CO Code § 37-46-107 (2021)
2021 Colorado Code|Title 37 - Water and Irrigation|Article 46 - Colorado River Water Conservation District|§ 37-46-107. General Powers

  In its corporate capacity, the district shall have the power:   To sue and be sued in the name of the Colorado river water conservation district;    To acquire, operate, and hold in the name of the district such real and personal property as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this article and to sell and convey such property or its products, as provided in this article, or when said property is no longer needed for the purposes of said district;    To make surveys and conduct investigations to determine the best manner of utilizing stream flows within the district and the amount of such stream flow or other water supply, and to locate ditches, irrigation works, and reservoirs to store or utilize water for irrigation, mining, manufacturing, or other purposes, and to make filings upon said water and initiate appropriations for the use and benefit of the ultimate appropriators, and to perform all acts and things necessary or advisable to secure and insure an adequate supply of water, present and future, for irrigation, mining, manufacturing, and domestic purposes within said districts;    To make contracts with respect to the relative rights of said district under its claims and filings and the rights of any other person, association, or organization seeking to divert water from any of the streams within said district;    To contract with any agencies, officers, bureaus, and departments of the state of Colorado or the United States, including the department of corrections, to obtain services or labor for the initiation, the construction, or any other acquisition of irrigation works, ditches and ditch rights, canals, reservoirs, power plants, or retaining ponds within the district or to acquire, by purchase, rental, lease, or exchange, water, water rights, or electricity (or any combination thereof) from the state or the United States, acting by and through any such agency, officer, bureau, or department, but not to acquire any electricity for sale by the district as a public utility either to the public or to any other user (other than any sale to any subdistrict or to any water conservancy district located wholly or in part within the Colorado river water conservation district and other than any sale of electricity at wholesale to any person or governmental entity);    To enter upon any privately owned land or other real property for the purpose of making surveys or obtaining other information, without obtaining any order so to do, but without causing any more damage than is necessary to crops or vegetation upon such land;    To organize special assessment districts at different times for the purpose of establishing effective agencies to secure funds to construct reservoirs or other irrigation works under various types and plans of financing, including, among others, by issuance of revenue warrants only, by the issuance of bonds or revenue obligations constituting a lien up to a specified amount against the lands in said special improvement district, and payable out of special assessments or by general obligations of such special improvement districts;    To contract with the United States government, the bureau of reclamation, or other agencies of the United States government for the construction of any such works and the issuance of such obligations as the special improvement districts may have the power to issue in payment of costs of construction and maintenance of said works;    To have and exercise the power of eminent domain and, in general, to have and exercise rights and powers of eminent domain conferred upon other agencies as provided in articles 1 to 7 of title 38, C.R.S.; but the district, any subdivision thereof, or the special improvement districts therein shall neither have nor exercise the power of eminent domain against the state or state agencies nor acquire thereby any electric generation facilities, electric distribution lines, or any conditional or absolute decrees for the use of water;    To file upon and hold for the use of the public sufficient water of any natural stream to maintain a constant stream flow in the amount necessary to preserve fish and to use such water in connection with retaining ponds for the propagation of fish for the benefit of the public;    To exercise such implied powers and perform such other acts as may be necessary to carry out and effect any of the express powers hereby conferred upon such district;    To participate in the formulation and implementation of nonpoint source water pollution control programs related to agricultural practices in order to implement programs required or authorized under federal law and section 25-8-205 (5), C.R.S., enter into contracts and agreements, accept funds from any federal, state, or private sources, receive grants or loans, participate in education and demonstration programs, construct, operate, maintain, or replace facilities, and perform such other activities and adopt such rules and policies as the board deems necessary or desirable in connection with nonpoint source water pollution control programs related to agricultural practices.       