(1) For the purpose of the establishment of an irrigation district as provided by this article, a petition shall be filed with the board of county commissioners of the county which embraces the largest acreage of the proposed district. The petition shall state:
(a) That it is the purpose of petitioners to organize an irrigation district under the provisions of this article;
(b) A general description of the boundaries of such proposed district;
(c) The means proposed to supply water for the irrigation of the lands embraced therein;
(d) The name proposed for such district; and
(e) A prayer that the board of county commissioners define and establish the boundaries of said proposed district and submit the question of the final organization of the same to the vote of the qualified electors of said proposed district.
(2) The petition shall be signed by a majority of the owners of said lands, whether residents or nonresidents, as well as by the owners in the aggregate of a majority of the total number of acres of land sought to be enclosed in said proposed district. The petitioners shall elect from their number a committee of three to present such petition to the board of county commissioners. The petition shall also be accompanied by a good and sufficient bond, to be approved by the board of county commissioners, in double the amount of the probable cost of organizing such district, conditioned for the payment of all costs incurred in said proceedings in case said organization shall not be effected, but in case such district is so effected, then said expenses incurred by the board of county commissioners shall be paid back to said county by said district.
(3) Such petition shall be published for at least four weeks before the time at which the same is to be presented, in some newspaper of general circulation published in the county where the petition is to be presented, together with a notice signed by the committee of said petitioners giving the time and place of the presentation of the same to the board of county commissioners.
Source: L. 05: p. 246, § 2. R.S. 08: § 3441. L. 15: p. 298, § 2. C.L. § 1961. CSA: C. 90, § 378. CRS 53: § 149-1-2. C.R.S. 1963: § 150-1-2.
ANNOTATION
Law reviews. For note, "A Survey of Colorado Water Law", see 47 Den. L.J. 226 (1970).
This section requires publication not only of a prescribed notice, but of the petition. Ahern v. Bd. of Dirs. of High Line Irrigation Dist., 39 Colo. 409, 89 P. 963 (1931).
The publication of this notice, as well as the petition, is an essential prerequisite to conferring upon the board jurisdiction concerning the matter of the organization; such notice is in the nature of process, indeed the only process by which the property owners to be affected are notified and given an opportunity to present to the board their objections; in this matter the board sits as a court of special and limited jurisdiction; that the notice must be given by the petitioners themselves, and that both the notice and the petition must be published for the required length of time. Ahern v. Bd. of Dirs. of High Line Irrigation Dist., 39 Colo. 409, 89 P. 963 (1931).
The object of the required publication is to notify landowners within the boundaries of the proposed district, other than those who have signed the petition, that at a certain time and place the petition will be presented to the board of county commissioners for its action, as provided for in the statute, when and where they may attend to offer any objection they have. All these considerations should be in the minds of those who prepare and sign the notice. Ahern v. Bd. of Dirs. of High Line Irrigation Dist., 39 Colo. 409, 89 P. 963 (1931).
There is no presumption that the notice was written at the time the petition was signed. Ahern v. Bd. of Dirs. of High Line Irrigation Dist., 39 Colo. 409, 89 P. 963 (1931).
Signatures to the petition are not signatures to the notice. Ahern v. Bd. of Dirs. of High Line Irrigation Dist., 39 Colo. 409, 89 P. 963 (1931).
These signatures to the petition are essential parts of the petition itself. Indeed, the petition without the signatures is not a petition at all. Ahern v. Bd. of Dirs. of High Line Irrigation Dist., 39 Colo. 409, 89 P. 963 (1931).
A party who has subscribed a petition cannot afterwards dispute the facts therein asserted, even though his name is necessary to make up the required majority. Montezuma Valley Irrigation Dist. v. Longenbaugh, 54 Colo. 391, 131 P. 262 (1913).
There is no necessity for addressing a petition to the board and this section does not require it. Ahern v. Bd. of Dirs. of High Line Irrigation Dist., 39 Colo. 409, 89 P. 963 (1931).
A committee appointed to make publication has authority to give the required notice. Under this section it must be inferred that the committee was selected to give the notice required since the notice and petition are required to be published together. It is unreasonable to suppose they were authorized to make an insufficient publication, but rather to do all things necessary to make it complete. Lockard v. People ex rel. Weisbrod, 71 Colo. 213, 205 P. 944 (1922).
Sufficiency of notice. Where a notice says that "The undersigned as the committee duly authorized will present", etc., this shows the official capacity in which the signers were acting, and it is not material in what part of the notice this appears. Lockard v. People ex rel. Weisbrod, 71 Colo. 213, 205 P. 944 (1922).