| OCR Text |
Show LOUISIANA 351 (10) Irrigation districts are also created by police juries upon petition of landowners within the parish but located outside of incor- porated towns and cities. The basic purposes of irrigation districts are to conserve water for the benefit of the inhabitants and property owners within the district boundaries, and to provide water for irri- gation and other uses, both within and outside the district. They are authorized to construct, lease, acquire, maintain, and operate dikes, dams, reservoirs, storage basins, locks, levees, flumes, conduits, and to acquire or lease private canals and other bodies of water for district purposes.20 (11) Soil and water conservation districts may be organized pur- suant to certain statutory procedures,21 and, when organized, have rather broad powers relating to land and water conservation meas- ures, including authority to carry out programs for the conservation, development, utilization, and disposal of water within the district on lands owned or controlled by the State and on other lands within the district where consent of the owners and occupants is acquired.22 (12) Drainage districts, as the name implies, are concerned with drainage problems and programs, and there is a wide range of statu- tory provisions relating to their operation. They have control over all public drainage channels within their boundaries, and they may contract with the State department of public works for technical and financial aid for their projects.23 (13) Levee districts are governed by levee boards, and, with the exception of Orleans Parish, may construct and maintain levees, levee drainage, and all other things necessary or incidental thereto. A number of operations and functions are limited to certain areas, since some basins and districts are excluded from the effect of the statutes.24 (14) Municipal corporations have rather typical powers to erect, purchase, maintain, operate, and regulate waterworks systems. Water rates may be set by the municipalities, but if contracts are entered into between the municipality and a third party for the erection and maintenance of waterworks and specifying rates to be charged by the third party, such contract must be limited to a 25-year period and must first be submitted to the electorate for voter approval.25 As a general observation, it should be noted that most of the entities mentioned above are authorized to exercise the power of eminent domain in furtherance of their purposes and objectives. In many in- stances water development or drainage projects have an adverse im- pact on riparian owners, although it is not always so clear that their "rights" have been invaded. Much litigation has resulted over ques- tions of expropriation of private property, and also with respect to the measure of just compensation, and some writers have explored various aspects of these problems.28 20 Sees. 38.2101.20. » Sec. 3.1204. s2 Sees. 3.1205 to 3.1215. 2SSecs. 38.111 etseq. 24 Sees. 38.281 and 38.221-22. 25 Sees. 33.361, 33.401, 33.404, 33.841, and 33.842 to 33.845. 29 See, e.g., W. Stoebuck, Condemnation of Riparian Rights • A Species of Taking With- out Touching, 30 La. L. Rev. 394 (1970) ; R. Wolfe, The Appropriation of Property for Levees: A Louisiana Study in Taking Without Just Compensation, 40 Tulane L. Rev. 233 (1966) ; Comment, 27 La. L. Rev. 321 (1967). See also Orayson v. Comm'rs of Bossier Levee Dist., 229 So. 2d 139 (La. Ct. Appeal, 2d 1969) reh. den. 1970. |
