In Re the Confirmation & Approval of the Master Contract Between the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District & the United States

144 N.W.2d 82, 1966 N.D. LEXIS 161
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedJune 30, 1966
Docket8326
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 144 N.W.2d 82 (In Re the Confirmation & Approval of the Master Contract Between the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District & the United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re the Confirmation & Approval of the Master Contract Between the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District & the United States, 144 N.W.2d 82, 1966 N.D. LEXIS 161 (N.D. 1966).

Opinions

KNUDSON, Judge.

This matter comes to us pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 32-24, North Dakota Century Code, upon four questions certified by the District Court of LaMoure County, the Honorable Adam Gefreh, Judge, presiding. The four questions certified to this Court by the District Court are as follows:

1. Is Chapter 384 [sic 348] of the 1955 Session Laws, as amended by Chapter 412 of the 1959 Session Laws, now Chapter 61-24 of the North Dakota Century Code, valid under the provisions of Sections 25 and 13 of the North Dakota Constitution, particularly as to § 61-24 — 08 of the North Dakota Century Code which vests certain powers and duties upon the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District and the manner in which such powers are being exercised by said Garrison Diversion Conservancy District in the Master Contract, Exhibit “F”?
2. Is § 61-24-08(9) and Paragraph 4 on Page 2 of the resolution, Exhibit “Q”, as adopted by the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District in compliance with the Master Contract, Exhibit “F”, valid under the provisions of Section 176 of the North Dakota Constitution where all lands located within the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District pursuant thereto will be assessed and taxed regardless whether or not said lands are within an established irrigation district of the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District?
3. Is § 61-24-08(2) valid under the provisions of Section 14 of the North Dakota Constitution, where the purpose of the taking or the exercise of eminent domain is to provide waterways and canals upon or through which water will flow, which water is for the use and [85]*85benefit of private persons as well as for public purposes such as public recreation, game and fish, and wildlife, and other related programs, all as provided for in the Master Contract, Exhibit “F”?
4. Does the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District, if Chapter 61-24 of the North Dakota Century Code is valid, have the authority to carry out the provisions of the Master Contract under the provisions of Chapter 61-24 of the North Dakota Century Code?

The District Court answered all of these questions in the affirmative.

This proceeding was initiated by the Board of Directors of the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District by a petition presented to the District Court for LaMoure County praying that the proceedings preliminary and incident to the making of the Master Contract between the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District and the United States, and of the Four Three-way Contracts among the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District, the United States, and respectively, the Dickey-Sargent, the Lincoln Valley, the Warwick-McVille and the James River Irrigation Districts, and the assessment and levy of a tax to meet the obligations of said Garrison Diversion Conservancy District under said contracts, and all special actions taken in connection therewith, be examined, approved and confirmed by the court. A hearing was held thereon, as provided by law upon due notice, at which time testimony and documentary evidence was introduced and received by the court. No adverse appearance was made or filed in writing or in person by anyone. The proceedings taken by the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District were reviewed and approved by the District Court. The Court, upon the motion of the petitioner, certified the four questions to this Court for determination “deeming the issues before it to depend principally or wholly upon the applicable law thereto, and that the construction or interpretation of the applicable laws are of great moment and of vital importance to the cause before the Court.”

The District Court answered the questions in the affirmative and said “that the proper answers are in doubt but are vital and of great moment in the cause and will be principally determinative of said cause and are not frivolous or interlocutory in nature.”

The petitioners set forth in their brief the reasons for presenting these certified questions to this Court, as follows:

The certified questions are before this Court by virtue of jurisdiction conferred upon the District Court by § 61-24-15 of the North Dakota Century Code. While the mechanics of Chapter 32-24 were employed to submit the questions before this Court, the underlying reason which caused this matter to be submitted to the Supreme Court was and is the necessity for same by reason and provisions of the Master Contract and the position adopted by the United States Government.
The questions are not of an interlocutory nature, nor are they frivolous. They are of great importance. The entire Garrison Diversion Conservancy District Project rests upon a favorable determination of the questions submitted. Pursuant to the provisions of the Master Contract and the firm position taken by the United States Government, it is imperative that the Court consider the questions certified and act favorably thereon so that the project which has been in the embryo stage for many years can now become a reality. The condition imposed by the United States Government in its firm stand is one that we have no control over. If we, i. e., the State of North Dakota, wish to have the Garrison Diversion Conservancy Project, these are the conditions under which it can be obtained.

The necessity for obtaining approval and confirmation of this contract by the Supreme Court of the State of North Dakota [86]*86is stated by Mr. Roy A. Holand, amicus curiae, as follows:

Under its broad and well recognized power to develop the natural resources of this nation, the United States has proposed to build the Garrison Diversion Unit. This is a multipurpose project which will develop the resources of water and soil of the area comprising the Garrison Conservancy District. The purposes served by this project will be irrigation, municipal and industrial water supply, fish and wildlife development and recreational development including the replenishment and improvement of lakes in the project area.
Legislation authorizing the construction of the initial stages of this project was passed by Congress in the act of August 5, 1965 (79 Stat. 433). In order to proceed further with the steps necessary to get construction under way, there were certain things that had to be done by the Garrison Conservancy District and local water users. This included the organization of irrigation district and county park boards and the approval of proposed contracts by irrigators in organized irrigation districts comprising at least 100,000 acres. This step has been accomplished through the elections and signing of proposed contracts by the four irrigation districts who are referred to in the three-way contracts mentioned in these proceedings.
The second requirement is that of executing a master contract between the United States and the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District and the approval and confirmation of this contract by the Supreme Court of the State of North-Dakota. The necessity for such approval is written into the contract itself and is insisted upon as a necessary prerequisite by the United States. It is also provided for by North Dakota statute and the procedure to be followed is outlined therein in 61-24-15 of the North Dakota Century Code.

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Spirit Lake Tribe v. North Dakota
262 F.3d 732 (Eighth Circuit, 2001)
Barnes County v. Garrison Diversion Conservancy District
312 N.W.2d 20 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1981)
Tompkins Ex Rel. Newby v. Carlsbad Irrigation District
1981 NMCA 072 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1981)
Dornacker v. Olson
248 N.W.2d 844 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1976)
Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. v. Johanneson
153 N.W.2d 414 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1967)

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Bluebook (online)
144 N.W.2d 82, 1966 N.D. LEXIS 161, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-confirmation-approval-of-the-master-contract-between-the-nd-1966.