(1) Notwithstanding the organization of the district provided for in this article, irrigation and internal improvement districts organized under articles 41, 42, 44, and 45 of this title and any other form of organization designed or intended to acquire, construct, or maintain reservoirs, ditches, and similar works for irrigation or other beneficial purposes under any law of the state of Colorado or of the United States may be organized to cover and include areas within the Rio Grande water conservation district and may likewise embrace territory within that district and partly out of the district. Whenever, in its opinion, such form of organization will help promote the local interests or accomplish improvements for any part of said district, the board of directors may recommend the organization of any such type of organization. The creation of the Rio Grande water conservation district shall not affect the existence of public irrigation districts heretofore created under article 4 of chapter 149, CRS 53, or water conservancy districts heretofore created pursuant to article 45 of this title.
In addition to such forms of organization, whenever in the opinion of the board ofdirectors of said district it is feasible and necessary that water rights, ditches, canals, reservoirs, wells, or other works which benefit only a part of the district should be acquired or constructed or that a plan of augmentation or plan of water management, or any combination of the foregoing, involving only a part of the district should be developed and put into effect, a local improvement district or subdivision or as many of such local improvement districts as may be necessary may be created. Such local improvement district, when organized under the provisions of this article, shall be designated as "Water Users' Association No. .... in the Rio Grande Water Conservation District" or as "Special Improvement District No. .... in the Rio Grande Water Conservation District". Each subdistrict shall be numbered consecutively as created or organized.
Subdistricts shall be created and managed as provided in sections 37-48-123 to 3748-193. Except as otherwise provided in said sections, the board of directors and the engineers, attorneys, secretary, and other officers, agents, and employees of the district, so far as it may be necessary, may serve in the same capacity for such subdivision or subdistricts. A contract and agreement between the main district and a subdistrict, between subdistricts, between a subdistrict and a municipal water supplier, and between a subdistrict and an agency of the state of Colorado or the United States, may be made in the same manner as contracts and agreements between two districts.
As used in this article, a "plan of water management" means a cooperative plan forthe utilization of water and water diversion, storage, and use facilities in any lawful manner, so as to assure the protection of existing water rights and promote the optimum and sustainable beneficial use of the water resources available for use within the district or a subdistrict, and may include development and implementation of plans of augmentation and exchanges of water and groundwater management plans under section 37-92-501 (4)(c).
Source: L. 67: p. 667, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 150-10-8. L. 75: Entire section R&RE, p. 1369, § 2, effective July 18. L. 77: (3) amended, p. 1672, § 13, effective June 9. L. 2007: (3) and (4) amended, p. 1272, § 3, effective May 25.
Editor's note: The public irrigation law, article 4 of chapter 149, CRS 53, referred to in subsection (1) of this section, was repealed, but the provisions of said article 4 were preserved as to all districts formed under that article prior to 1963. (See L. 63, p. 1009.)