The petition referred to in section 37-90-120 shall set forth:
The name of the proposed district and boundaries thereof;
A proposed division of the district into divisions as nearly equal in size as may bepracticable, and considering the population thereof, each of which is to be represented by a director, who shall be a resident taxpaying elector in such division or reside within the designated groundwater basin within which the district is located and be a resident agriculturist who owns and actively farms or ranches land located within such division;
The number of directors that the district shall have if formed, not less than five normore than fifteen in number, together with the name and address of each of the proposed directors, the division to be represented by each of them, and their terms of office, which shall be so designated that approximately one-half of them shall expire on the first Tuesday in March of the second year after the organization of the district is completed, and the remainder of them on the first Tuesday in March of the fourth year after the organization of the district is completed;
Where the offices of such proposed district are to be maintained; and
A prayer that the organization of the district be submitted to a vote of the taxpayingelectors as provided in section 37-90-124.
No petition for the organization of a district with the requisite signatures shall bedeclared null and void on account of minor defects, but the commission may at any time, prior to final determination of the sufficiency thereof, permit the petition to be amended in form to conform to the facts. Several similar petitions or duplicate copies of the same petition for the organization of the same district may be filed and shall together be regarded as one petition. All petitions, filed prior to the determination of the sufficiency of such petition, shall be considered as though filed with the first petition placed on file.
R&RE, p. 1258, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 148-18-20. L. 67: p. 276, § 6. L. 2009: (1)(b) amended, (HB 09-1159), ch. 43, p. 164, § 1, effective August 5.
Management district - petition - certification of signatures - hearing notice - publication. The commission shall examine the petition, and, if it finds that it bears the requisite number of signatures and otherwise meets the stated requirements, it shall thereupon set a date for hearing upon such petition and shall cause notice of such hearing, together with a copy of such petition, to be published, the final publication being not less than ten days nor more than thirty days prior to the date set for such hearing. The cost of such publication shall be paid by the petitioners and shall be advanced by them prior to publication.
Source: L. 65: R&RE, p. 1259, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 148-18-21.
Management districts - hearing - objections - change of boundaries. At the time set for such hearing, the commission shall examine the petition and hear objections thereto and may order changes in the boundaries thereof by the inclusion or removal of land therefrom upon finding that such change would be hydrologically, geologically, and geographically sound. The action of the commission may be reviewed by the district court in appeal proceedings filed within twenty days after its decision has been announced, which decision shall be announced within ninety days after the hearing.
Source: L. 65: R&RE, p. 1259, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 148-18-22.
Election on organization. (1) If, after the completion of the hearing on the feasibility of the organization of a district, it is determined that such district shall be organized, the commission shall forthwith make an order allowing the prayer of the petition, and, by order duly entered upon its record, shall call an election of the taxpaying electors in the district for the purpose of determining whether such district shall be organized, and shall set the date for such election.
The commission shall thereupon publish a notice, the final publication to be not lessthan ten days nor more than thirty days immediately preceding the election, which notice shall state: The fact of filing of the petition; in summary form, the information required by section 3790-121 (1) to be included in the petition; that an election will be held to decide the question of organization of the proposed district; the date of such election; the polling places at which such election is to be held; the qualifications of those eligible to vote at such election; and the specific question to be submitted.
The commission shall appoint three taxpaying electors of the district as judges foreach designated polling place. The election shall be held and conducted as nearly as may be in the same manner as general elections in this state. There shall be no special registration for such election, but, for the purpose of determining qualifications of electors, the judges shall be permitted to use the last official registration lists of electors residing in the district and a certified list of taxpayers in the district prepared by the county treasurer and, in addition, may require the execution of an affidavit concerning the qualification of any such taxpaying elector to vote.
At such election the voters shall vote for or against the organization of the district.The judges of each polling place shall certify the returns of the election to the ground water
commission. If a majority of votes cast at said election are against the organization of the district, the commission shall forthwith dismiss the petition, and no election shall be held on the original petition or another petition for organization of the same district within one year of such dismissal.
If a majority of the votes cast at said election are for the organization of said district,the commission, by order duly entered of record, shall declare the district organized, define the boundaries thereof, and give it the corporate name designated in the petition by which in all proceedings it shall thereafter be known and designate the members of the first board of directors, as named in the organization petition and the districts they represent. Thereupon the district shall be a governmental subdivision of the state of Colorado and a body corporate with all the powers of a public or quasi-municipal corporation.
