the
reclamation extension act, and in that event, if it be provided
in the contract that the United States waives any penalties
for delinquency other or greater than those named in the
said act of Congress of August 13, 1914, then, instead of the
penalties otherwise provided in state laws, the penalties for
delinquency in the payment of that part of the tax repre-
senting the special assessment for payment of the obligations
of the district to the United States shall be the penalties
named in the said act of Congress of August 13, 1914, and
the amount required to be paid in case of any redemption
from any tax sale or tax judgment shall be determined by
figuring the part thereof due to the United States upon the
basis of the amount of such special assessment levied for the
purpose of paying the United States plus the penalties
named in said act of Congress of August 13, 1914. And the
said board shall have full power to do any and all things
required by the federal statutes now or hereafter enacted in
connection therewith, and all things required by the rules
and regulations now or that may hereafter be established by
any department of the federal government in regard thereto.
SEC. 61. The assessment required in any year to meet the
payment due to the United States under the contract as in
this act provided may be in accord with an apportionment
of benefits made in or in pursuance of such contract and in
the ascertainment of such benefits there shall be taken into
account the provisions of the contract between the United
States and the district, the federal laws applicable thereto,
and the notice and regulations issued in pursuance of said
laws, and in case such contract is for the assumption by the
district as principal or guarantor of indebtedness to the
United States theretofore existing on account of district
lands, there shall be further taken into account the provision
of existing contracts carrying such indebtedness and the
amounts of such liens as may be released in pursuance of
the contract between the United States and the district.
SEC. 62. Where contract shall have been entered into and
is in force and effect between the United States and any
irrigation district the district shall not be dissolved, nor shall
the boundaries be changed, except upon written consent of the
secretary of the interior, filed with the official records of
the district. If such consent be given and lands be excluded,
the areas excluded shall be free from all liens and charges for
payments to become due to the United States. The board of
directors of a district is hereby relieved from the duties
imposed upon it in sections 15 and 30 of this act in so far as
the same may not be required in case of contract between the
district and the United States, and in that relation mav take
30
advantage of or adopt such surveys and plans as may have
been or be made by the United States.
SEC. 63. When an irrigation district comprises lands
which are served by works constructed by the United States
and the portion of such works situated in a division of the
district may be regarded as a separate unit of the larger
system for operation and maintenance purposes, or when
local drains, laterals, or other improvements may be provided
as additions to such works and constitute benefits limited to
such division, or when the replacement or extension of such
works or some part thereof would constitute benefits limited
to such division, a petition signed by the requisite number
of electors of such division may be presented to the board of
directors of the district and a local board of directors of such
division created as provided in this act; whereupon such
board of directors shall have the power to contract with the
United States for the operation of the existing system afore-
said, or for the construction either .by such division or by
the United States of local drains, laterals or other improve-
ments and for the operation and maintenance thereof, or
for the replacement or extension of existing works or struc-
tures and for the operation and maintenance thereof or any
separate part of the same ; provided, that such contract shall
first be authorized by a special election held for the purpose
in such division and for the purpose of authorizing the local
board of directors to levy an assessment or assessments, as
provided in this act, to secure the moneys required to carry
out said contract, including the amounts that will be due
the United States thereunder and that will be required for
the construction of the proposed local drains, laterals, or
other improvements, or for the replacement and extension
of existing works or structures. Where it is proposed that a
division shall assume only the operation and maintenance of
existing works an election shall be held upon the contract in
the same manner, but the local board of directors, after said
contract is made in pursuance of the authority granted in
such election, shall have the power to levy assessments or
impose tolls and charges annually or otherwise to raise the
amounts necessary to carry out said contract and to operate
and maintain said works, including amounts to be paid to
the United States under said contract, in the same manner
and to the same effect as can be done by the board of direc-
tors of the district under the provisions of this act. Where
local drains, laterals or improvements are to be constructed,
or existing works or structures replaced or extended, and
are thereafter to be operated and maintained by the division,
the local board shall have similar power to levy assessments
and to impose tolls or charges to raise the money required
for such operation and maintenance, including amounts due
the United States in that relation. The works described
in the contract with the United States shall be constructed,
replaced or extended by such local board of directors, and
the money raised by such special assessment therefor or for
31
the operation and maintenance tin-roof shall be collected,
kept and disbursed, and the apportionment of benefits made,
as in this act provided when a division of the district is
authorized to provide for local undertakings, the benefits
of which are limited to such division; provided, that the pro-
visions of this act relating to cooperation between a district
and the United States, including those relating to the dis-
tribution and apportionment of water and the apportionment
of benefits, shall apply in case of contract between the United
States and a division of a district in so far as applicable. The
ex cent ion of such contract with the United States and all pro-
ceedings ancillary thereto may be confirmed in court as a part
of the confirmation proceedings instituted by the district, or
upon petition by the board of directors of the division.
