2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 32 - SPECIAL DISTRICTS (§§ 32-1-101 — 32-22-117) › SPECIAL STATUTORY DISTRICTS (§§ 32-8-101 — 32-22-117) › Article 11 - URBAN DRAINAGE AND FLOOD CONTROL ACT (§§ 32-11-101 — 32-11-817) › Part 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS (§§ 32-11-101 — 32-11-107) › Section 32-11-102 - Legislative declaration

(1)
The general assembly hereby determines, finds, and declares that:
(a)
All property to be acquired by the district under this article shall be owned, operated, administered, and maintained for and on behalf of all of the people of the district;
(b)
The creation of the district by this article promotes the health, comfort, safety, convenience, and welfare of all the people of the state and is of special benefit to the inhabitants of the district and the property therein;
(c)
The provisions in this article of the purposes, powers, duties, privileges, immunities, rights, liabilities, and disabilities concerning the district serve a public use;
(d)
The district created by this article is a body corporate and politic, a political subdivision of the state, and a municipal corporation with the powers provided in this article;
(e)
Any notice provided for in this article for any purpose is reasonably calculated to inform each person of interest in any proceedings under this article which may directly and adversely affect his legally protected interests, if any;
(f)
The necessity for this article results from the large population growth in the urban area included by this article within the district constituting a major portion of the state's population, from the numerous capital improvements and large amount of improved real property situated within such urban area, from the torrential storms occurring sporadically and intermittently in the urban area and other areas draining into such urban area, from the increasing danger of floods therein and the resultant risks to the property and to the health and safety of the persons within the urban area, from the division of the urban area into large areas of incorporated areas and unincorporated areas, from the fragmentation and proliferation of powers, rights, privileges, and duties pertaining to water, flood control, and drainage within such urban area among a substantial number of public bodies, and from the resultant inabilities of such public bodies to acquire suitable capital improvements for the alleviation of such dangers and risks;
(g)
A general law cannot be made applicable to the district, and to properties, powers, duties, privileges, immunities, rights, liabilities, and disabilities pertaining thereto as provided in this article, because of the number of atypical factors and special conditions concerning them;
(h)
The powers, privileges, and rights granted in this article, and the duties, immunities, liabilities, and disabilities provided in this article comply in all respects with any requirement or limitation imposed by any constitutional provision;
(i)
For the accomplishment of the purposes provided in this section, the provisions of this article shall be broadly construed;
(j)
The experience of the Big Thompson flood of 1976 illustrates the need for Colorado floodplains to be continually kept clear of debris and debris-collecting structures. This need is most apparent in the urban drainage and flood control district which encompasses many different political entities and more than one-half of the entire population of this state. To meet this need, it is the intent of the general assembly that a systematic and uniform program of preventive maintenance be instituted and maintained in the district, which program shall be administered by the board of directors of the district and not by local governments.
L. 69: p. 733, § 2. C.R.S. 1963: § 89-21-2. L. 79: (1)(j) added, p. 1210, § 1, effective July 1.