### ?I-HE ATroRNEY GENERAL
OF’TEXAS

Eon. T. E. Knight county Attorney Stonewal1~0ounty A~permont, Texas

Dear Sir; O@lnl& No-;O-7580 Rer As-.tiatithorlty for~olty to 

### oreatb’.wateti

dletrlotrlthln lta oiin

boundaries undnr dtitlolea

78804SKor V881, R.C.S. 1925, and roleted queationa.

W8 have consideredyour letter OS Aug. 25, 1946,
on behalf of H. H. Shadle, County Judge of Stonewall Coutity,in whloh you request an opinion on tha following qusatlons,,ae quoted from your lettor:

"1. Iha%d you latter to mo from County Judge E. H..%adls of thl6 County in whloh ha rlahsd to know whether the City ofhspemnont may, under Artlolo 7880435 oi' Revlaed Statutes, oroate water dlstrlots wholly wlthln ita boundarlaa for the purpose of diggingwells, pools, or tanku:~oJIly outside the olty llmlts and plplng wator lnto the olty of domestlo and oommerloalpurpo~~ea.
"2. baa lndloatedby Judge Shadls, 

### tMa Lt. rather suggests that a tom mlght,only aid aMthor district or be oreatod ln oonneotlon rlth outside territory aa a rater dlrtrlot,

### and 1s vague as to whether olty might oroatarater dlatriotwithin ltaelf to obtaln rater for domeatlo and oommerolal purposes. What 1s your oplnlon a8 to this?

"3. I understand that the olty aldeken may appoint five dlreotorsand organize thewater Control and ImprovementDlstrlot - aa provided by saidArt. ,7880-135,and that after this an eleotlon rould have to be held to determinewhether bonds might be Issued and taxes levied. But, as stated, Aspermont rants to provide way for water for only domestic and oommerclal purposea. Would thisprovision be broad enough .to lnoluds auoh4Ron. T. E. Knight, page 2, O-7380

"4~. If Aspermont might oreate within itself
a water dlstrlot for t@e purposes mentioned, should petition for eleotlon to levy taxes and laaurbonds be addressed to the Commissioners Court of then County, or might the City Council order the eleotlori
on petition?

"5. Under Chapter 4, Art. 7881, it seems that Fresh-Water Supply Dlstrlota may be created for purpose of transportingwater for domestloand oommerloalpurposes, and that such districtsmay include cities. But this article does not speoifloally state that citieswithin their own boundaries may create suoh diatrlot. As stated,Aspermont wants freshwater, and she wants it for domestloand commerloal purposes, and she wishes to transport such water from lakes, pools, tanks, creeks or any other place shemay get it outside the city. If she can create such a district wholly within her~own borders, then itmay be that ahe could organizeand create suoh districtunder thisRrtlole 7881, and this would be better than oreatlng.samsunder 7880-136. But, it isnot olear that she could do this alone. What do you think about it?

I

. . . ihylll say that on June 19th, 1946,we asked for opinion from yourelative to the City of Aspermont joiningwith outalde territory and orsatlngwater dlstrlot, and you gave us opinionNo. O-7130. Later the olty oonoluded that an eleotlonwith the outsldo territorywould not oarrg in favor of oreatlng the dlstrlot, andnow desires to oreats dlatrlotwithin it8 own bordera. This 

### lawhy we are asking for opinion as stated above."

Thebaaid problem, - as we understandyour letter, is the oorrsot statutory authority for thecreation of a water districtwith boundaries ootermlnouswith those of the city of Aspennont for thepurpose of supplying fresh water for domestlo end oommerloal use by the inhabitantsof the city of Aepermont.

Your fifth and last question poses the above stated problem ln the light of Art. 7881 (R.C.S. 1925), ~whlohreads as follows:I ,t. LsHon. T. E. Knight,paga S, O-7580

*Artiolo7881. Purpcwe8 Vhero may ba oreatodwithin this Stata oonerrvatlondlstrlots~.to k knom ar Frmh Wuter Supply Dlatrlota for the purpose of oonaarvlng, transportingand distributing freahrater 

### from lakes,pools, 

### reservoira,rolls, aprlngs, orsaks,L and rivers for dome&&o and.oommorolalpurpoaesj
as contemplated **by** Seotlon 69,Artlolo 16 of the State constitution. Said dlstrlots~shallhave and may exerolse all tha,rlghta, 'privileges and porere given by this ohapter and in aocordanoewith its directions,llmltatlons and provisions. Such dlstrlctsmay ormay not include oltlee and towns.*

Itwould appear that the above article spe~lfloally provides for the exact purpose for whLoh you desire to oreate a Water District,namaly, a Fresh Water Supply Dlstrlot organized to transport.anddistribute fresh rater for dorpstic and commerolalpurposes.

Such a dlatrlot, however, may not be oreated by a town or olty, butmay be oreatod only upon thepresentation to the commissioners oourt 

### or oounty judge of tha county embracing the lands-iR'&e proposed district of a petltlon signed by fifty or a majority&f the qualified voters of suchproposed districtwho own land theroln,as~provlded by Art. 7882. Such petitionmust, among other th¶.nga,.sat forth the bouqdarles of the proposed dlatrlati tho.gensral nature of the.,work proposed tobe dono, the naomaslty therefor,and the feaelblllty thoroof.

As stated ln the oaee of Be10 ~viMorrlmnn (Clv. App.) 245 S.W.,1012,reversed on other grounds, 296 8.W. 1095, there isno limitation as to the boundaries of suoh dlstrlot 

### or sugg+stlon thrit oounty llnea or lines of any other.polltloalsubdivision shall be oonslderod ln l.stablishing such district, and it is immaterial that water to be conserved is out of the district and ia to be brought intothe dlstrlot.

