24-661. Same; certification to chief engineer; investigation, report and approval or disapproval; approval required, when; transmittal of approval to secretary of state and to chairman of steering com
24-661
24-661. Same; certification to chief engineer; investigation, reportand approval or disapproval; approval required, when; transmittal of approvalto secretary of state and to chairman of steering committee.If the secretary of state finds the petition to be sufficient as to formand the number and qualifications of the petitioners, he or she shall prepare acertified copy of the petition and transmit the same to the chiefengineer within five (5) days from the date of his or her determination ofsufficiency. Upon receipt of such certified copy the chief engineershall institute an investigation of the proposed district, its territoryand purposes, and shall within ninety (90) days after receipt of saidcopy transmit a written report of his or her findings on the petition togetherwith his or her written approval or disapproval of the petition, to thesecretary of state and the acting chairman of the steering committeenamed in the petition.
The chief engineer shall approve such petition if he or she finds anddiscloses by his or her report:
(1) That the boundary of any proposed district as defined is limitedto but, as far as practicable, includes all quarter-quarter-quartersections (square ten-acre tracts) of which more than one-half is subjectto injury and damage from the overflow of some watercourse orwatercourses, naming or describing it or them, or to include all of anysuch quarter-quarter-quarter sections which contain a portion of thechannel of the named or described watercourse or watercourses, or includes,as far as practicable, all quarter-quarter-quarter sections which are subjectto injury and damage from standing water not resulting from the overflowof some watercourse;
(2) that the downstream limit of any proposed district isestablished with due regard to the location of highways and railroadsand the location and character of existing works of improvement, theboundaries of any organized levee, drainage, irrigation and watersheddistricts, and the physical characteristics of and the probable relativeeffect of the operation of the proposed district upon any flood plainarea common to both the stream or watercourse and any other stream orwatercourse;
(3) that the improvement of the channel of such watercourse orwatercourses, the construction and maintenance of levees, drains orother works, including detention dams and reservoirs, are necessary toprevent such overflow;
(4) that such improvement or works will be conducive to the publichealth, convenience or welfare;
(5) that the proposed drainage district would not include lands inany existing drainage or watershed district;
(6) that the map attached to the petition and the description oflands proposed to be included in the district are adequate and correct.The chief engineer, in his or her report, may make minorcorrections with respect to the map or the description of lands proposedto be included in the district to make such map and description of landsconform to the map previously prepared in consultation with the chiefengineer, and such corrections shall thereupon become a part of thepetition and be deemed effective without a recirculation of thecorrected petition among the landowners. If the chief engineer shallapprove such petition, he or she shall transmit a certified copy of hisor her report to the secretary of state and to the chairman of the steering committeeof the district.
History: L. 1963, ch. 225, § 6; L. 1973, ch. 147, § 1; L. 1977,ch. 127, § 1; July 1.