2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 85. Water Use › Chapter 7. Irrigation Districts › Part 1. Creation of Districts -- Generally › 85-7-107. Court decision -- appointment of commissioners

85-7-107. Court decision -- appointment of commissioners.
(1) (a) The court may make such changes in the proposed district as may be considered advisable or as fact, right, and justice may require. Land which is susceptible of irrigation from the same general source and by the same general system of works applicable to the other lands of the proposed district may not be excluded from the proposed district if the owner or owners of the lands file in the district court a written request that the lands be included.
(b) Lands which will not, in the judgment of the court, be benefited by irrigation from the works of the proposed district; which are already under irrigation; which have appurtenant water rights; or which can be irrigated from sources more feasible than the proposed district may not be included in the district unless the owner of such lands consents in writing to the inclusion.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1)(b), whenever a district is formed to cooperate with the United States, lands previously irrigated and having appurtenant water rights may be included within the district boundaries if it appears to the court that the lands will be benefited by inclusion.
(d) All lands having appurtenant water rights, served by an irrigation works system supplying more than 10,000 acres, may, in the discretion of the court, be included in the proposed district upon petition by at least a majority, both in number and acreage, of the holders of title or evidence of title to the lands served by the irrigation system and having appurtenant water rights.
(e) Lands of the district need not be contiguous. The location of a particular tract in the proposed district is not a bar to exclusion.
(2) For purposes of including or excluding land from a proposed district, the court may subdivide any tract into 40-acre or smaller parcels.
(3) If, on final hearing, it is found by the court that the petition does not substantially comply with the requirements of this part or that the facts stated are not sustained by the evidence, the court shall dismiss the petition at the cost of the petitioners and make and enter an order to that effect. If it is found that the petition substantially complies with the requirements and that the facts stated are sustained by the evidence, the court shall make and enter an order:
(a) setting forth findings and allowing the petition;
(b) establishing the proposed district;
(c) giving accurate descriptions of the lands included within the proposed district;
(d) dividing the proposed district into three, five, or seven divisions, as may be advisable in view of the size of the district;
(e) appointing as commissioner one competent person for each division of the district having the qualifications as provided by 85-7-1501.
History: En. Sec. 4, Ch. 146, L. 1909; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 153, L. 1917; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 116, L. 1919; re-en. Sec. 7169, R.C.M. 1921; re-en. Sec. 7169, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 15, Ch. 460, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 89-1204(3) thru (5).