Source: L. 65: R&RE, p. 1259, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 148-18-23. L. 67: p. 276, § 7.
Cross references: For elections generally, see articles 1 to 13 of title 1.
Filing decree. Within thirty days after the district has been declared a corporation by the commission, it shall transmit to the county clerk and recorder of each of the counties in which the district or a part thereof extends copies of the decree of the commission incorporating the district.
Source: L. 65: R&RE, p. 1260, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 148-18-24. L. 67: p. 281, § 12.
Management district - directors - qualifications - oath or affirmation bond - vacancies. The members of the board of directors shall meet the qualifications established in section 37-90-121 (1)(b). Each member of the board shall take an oath or affirmation in accordance with section 24-12-101, shall give bond in the sum of five thousand dollars conditioned that he or she shall faithfully perform the duties of director and of such further office to which he or she may be elected in such district, and shall account for all funds or property coming into his or her hands as such director or other officer. Such bonds shall run to the district, shall be signed by a surety approved by the ground water commission, and shall be filed and recorded in the office of the state engineer. When such bond is so filed and approved, such person so elected shall take and hold office until his or her successor is elected and qualified. When a vacancy occurs on the board, such vacancy shall be filled by the remaining members of the board.
Source: L. 65: R&RE, p. 1260, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 148-18-25. L. 67: p. 277, § 8. L. 2009: Entire section amended, (HB 09-1159), ch. 43, p. 164, § 2, effective August 5. L. 2018: Entire section amended, (HB 18-1138), ch. 88, p. 703, § 44, effective August 8.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 18-1138, see section 1 of chapter 88, Session Laws of Colorado 2018.
Management district - directors - election - term of office. As the terms of the members of the board of directors expire, their successors shall be nominated by petitions containing the signatures of not less than fifteen percent of the number of qualified taxpaying electors of the division who voted at the last preceding district election, to be filed with the secretary of the district not less than thirty-five days before the election; thereafter, the members shall be elected for terms of four years by the plurality vote of the taxpaying electors of the division of the district which they represent. Such elections shall be held on the first Tuesday in February preceding the expiration of such terms and shall be conducted by the district board in the general manner prescribed in section 37-90-124.
Source: L. 65: R&RE, p. 1261, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 148-18-26. L. 2012: Entire section amended, (SB 12-175), ch. 208, p. 883, § 154, effective July 1.
Management district - directors - no compensation - expenses. The members of the board of directors shall receive no compensation but shall be paid their actual expenses while engaged in the business of such district.
Source: L. 65: R&RE, p. 1261, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 148-18-27.
Management district - officers - election. The board of directors shall annually elect a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and such other officers as may be necessary.
Source: L. 65: R&RE, p. 1261, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 148-18-28.
Management districts - board of directors - enforcement. (1) The district board has the duty and responsibility of consulting with the commission on all groundwater matters affecting the district to determine whether proposed restrictions or regulations are suitable for such area, to determine in conjunction with the commission whether the area of the district should be enlarged or contracted, to cooperate with the commission and the state engineer in the assembling of data on the groundwater aquifers in the area and the enforcement of regulations or restrictions which may be imposed thereon, and to assist the commission and the state engineer to the end of conserving the groundwater supplies of the area for the maximum beneficial use thereof.