The board of directors of the district acting as the governing body, in the name and on the behalf of the district, may issue revenue bonds to finance, in whole or in part, the construction or other acquisition of works, reservoirs, or other improvements for the beneficial use of water for the purposes for which it has been or may be appropriated, including, without limitation, the hydrogeneration of electricity, or the acquisition by purchase, rental, lease, or exchange of water, or the purchase or exchange of water rights or electricity and appurtenances (or any combination thereof), and to finance incidental expenses pertaining thereto, whether or not the interest on such bonds may be subject to taxation. Such revenue bonds shall be issued in such denominations and with such maximum net effective interest rate as may be fixed by the board of directors of the district and shall bear interest such that the net effective interest rate of the bonds does not exceed the maximum net effective interest rate authorized. The board shall pledge only bond proceeds, sale proceeds, rental or lease proceeds, service charges, and other income from such works or other improvements or from the sale, rental, or lease of water or the sale of electricity (or any combination thereof), and the district shall not be otherwise obligated for the payment thereof. At the time such revenue bonds are issued, the board of directors of the district shall make and enter in the minutes of the proceeding a resolution in which the due dates of such revenue bonds, the rates of interest thereon, the general provisions of the bonds, and a recital that the same are payable only out of bond proceeds, sale proceeds, rental and lease proceeds, service charges, and other income from such works or other improvements and from the sale, rental, lease, or exchange of water or the sale or exchange of electricity (or any combination thereof) are set forth. In addition, the board of directors shall require the payment of rental or lease charges, service charges, or other charges by the political subdivisions or persons who are to use or derive benefits from the water or other services furnished by such works or improvements or otherwise. Such charges shall be sufficient to pay operation and maintenance expenses thereof, to meet said bond payments, to accumulate and maintain reserve and replacement accounts pertaining thereto as set forth in such resolution, and to provide funds sufficient for the further development of water resources for all of the foregoing beneficial purposes. Such resolution shall be irrepealable during the time that any of the revenue bonds are outstanding and unpaid. Except as provided in sections 11-55-101 to 11-55-106, C.R.S., the revenue bonds shall be signed ”Colorado River Water Conservation District, By ............, President. Attest .................., Secretary“, and they shall be countersigned by the treasurer.     History. Source: L. 37: P. 1000, § 5. CSA: C. 138, § 199(5). CRS 53: § 149-8-5. C.R.S. 1963: § 150-7-5. L. 77: (2) added, p. 1639, § 2, effective June 9; (1)(e) amended, p. 954, § 29, effective August 1. L. 81: IP(1), (1)(e), and (2) amended and (1)(i) R&RE, pp. 1761, 1762, §§ 1, 2, effective June 19. L. 88: (1)(l) added, p. 1023, § 4, effective April 6. History. Source: L. 37: P. 1000, § 5. CSA: C. 138, § 199(5). CRS 53: § 149-8-5. C.R.S. 1963: § 150-7-5. L. 77: (2) added, p. 1639, § 2, effective June 9; (1)(e) amended, p. 954, § 29, effective August 1. L. 81: IP(1), (1)(e), and (2) amended and (1)(i) R&RE, pp. 1761, 1762, §§ 1, 2, effective June 19. L. 88: (1)(l) added, p. 1023, § 4, effective April 6.    ANNOTATION   Law reviews. For article, ”Water for Recreation: A Plea for Recognition“, see 44 Den. L.J. 288 (1967).   District must make same developmental efforts as other appropriators. Subsection (1)(c) does not relieve a water district of the requirement to make the same developmental efforts as required of other appropriators in order to support a finding of reasonable diligence in the development of appropriations under conditional water rights. Colo. River Water Conservation Dist. v. City & County of Denver, 640 P.2d 1139 (Colo. 1982).   There is no support in the law of Colorado for the proposition that a minimum flow of water may be ”appropriated“ in a natural stream for piscatorial purposes without diversion of any portion of the water ”appropriated“ from the natural course of the stream. By the enactment of this section the general assembly did not intend to bring about such an extreme departure from well established doctrine, and the supreme court holds that no such departure was brought about by said section. Colo. River Water Conservation Dist. v. Rocky Mt. Power Co., 158 Colo. 331 , 406 P.2d 798 (1965).   Appropriations for piscatorial purposes without diversion intended. The general assembly in the enactment of the second sentence in subsection (4) of § 37-92-103 and subsection (1)(j) of this section intended to have appropriations for piscatorial purposes without diversion. Colo. River Water Conservation Dist. v. Colo. Water Conservation Bd., 197 Colo. 469 , 594 P.2d 570 (1979).