Title 9 — Title 9

Court; Petition for Appointment of Viewers; Composition, Etc., of Board of Viewers; Qualifications and Appointment of Members. Within 90 days after the adoption of the plan of water management, the secretary of the board of water management commissioners shall prepare and transmi…

Findings. (a) Within 30 days after qualifying, the board of viewers shall begin its duties, and it may at any time call upon the attorney of the district for legal advice and information relative to its duties. Said viewers shall proceed to view the premises and determine the val…

When the report of the board of viewers is fully completed in accordance with the provisions of this article and filed, the court of probate shall forthwith set a date for hearing said report, not less than 30 days thereafter, and shall give notice thereof by causing publication …

Approval and Confirmation of Report; Dismissal of Proceedings and Dissolution of District; Transmittance of Copies of Court Decree and Report of Viewers; Filing Fee. On or before the day set for the hearing of the final report of the board of viewers, the water management distric…

Conservation Committee. The establishing of proper works of improvement for the drainage of wet, swamp and overflowed lands of the state and for flood prevention or the conservation, development, utilization and disposal of water within the state is declared to promote the public…

Any person aggrieved may within 10 days after the confirmation of the board of viewers’ report appeal from the judgment of the court of probate to the circuit court, and upon such an appeal there may be determined either or both of the following: first, whether just compensation …

Generally; Water Management Tax Record; Additional Taxes. (a) After the list of lands and other property with the assessed benefits and the decree and judgment of the court have been filed as provided in Section 9-9-29, the board of water management commissioners shall without un…

Directing Collection of Tax; Preparation of Tax Record; Proceedings as to Delinquencies. (a) The said board of water management commissioners shall each year thereafter determine, order and levy the amount of the annual installment of the total taxes under Section 9-9-31, which s…

When any property in a water management district has been divided, sold or transferred, the tax collector may receive taxes levied under this article on a part of any tract, piece or parcel of land or other property and give his receipt accordingly only when the deed or transfer …

Payment of Tax to Treasurer. The tax collector of each county shall retain for his services as collector of taxes for the water management district one half of one percent of the amount he collects of delinquent taxes, penalties and costs. If any tax collector or sheriff shall re…

Any person owning lands and other property assessed for the construction of any works of improvement under the provisions of this article shall have the privilege of paying such tax assessment to the district treasurer on or before a date to be fixed by the board of water managem…

Issuance of Bonds and Waiver of Defenses. Each and every person owning land in the district who shall fail to pay to the district treasurer the full amount for which his land is liable, as aforesaid, within the time above specified shall be deemed as consenting to the issuance of…

The board of water management commissioners may issue bonds of the water management district from time to time for an amount equal in the aggregate to the total cost of the improvement including all preliminary organization and administration expenses not heretofore provided for,…

The board of water management commissioners may sell the bonds for cash at not less than 95 percent of the par value plus accrued interest and devote the proceeds to the payment of the work as it progresses and to the payment of other expenses of the district provided for in this…

The principal and interest of bonds issued under this article shall be payable at such place or places as the board of commissioners may designate. At least two weeks before the principal and interest of any bonds are due and payable, it shall be the duty of the treasurer of the …

All petitions provided for under this article may be signed by women, whether married or single, provided they own land in the proposed district; guardians may sign for their wards, and trustees, executors and administrators may sign for the estates represented by them; and, if t…

(a) If any installment of principal and interest evidenced by any bonds issued under the provisions of this article shall not be paid at the time and in the manner when the same shall become due and payable, the same shall bear interest at the rate of eight percent per annum unti…

Bonds in behalf of the district for the safekeeping of funds and faithful performance of their respective duties and obligations shall be given by each of the commissioners, the engineer, if any, the attorney, the secretary, the treasurer and all other persons who may handle fund…

Authority and Procedure for Letting Contracts. The board of water management commissioners may secure and use men, equipment and materials under the supervision of the water management engineer to construct, excavate and complete all or any of the works of improvements which may …

of Water Management Engineer; Payment of Contractor. The water management engineer shall have charge of the construction of the plan of water management. He shall make monthly estimates of the amount of work done and shall furnish one copy to the contractor and file the other wit…

of Contractor. If any contractor to whom said work shall have been let shall fail to perform the same according to the terms specified in his contract, the board of water management commissioners may declare the contract forfeited and shall have a right of action against the cont…

Contractor’s Right of Entry Upon Lands, Etc. In the construction of the works of improvement, the contractor shall have the right to enter upon the lands necessary for this purpose and the right to remove private or public bridges or fences and to cross private lands in going to …

Drain or Watercourse Crosses Public Highway. Where any public ditch, drain or watercourse established under the provisions of this article crosses a public highway at the intersection of such highway with a natural watercourse or swale through which water flows during a period of…

After a district has let a contract for work which crosses or traverses a railway right- of-way and the actual construction is commenced, the engineer in charge of construction shall notify the railroad company of the probable time at which the contractor will be ready to enter u…

Repairs and Maintenance; Payment of Costs of Repairs and Maintenance; Injury, Damage or Obstruction of Improvements. Whenever any improvement constructed under this article is completed, it shall be under the control and supervision of the board of water management commissioners.…