(2) After the issuance of any well permit for the use of groundwater within the district by the ground water commission as provided in sections 37-90-107 and 37-90-108, the district board has the authority to regulate the use, control, and conservation of the groundwater of the district covered by such permit by any one or more of the following methods, but the proposed controls, regulations, or conservation measures shall be subject to review and final approval by the ground water commission if objection is made in accordance with section 37-90-131:
To provide for the spacing of wells producing from the groundwater aquifer or subdivision thereof and to regulate the production therefrom so as to minimize as far as practicable the lowering of the water table or the reduction of the artesian pressure;
To acquire lands for the erection of dams and for the purpose of draining lakes,draws, and depressions, and to construct dams, drain lakes, depressions, draws, and creeks, and to install pumps and other equipment necessary to recharge the groundwater reservoir or subdivision thereof;
To develop comprehensive plans for the most efficient use of the water of the groundwater aquifer or subdivision thereof and for the control and prevention of waste of such water, which plans shall specify in such detail as may be practicable the acts, procedure, performance, and avoidance which are or may be necessary to effect such plans, including specifications therefor; to carry out research projects, develop information, and determine limitations, if any, which should be made on the withdrawal of water from the groundwater aquifer or subdivisions thereof; to collect and preserve information regarding the use of such water and the practicability of recharge of the groundwater aquifer; and to publish such plans and information and bring them to the notice and attention of the users of such groundwater within the district and to encourage their adoption and execution;
To require the owner or operator of any land in the district upon which is located anyopen or uncovered well to close or cap the same permanently with a covering capable of sustaining weight of not less than four hundred pounds, except when said well is in actual use by the owner or operator thereof;
To promulgate reasonable rules and regulations for the purpose of conserving, preserving, protecting, and recharging the groundwater of the groundwater aquifer or subdivision thereof, in conformity with the provisions of this article;
To prohibit, after affording an opportunity for a hearing before the board of the localdistrict and presentation of evidence, the use of groundwater outside the boundaries of the district where such use materially affects the rights acquired by permit by any owner or operator of land within the district;
In the control and administration of the quantity of groundwater extracted from theaquifer, to adopt such devices, procedures, measures, or methods as it deems appropriate to effectuate this purpose;
To promulgate reasonable rules and regulations with respect to the protection andcompensation of the owners of any small capacity wells as defined in section 37-90-105 which may be injured by irrigation wells;
To represent the district at any hearings or proceedings conducted or authorized bythe commission affecting any water rights, either actual or potential, within the district;
To exercise such other administrative and regulatory authority concerning the groundwaters of the district as, without the existence of the district, would otherwise be exercised by the ground water commission.
All special and regular meetings of the board shall be held at locations which arewithin the boundaries of the district or which are within the boundaries of any county in which the district is located, in whole or in part, or in any county so long as the meeting location does not exceed twenty miles from the district boundaries. The provisions of this subsection (3) may be waived only if the following criteria are met:
The proposed change of location of a meeting of the board appears on the agenda of aregular or special meeting of the board; and
A resolution is adopted by the board stating the reason for which a meeting of theboard is to be held in a location other than under the provisions of this subsection (3) and further stating the date, time, and place of such meeting.
(a) After the issuance of any well permit within the district, the district has the authority to enforce compliance with the terms and conditions of the permit, the district's rules, and an order issued by the district concerning the well and issued pursuant to this article governing the use of the groundwater allowed by the permit to ensure that the use is within the scope of what is allowed by this article, the district's rules, an order issued by the district concerning the well and issued pursuant to this article, and the well permit.
The district may proceed pursuant to section 37-90-111.5 against a well owner whodoes not comply with an order issued under paragraph (a) of this subsection (4).
A ground water management district shall provide notice of an order in a mannerconsistent with the local district's rules. In the absence of a local rule regarding notice, in addition to any other method of giving notice, the mailing of the order in a certified letter to the well owner or operator is sufficient notice of the order of the ground water management district. In the case of circumstances warranting an emergency injunctive proceeding, mailing of the order in a certified letter to the well owner or operator, together with the posting of a written order in plain sight at the well head, is sufficient notice of the order of the ground water management district. The order to the well owner or operator becomes effective on the date of posting in the case of posting at the well head or three days after the certified letter is placed in the United States mail in the case of the certified letter. Except in the case of circumstances warranting an emergency injunctive proceeding, a ground water management district shall allow an alleged violator not less than seven days after the effective date of the order to cure an alleged violation before filing suit in district court.
Source: L. 65: R&RE, p. 1261, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 148-18-29. L. 71: p. 1316, § 13. L. 75: (2)(h) added, p. 1396, § 1, effective July 1. L. 79: IP(2) amended and (2)(i) and (2)(j) added, p. 1375, § 8, effective June 7. L. 85: (2)(h) amended, p. 1177, § 10, effective May 31. L. 90: (3) added, p. 1506, § 23, effective July 1. L. 98: IP(2) amended and (4) added, p. 1222, § 13, effective August 5. L. 2014: (4) amended, (HB 14-1052), ch. 56, p. 254, § 1, effective March 21.