TITLE 42

IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE — WATER RIGHTS AND RECLAMATION

CHAPTER 52

GROUND WATER DISTRICTS

42-5207.  Organization hearing before county commission — Order of county commission. (1) After receiving the report of the department of water resources, the county commission shall conduct a hearing on the petition. If the county commission determines that the requisite number of signatures were not gathered on the petition, the board shall adjourn the hearings for two (2) weeks for the purpose of enabling the petitioners to gather additional signatures. The petitioners may amend the boundaries of the proposed district at the hearing to include or exclude lands of those ground water irrigators who provide written notice or who appear at the hearing requesting that their lands be either included or excluded, to meet the recommendations of the department, or as they may find advisable to achieve suitable district boundaries. The county commission shall accept any additional nominations of persons to be directors at the hearing or the nominations may be filed with the county clerk. The nominations must be signed by at least six (6) ground water users from the proposed district.

(2)  When the county commission has determined to proceed with the petition, it may adjourn the hearing from time to time, not exceeding four (4) weeks in all, and on final hearing, the county commission:

(a)  May make such other changes in the proposed boundaries of the district and divisions within the district as it may find proper; and

(b)  Shall make an order on its records describing the area which it shall have determined to include in the district, and stating that lands of ground water users within such area will be organized into a ground water district if the vote of the electors accepts organization of the district.

(3)  The county commission shall notify the department of the final action by mailing or faxing a copy of the order to the department within seven (7) days of the board’s decision. If the boundaries of the proposed ground water district differ from the boundaries contained in the department’s original report, the department shall prepare a revised list of the ground water users within such proposed district by name, address, ground water right number, point of diversion, and cubic feet per second per ground water right and return it to the county commission.

History:

[42-5207, added 1995, ch. 290, sec. 1, p. 987.]