2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-TWO - Public Works (§§ 1 — 1104) › Chapter 17 - Southwestern Puerto Rico Project or Lajas Valley Project (§§ 341 — 389) › Subchapter II - Operation of Irrigation System (§§ 361 — 389) › § 377 - Utilization—Delivery of water by rotation, conveyance, sale, or temporary renting of duty waters

The right of utilization of waters of the Irrigation System shall inalienably belong to the lands included in the Irrigation District and shall pass, along with the title to said lands or any part thereof, to subsequent owners, and the owners of said tracts of land are hereby enjoined, under pain of the withdrawal of the Irrigation System benefits from the said lands, from selling or alienating to any other natural or artificial person any part whatsoever of the water supplied to their lands, as something independent therefrom.
In case of violation of this provision, the Authority is hereby authorized to cut off the water unduly diverted from the land to which it appertains immediately upon discovery of such violation, serving notice on the owner or lessee of the land stating the reasons why the water has been cut off, and the Authority shall not supply such lands with water until the owner or lessee shall have satisfied the Authority that such violation will not be committed again, or until a competent court shall order otherwise. If any owner or lessee of such land considers himself prejudiced by the refusal of the Authority to supply him water, such owner or lessee may bring an action in the Court of First Instance to compel the Authority to let the water onto the land; Provided, further, That if action is brought by a lessee of any land, the owner of same shall not be obligated by the judgment of the court unless he has been made a party to the action, and he can be made such a party by either the plaintiff or the defendant or at his own request.
The foregoing provisions, however, shall not prevent:
(1) The due dispensation of water by rotation among the various tracts of land by any canal or ditch.
(2) The proprietor or lessee of lands included within the Irrigation District from utilizing, with the approval of the Authority, the water appertaining to one specific tract on another tract of land of which he is owner or lessee within or without the Irrigation District, provided he pays the additional cost, if any.
(3) The owner or lessee of any land entitled to receive water from selling or leasing with the approval of the Authority and according to the regulations promulgated by it for the purpose, the water he is entitled to, or any part thereof, for use on other land within or without the Irrigation District. Such sale or lease of the water shall, however, be upon the express condition that in cases of the sale or conveyance of the land to which the water appertains, such sale or lease of the water shall expire not later than July 1 of the year on which the sale or conveyance of the said land took place, and the land to which the water sold or leased appertains shall not be exempt from liability for the irrigation taxes that may be levied.
It shall not be required that the Authority deliver the water appertaining to any land except to the outside boundaries thereof, or to the canals or ditches belonging to that land that the owner may request, if it is practicable to do so, and subject to the regulations established by the Authority.
History —June 10, 1953, No. 65, p. 182, § 17.