Opinion ID: 1752738
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: ASWCC's Statutory Authority

Text: Resolution of the conflict between Bentonville and ASWCC requires this court to construe two statutes, one granting municipalities exclusive planning jurisdiction over a five-mile area surrounding the city and the other statute empowering ASWCC to approve all water projects. We first note that municipal corporations are creatures of the legislature and as such have only the power bestowed upon them by statute or the Arkansas Constitution. Stilley v. Henson, 342 Ark. 346, 28 S.W.3d 274 (2000). ASWCC is also a creature of the legislature, and its power and authority is limited to that which the legislature confers upon it. Arkansas County v. Desha County, 342 Ark. 135, 27 S.W.3d 379 (2000). The basic rule of statutory construction is to give effect to the intent of the legislature by giving words their usual and ordinary meaning. Id. Where the statutes are unambiguous, we construe them by looking to all laws on the subject, viewing them as a single system, and giving effect to the general purpose of the system. Id. We also recognize that the manner in which a law has been interpreted by executive and administrative officers is to be given consideration and will not be disregarded unless it is clearly wrong. Cave City Nursing Home, Inc. v. Arkansas Dept. of Human Services, 351 Ark. 13, ___, 89 S.W.3d 884, 889 (2002). With these standards in mind, we turn to the statute empowering ASWCC to approve water projects. Arkansas Code Annotated § 15-22-503 (Repl.2000) sets out the broad powers granted to ASWCC by the General Assembly: XX-XX-XXX. Arkansas Water Plan. (a) Under such rules and regulations as it may adopt, the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission is charged with the duty of preparing, developing, formulating, and engaging in a comprehensive program for the orderly development and management of the state's water and related land resources, to be referred to as the Arkansas Water Plan. (b) The commission shall be governed in its preparation of the plan by a regard for the public interest of the entire state. It shall direct its efforts to protect the water resources of the state, including boundary waters, against unwarranted encroachments by other states and the United States upon its sovereignty with respect thereto. Any attempt to transport or export any of such waters against the best interests of the State of Arkansas and its inhabitants shall be strongly opposed. (c) The plan shall give due consideration to existing water rights of the state and its inhabitants and shall take into account modes and procedures for the equitable adjustment of individual water rights affected by the implementation of the plan. The Arkansas Water Plan shall be the state policy for the development of water and related land resources in this state and shall, from time to time, be altered, amended, or repealed to the extent necessary for the proper administration of the state's water resources. (d) All state agencies, commissions, and political subdivisions shall take the Arkansas Water Plan into consideration in all matters pertaining to the discharge of their respective duties and responsibilities as they may affect the comprehensive Arkansas Water Plan, but nothing in the Arkansas Water Plan shall be construed as to impair any water right existing under the laws of this state. (e) No political subdivision or agency of the state shall spend any state funds on or engage in any water development project, excluding any project in which game protection funds or federal or state outdoor recreation assistance grant funds are to be spent provided such project will not diminish the benefits of any existing water development project, until a preliminary survey and report therefor, which sets forth the purpose of the project, the benefits to be expected, the general nature of the works of improvement, the necessity, feasibility, and the estimated cost thereof, is filed with the commission and is approved by the commission to be in compliance with the Arkansas Water Plan. Upon approval of the report, no political subdivision nor agency board or commission thereof filing the report, or designated by the commission as having responsibility for constructing, operating, managing, and maintaining the improvement, shall be dissolved, merged, abolished, or otherwise changed during the life of the water development project without prior approval of the commission. Ark.Code Ann. § 15-22-503 (Repl.2000) (emphasis added). Municipalities are generally required to submit their water development proposals to ASWCC for approval as being in compliance with the Arkansas Water Plan. See, e.g., City of Benton v. Arkansas Soil & Water Conservation Comm'n, 345 Ark. 249, 45 S.W.3d 805 (2001). Municipalities may be included within the boundaries of Regional Water Distribution Districts. City of Fort Smith v. River Valley Regional Water Dist., 344 Ark. 57, 37 S.W.3d 631 (2001); Ark.Code Ann. § 14-116-107 (Repl.1998). Regional Water Districts are required to submit project proposals to ASWCC in order to assure compliance with the Arkansas Water Plan. Ark.Code Ann. § 14-116-402(b) (Supp. 2001). ASWCC is charged with the responsibility of developing the water plan that shall be the state policy for the development of water and related land resources in this state.... Ark.Code Ann. § 15-22-503(c). Section 15-22-504 even requires that the plan be made generally available to ensure that the provisions of this subchapter are complied with concerning water and resource planning and development. Ark.Code Ann. § 15-22-504(b) (Repl.2000). Bentonville contends that section 14-56-413 grants it exclusive jurisdiction over the five-mile extraterritorial area surrounding the city limits. The territorial jurisdiction of the legislative body of the city having a planning commission, for the purpose of this subchapter, shall be exclusive and shall include all land lying within five (5) miles of the corporate limits. Ark.Code Ann. § 14-56-413(a)(1)(A) (Repl. 1998). Bentonville also claims that this exclusive planning jurisdiction trumps ASWCC's authority under section 15-22-503 such that the city has been granted the exclusive right to provide utilities to residents in its five-mile extraterritorial planning area. Bentonville overstates the power granted to them by section 14-56-413. First, section 15-22-503(e) clearly grants ASWCC power over other political subdivisions, such as municipalities, to approve any water development project for compliance with the state water plan. Ark.Code Ann. § 15-22-503(e). Our case law provides that a Regional Water District, whose water projects also require ASWCC approval, can include municipalities. City of Fort Smith v. River Valley Regional Water Dist., supra . Moreover, cities cannot spend state funds on or engage in any water development project until the project is approved by ASWCC. Ark.Code Ann. § 15-22-503(e); City of Benton v. ASWCC, supra. A municipality clearly does not have absolute power to control water projects within its own boundaries, much less within its five-mile extraterritorial planning area. Statutes relating to the same subject are said to be in pari materia and should be read in a harmonious manner, if possible. R.N. v. J.M., 347 Ark. 203, 61 S.W.3d 149 (2001); Minnesota Mining & Mfg. v. Baker, 337 Ark. 94, 989 S.W.2d 151 (1999). Here, we have no difficulty in reading the two statutes at issue in harmony. While a municipality may prepare plans for lands lying within five miles of the city limits, Ark.Code Ann. § 14-56-413, all water development projects must still comply with the Arkansas Water Plan. Ark.Code Ann. § 15-22-503. In the instant case, Bentonville did not provide ASWCC with any plan to annex or otherwise provide water services to the residents who live within its five-mile extraterritorial planning area. The decision by ASWCC did not, as characterized by Bentonville, deny Bentonville any powers to provide city services to its citizens; instead, ASWCC approved Centerton's project to provide water to residents in the area surrounding Centerton, a portion of which lies within Bentonville's five-mile extraterritorial planning area. If this court were to adopt the statutory interpretation advanced by Bentonville, the residents of the disputed area would be denied potable water until such time, if ever, Bentonville decides to provide watereven then, a water project would still have to be approved by ASWCC. We therefore hold that ASWCC acted within its statutory authority when it approved Centerton's water distribution project.