Outlets for Lateral Drains from Lands. The owner of any land that has been assessed for the cost of the construction of any ditch, drain, watercourse or other improvement as provided in this article shall have the right to use the ditch, drain or watercourse as an outlet for late…

(a) The court of probate of any county of the State of Alabama shall have jurisdiction, power and authority to establish water management districts, as provided in this article for the following purposes: (1) To locate and establish levees, drains or canals and to cause to be con…

Any body of land, however large, contiguous or adjacent to a water management district organized under this article may be annexed thereto and made a part thereof, the same as if originally included therein, upon petition of one third or more of the landowners owning 50 percent o…

A water management district may be organized over the whole or any part of the lands covered by an existing watershed conservancy district organized under Sections 9-8-50 through 9-8-67; provided that: (1) The soil and water conservation district supervisors and the directors of …

District, Etc. The organization of any district or subdistrict under the provisions of this article shall not be construed to prevent inclusion of a whole or any part of the lands of any such district in another district and the taxing of such land to whatever extent the plan of …

Whenever it may be desirable to construct, widen, deepen, straighten or otherwise change any ditch, drain, watercourse, floodwater retarding structure, levee or other works of improvement lying on or along, across or near the boundary line between the State of Alabama and an adjo…

Any warrant issued under this article that is not paid when presented to the treasurer of the district because of lack of funds in the treasury shall be endorsed on the back of said warrant “not paid for lack of funds.” Such warrant shall draw interest thereafter at the rate of s…

The board of water management commissioners may petition the court; and, upon a proper showing, the court shall correct errors or omissions that may have occurred in any proceedings or decrees in relation to any district organized under this article; provided, that notice by publ…

Districts; Petition Requesting Additional Powers; Notice to Landowners and Proceedings. All drainage districts created under Title 2, Sections 208 through 262 of the 1940 Alabama Code, shall be known as water management districts and shall continue to carry out their drainage pur…

Any district organized under this article may be dissolved by the court of probate having jurisdiction thereof whenever it shall appear to said court that the works thereof need no further care or maintenance to preserve their efficiency and usefulness, that the maintenance of th…

of Assessment; Remedies Provided in Article Exclusive. The provisions of this article shall be liberally construed to promote the storing of beneficial water, leveeing, ditching, draining and otherwise to provide protection from flooding of wet and overflowed lands, and for flood…

Probate Court; District Record Book. The court of probate shall keep a complete record of all its proceedings under this article in a book to be used for the purpose only. The book shall be designated as the “Water Management District Record of _____ County, Alabama” and shall al…

Appointment, Etc., of Engineer; Report of Engineer. (a) Whenever a petition praying for the organization of a water management district and signed by a majority of the landowners owning more than one third of the land in acreage in a proposed district or by at least one third of …

Whenever used in this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: (1) COMMISSION. The county commission with the judge of probate as chairman. (2) CHAIRMAN. The judge of probate acting as chairman of the county c…

The establishing of proper control of surface waters upon the agricultural lands of the state through proper distribution and holding of said waters upon said land, the prevention of increased areas of wet, swamp or overflow lands through control of soil erosion and the filling o…

and Exercise Powers of Drainage or Water Management Commissioners. For the purpose heretofore expressed and the execution of the powers provided in this article, each county of the state is hereby declared to be and is hereby created a drainage district. The county commission wit…

Subdistricts Generally. The county commission shall have control of the affairs of the county as such drainage district. No commissioner shall directly or indirectly be interested in any contract made by the county commission, save and except insofar as other land owners are bene…

The county commission of any county, as a drainage district, shall have jurisdiction, power and authority to establish drainage subdistricts as provided in this article, to promote, aid and assist the purposes of drainage districts organized under Title 2, Sections 208 through 26…

(a) The establishment of a subdistrict shall be undertaken only upon the initiative of one or more of the land owners concerned. Such land owners shall file with the chairman, for which a fee of $1.00 shall be charged, a petition signed by three fourths of the land owners who own…

Proceedings as to Delinquencies. (a) When a subdistrict shall have been established by order of the county commission, the owners of land within the subdistrict shall, through their officers or directors and in keeping with the provisions of the constitution and bylaws of the sub…

Lands; Appeals from Orders of Commission. Any owner of land within a proposed subdistrict may file with the chairman objections in writing to the establishment of a subdistrict on or before the day set for hearing the engineer’s report on the same. If such subdistrict is establis…

If it shall be necessary to acquire a right-of-way or an outlet over and through land affected by the improvements, then and in such event the power of eminent domain is hereby conferred, and such land may be condemned. The right of condemnation hereby conferred shall be invoked …

The terms “costs” and “expenses” as used in this article shall include all expenses incident to or necessary to organize, defend, promote, improve, operate, maintain or dissolve a subdistrict. Any funds advanced to set up and establish a subdistrict or proposed subdistrict shall …

Petition Filed. The court of probate of the county in which said petition is filed shall thereafter maintain and have original and exclusive jurisdiction coextensive with the boundaries and limits of said district without regard to county lines for all purposes of this article; s…

of Assessments or Functioning of Subdistrict; Remedies Provided in Article Exclusive. The provisions of this article shall be liberally construed to promote the declared purposes thereof. The collection of any assessment or assessments or the desirable functioning of a subdistric…