| OCR Text |
Show which all of the files, other than current files, of the State Engineer and the Utah Water and Power Board should be kept for public inspection and use, 2. That the studies of the Water Administration Committee do not justify consolidating the office of the State Engineer of Utah with the Utah Water and Power Board, or the Utah Water and Power Board with the office of the State Engineer, for the reason that the State Engineer and Utah Water and Power Board perform entirely different functions, viz: The State Engineer has general administration and supervision of the waters of Utah, including the measurement, appropriation, apportionment and distribution thereof with power to make and publish rules and regulations to secure the equitable and fair apportionment and distribution of water according to the respective rights of appropriators and has authority to bring suit to enjoin unlawful appropriation, diversion and use of both surface and underground water and to prevent waste or loss thereof. The appropriation, regulation and use of water is made by the State Engineer in accordance with Utah statutes in Chapters 3, 4 and 5, Title 73, Utah Code Annotated 1953. The Utah Water and Power Board has the power to make plans for the development and utilization of the water resources and to contract for and finance the construction of conservation projects. To accomplish these objectives it has the power to make applications to the State Engineer for the appropriation and use of water in the name of the Utah Water and Power Board in the same manner and with the same effect as any inhabitant of Utah and has the power to take all action necessary to acquire or perfect water rights for projects sponsored or financed by the Board. Their powers are exercised in accordance with Section 73- 10- 4, Utah Code Annotated 1953. 3. It is the opinion and judgment of the Water Administration Committee that the functions of the office of the State Engineer should be entirely separated and independent from those of the Utah Water and Power Board; that it would not be in the best interests of the people of Utah to have the appro- - 5- |