We find no objection to the oreatlon.of auoh a FreshWater Supply Dlstrlot with boundaries coterminous with the boundariesof the olty of,Aapermont,provided that oompllanoe ismade with tha rsqUlrem&s of Chapter 4 Tltle'l28,R.C.S. 1925, as amended. (Arts. 7881-78991. It should be noted that this chapter requires an eleotlon by the residentproperty taxpayerswho are qualified voters of such proposeddlatrlot (Arts. 7888-7893) before suchHon. T. E. Knight, page 4, O-7380

district oan be organized.

Referringnow to your first four questlone,

_ ._ .. .. ^ you ask in question number on4 wheth4r tllsolsy Or Aspermont may, under Art. 7-6-136, R. C. 3. 1995, oreate within its ownboundaries a water dlstrlot for the hitherto stated purposea. Suoh artlole reads ln part as follows:

"Any town, olty ormunloipal oorporatlonmay have the benefit and powersherein provided under th4 constitution of this Stat4 and may aid any district in the oonstruotionand operation of any suoh lmprovements to the extent that same may be an advantage to such municipal oorporatlon in the followingmanner:

"A

. The area included in any town, olty or Ir municipal corporationbe organized into and oonstltuted a water oontroland improvement dlstrlot with all the powers, authorityand prlvll4g4s providedby Seotion 59 of Article 16 of the Constitution and be governed by thisAct, by an ordinance duly enacted by the board of aldermen,oommissloners, orgoverningbody thereof, oonstitutlngsame a water oontrol and lmprovsment district and appointing five dlreotors therefor. The bonds of suohdirectors shall be filed with and approvedby saidgoverning board of suoh munlclpallty, and upon the quallfloatlonsof said dlreotors said dlstrlot la completelyorganized without th4 necessity of holding an 4leotlon therefor. Said district shall from and after lta organization be governed by th4 provisions of this Aot and sny amendments hereafter 4naotsd."

The above quoted artlole by its terma provides for the orsatlonby ordlnanosof the~governlng body of a town or oitv of a Water Control and Imrrovement 0lstrlot to include only the area of suoh town br oity,without the neoesslty for an eleotlon to oonfirm the creation or organization of such district. Suoh dlstrlot is given all the powers providedby Section 59 of Art1014 16 of the Texas Constitution,which rmoessarilv lnoludes the purpose act forth in your letter, tog4ther with many other purposes, as 4numerated in Artiole 7880-3, 7880-3a, and 7080-7. It will be noted that after organization of suoh
a district pursuant to a duly enaoted ordinance of the town or olty in question, said ordinance appointing five direotors for such dlstrlot to serve until the next general election in such dlstriot, theremust be held a general election onHon. T. $. Knight,. pago 5, O&7384 1: ,,

the aeoond Tuesday in Januarynext after the said dlatrlot is formed, at whloh time the flvo dlreotora for thr @strict shalk b4 aleotad. (Art.~78SO-37) i. , :

Art..7880-15

After or&nl~a&&, a'*dlatriot'o&aCadk&r 5 la subjsot. to a11 the,provlsions~ of Chapter 3A, Title 128, R.C.S. 1925, as amended,. where applloable. (Arts. 7880-l to 7880-1472, inoluslvo)

Your first question is therefore answered in the affirmative.

Your ~seoondquestion is, in general, answered by the above statements in our answer to your first question. Itmay.b4 added that a distrlot areated underArt. 7880-135, after organization is a separatepolltloal entity from th4 town or olty,by.whose ordinance s'uoh district was created,
even though the boundaries of suoh dlstrlot are ooterminous with the boundaries of suchtown or city. By the terms of said article, the town or city in question may aid such district "in the oonstructlon and operation of any such 1mprovament.s

to th4 .4xtentthat samemay be an advantage to suchmunicipal oorporationn in the manner set out by the statute, but after creation of the district the governing body of the town or oity in question has no oontrol over the dlstrlot, whlohhas a governingbody of its own and itspowers, authority and privileges are referable to a different title of the Revised Civil Statutes than are thos4 of towns and cities.

The statement included in your thlrd.quebtlon to the effeot that an election in the dlstrlotwould be necessary beforebondsmay be issued and taxes lovied in support theroof is oorreot. As stated ln our above answer to your first question, districts organized under Art. 7880-136 are given sufflolqntlybroad authority to carry out th4 purpose of transportingand dletrlbutlng fresh water fordomestic and oommeroial use within suoh dlstrlot; therefore, your third qusstion is answered in the affirmative.

Your fourth question is answered by referenoe to Articles 7880-9, -31, -32, -78, -00, and -81. No petition is required for an election inwater districts to issU0 bonds and levy taxes inpayment therefor.. Suoh elections
are ordered by the direotors of suoh dlstrlct~on the basis of surv4ys and investigationsoonducted on the order of such directors, and bondsmay be issued only after the approval of the State Roard ofWater Engineers is secured,

,Hon. E. T. Knight, page 6, O-7380

as Gquired by Art. 7880-139. It will be noted, as stated, above,,that after the oreatlon of a water oontrol and lmprovbment district under the provisions of Art. 7880-136, such dlstrlotbeoomes a separatepolltloal entity and is not eubjeot to the oontrol of the govsrnlng body either of th4 olty or of the oounty~wlthlnwhose boundaries suoh dlstrlotmay be looated.

Truatlng that we have satlsfaotorllyanswered your questions,we remain

Yours very truly

ILTTORNEX

O~WSRJUI

OF TEXAS
s/ Wm. Blanton, Jr.

BY

Wm. Blanton, Jr.

Assistant

WB:hMW/og

Approved Wov. 8, 1946
a/ Harris Toler
First ;bssltant~' Attorney Oeneral

This opinion oonsldered and approved in limited oonferenoe.