SEC. 64. When an irrigation district comprises lands
which are or may be served by works constructed by the
United States, and a contract is proposed to be entered into
with the United States for the operation and maintenance by
the district of the existing works, or for the construction of
a drainage system or other extension or improvement of such
works, and the lands in a division of the district may be
regarded as clearly outside the scope of such contract, the
election thereon and for the authorization of the program or
undertaking contemplated thereby may be confined to the
remaining portion of the district exclusive of such division,
and the apportionment of the benefits may be made accord-
ingly ; otherwise the proceedings in connection with such
contract and the program or undertaking contemplated
thereby shall be as heretofore provided in this act.
SEC. 65. In any case where an irrigation district is
appointed fiscal agent of the United States in connection
with any federal reclamation project, or by the United
States, or under contract therewith, is authorized or required
to make collection of moneys on behalf of the United States,
or for payments due the United States under any such con-
tract, each director of the district, and the secretary and the
treasurer thereof, shall execute a further and additional
bond in such sum as the secretary of the interior may
require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties
of his office, or as fiscal or other agent of the United States,
or both ; and any such bonds may be sued upon by the
United States or any person injured by the failure of such
officer or officers of the district to fully, promptly or com-
pletely perform their respective duties. This requirement
shall apply to the directors of a division, and in so far as
applicable to the officers of a district acting in that relation,
in case of contract between the United States and such
division. In all cases of contracts with the United States as
above described the board of directors of the district, or of
a division thereof, and the secretary and treasurer of a dis-
trict, shall at any time allow any officer or employee of the
United States, when acting under the order of the secretary
of the interior, to have access to all books, records and docu-
32
ments which are in the possession or control of such officer A
SEC. 66. Whenever in this act any notice is required to
be given by publication, such provision shall be satisfied by
publishing the same in a weekly newspaper the same num-
ber of times consecutively as the number of weeks mentioned
in the requirement.
SEC. 67. Whenever the words "irrigation district," or
"district" are used in this act, they shall be held to mean any
irrigation district heretofore organized under the laws of the
state as well as under this act, to the full extent required to
accomplish the purposes of this act ; and whenever the words
"county treasurer" or "treasurer of the county" are used in
this act, they shall as Avell be held to mean "ex officio tax
receiver" or "tax receiver" of the county.
SEC. 68. Nothing in this act shall be so construed as to
affect the validity of any district heretofore organized under
the laws of this state, or its rigjits in or to property, or any of
its rights or privileges of whatsoever kind or nature; but
said districts are hereby made subject to the provisions of
this act as far as applicable; nor shall it affect, impair, or
discharge any contract, obligation, lien or charge for, or
upon which it was or might become liable or chargeable had
not this act been passed; nor shall it affect the validity of
any bonds which have been issued but not sold, nor shall it
affect any action which now may be pending. In such dis-
tricts as have been heretofore organized, and in which direc-
tors of the various divisions thereof have been elected by
the votes of the electors of the district at large, such elections
are hereby confirmed.
SEC. 69. Nothing in this act shall be construed as repeal-
ing or in any wise modifying the provisions of any other act
relating to the subject of irrigation or drainage except such
as may be contained in the act entitled "An act to provide
for the organization and government of drainage, irrigation
and water storage districts, to provide for the acquisition of
water and other property, and for the distribution of the
water thereby for irrigation purposes, and for other matters
properly connected therewith," approved March 20, 1911,
and subsequent acts supplementary thereto or amendatory
thereof, all of which acts, so far as they may be inconsistent
herewith, are hereby repealed.
SEC. 70. This act may be referred to in any action, pro-
ceeding or legislative enactment as "The Nevada Irrigation
District Act," and whenever the words "irrigation district"
are or have been used in any action or proceeding or in any
act or resolution of the legislature such words shall be con-
strued to mean an irrigation district organized under the
provisions of the act approved March 20, 1911, or acts sup-
plementary thereto or amendatory thereof, referred to in
the preceding section, or an irrigation district organized or
existing under this act.
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