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Show 354 LOUISIANA boundaries. Many of these entities were mentioned in section 2.3 .b, above, but it is not amiss to emphasize at this juncture the impact that those entities might have on private riparian water claims. Thus, the irrigation district law (patterned after California legis- lation) 85 provides that the police jury, the governing authority in the parish, may establish irrigation districts on petition of landown- ers in the district who may receive some benefit from the improve- ment.88 As a political subdivision of the State, the district has a broader tax base and therefore the ability to raise more capital than would be possible for private irrigation enterprises. The Sabine River Authority ifurnishes water for agricultural and other purposes in six parishes lying within the watershed of the Sabine River and its tributaries.37 The authority is charged with the responsibility of making an "equitable distribution" of the water among various classes of water users, but it is vested "with full right to use all waters and to possess all water rights" in the waters of the Sabine River and its tributaries "necessary to the carrying out of its cooperative objectives," and such right is "prior and superior to all other rights in such waters." Existing vested riparian rights (pre- sumably those acquired under art. 661) may not, however, be taken without the payment of just compensation.38 The Sabine River Authority statute, and other similar ones, appar- ently supersede section 9:1101, discussed above, which provides that no charge shall be assessed for the use of water from any stream within the State. b. NAVIGABLE WATERS AND THEIR BEDS Private ownership of navigable waters and their beds is contrary to the public policy and the statutes of Louisiana. The legislature's attention to this matter is quite interesting, however, and a brief chronology of the statutes will illustrate the difficulty to be encoun- tered in attempting to determine whether riparian grants from the State prior to August 12, 1910, can carry such private rights and privileges. Whatever the answer, the probability is that rights of navigation, fishing, shoreland development, and recreation will be affected more than will rights of diversion and use. It would seem that the State and its agencies made a number of grants to private individuals prior to 1910 which purportedly con- veyed ownership of portions of navigable waters and their beds. In 1910, the legislature sought to prevent any further transfers of that sort, declaring :39 While acknowledging the absolute supremacy of the United States of America over the navigation of the navigable waters within the borders of the state, it is hereby declared that the ownership of the water itself and the beds thereof in the said navigable streams is vested in the state. . . . This section is not intended to interfere with the acquisition in good faith of any waters or the beds thereof transferred by the State or its agencies prior to August 12,1910. [Emphasis added.] The second paragraph quoted above would seem to confirm and validate any grants by the State prior to August 12, 1910, even 35 See 4 Waters and Water Bights (R. Clark ed. 1970). 86 Sees. 38 :2101 through 2123. 87 Sees. 38 :2321 through 2337. 88 Sec. 38:2328(E). 88 Sec. 9:1101. |