(1) In its corporate capacity, the district shall
have the power:
(a) To sue and be sued in the name of the Colorado river water conservation
district;
(b) To acquire, operate, and hold in the name of the district such real and
personal property as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this article and
to sell and convey such property or its products, as provided in this article, or when
said property is no longer needed for the purposes of said district;
(c) To make surveys and conduct investigations to determine the best
manner of utilizing streamflows within the district and the amount of such
streamflow or other water supply, and to locate ditches, irrigation works, and
reservoirs to store or utilize water for irrigation, mining, manufacturing, or other
purposes, and to make filings upon said water and initiate appropriations for the
use and benefit of the ultimate appropriators, and to perform all acts and things
necessary or advisable to secure and ensure an adequate supply of water, present
and future, for irrigation, mining, manufacturing, and domestic purposes within said
districts;
(d) To make contracts with respect to the relative rights of said district under
its claims and filings and the rights of any other person, association, or organization
seeking to divert water from any of the streams within said district;
(e) To contract with any agencies, officers, bureaus, and departments of the
state of Colorado or the United States, including the department of corrections, to
obtain services or labor for the initiation, the construction, or any other acquisition
of irrigation works, ditches and ditch rights, canals, reservoirs, power plants, or
retaining ponds within the district or to acquire, by purchase, rental, lease, or
exchange, water, water rights, or electricity (or any combination thereof) from the
state or the United States, acting by and through any such agency, officer, bureau,
or department, but not to acquire any electricity for sale by the district as a public
utility either to the public or to any other user (other than any sale to any subdistrict
or to any water conservancy district located wholly or in part within the Colorado
river water conservation district and other than any sale of electricity at wholesale
to any person or governmental entity);
(f) To enter upon any privately owned land or other real property for the
purpose of making surveys or obtaining other information, without obtaining any
order so to do, but without causing any more damage than is necessary to crops or
vegetation upon such land;
(g) To organize special assessment districts at different times for the
purpose of establishing effective agencies to secure funds to construct reservoirs
or other irrigation works under various types and plans of financing, including,
among others, by issuance of revenue warrants only, by the issuance of bonds or
revenue obligations constituting a lien up to a specified amount against the lands in
said special improvement district, and payable out of special assessments or by
general obligations of such special improvement districts;
(h) To contract with the United States government, the bureau of
reclamation, or other agencies of the United States government for the
construction of any such works and the issuance of such obligations as the special
improvement districts may have the power to issue in payment of costs of
construction and maintenance of said works;
(i) To have and exercise the power of eminent domain and, in general, to have
and exercise rights and powers of eminent domain conferred upon other agencies
as provided in articles 1 to 7 of title 38, C.R.S.; but the district, any subdivision
thereof, or the special improvement districts therein shall neither have nor exercise
the power of eminent domain against the state or state agencies nor acquire
thereby any electric generation facilities, electric distribution lines, or any
conditional or absolute decrees for the use of water;
(j) To file upon and hold for the use of the public sufficient water of any
natural stream to maintain a constant streamflow in the amount necessary to
preserve fish and to use such water in connection with retaining ponds for the
propagation of fish for the benefit of the public;
(k) To exercise such implied powers and perform such other acts as may be
necessary to carry out and effect any of the express powers hereby conferred upon
such district;
(l) To participate in the formulation and implementation of nonpoint source
water pollution control programs related to agricultural practices in order to
implement programs required or authorized under federal law and section 25-8-205 (5), C.R.S., enter into contracts and agreements, accept funds from any federal,
state, or private sources, receive grants or loans, participate in education and
demonstration programs, construct, operate, maintain, or replace facilities, and
perform such other activities and adopt such rules and policies as the board deems
necessary or desirable in connection with nonpoint source water pollution control
programs related to agricultural practices.
(2) The board of directors of the district acting as the governing body, in the
name and on the behalf of the district, may issue revenue bonds to finance, in whole
or in part, the construction or other acquisition of works, reservoirs, or other
improvements for the beneficial use of water for the purposes for which it has been
or may be appropriated, including, without limitation, the hydrogeneration of
electricity, or the acquisition by purchase, rental, lease, or exchange of water, or
the purchase or exchange of water rights or electricity and appurtenances (or any
combination thereof), and to finance incidental expenses pertaining thereto,
whether or not the interest on such bonds may be subject to taxation. Such revenue
bonds shall be issued in such denominations and with such maximum net effective
interest rate as may be fixed by the board of directors of the district and shall bear
interest such that the net effective interest rate of the bonds does not exceed the
maximum net effective interest rate authorized. The board shall pledge only bond
proceeds, sale proceeds, rental or lease proceeds, service charges, and other
income from such works or other improvements or from the sale, rental, or lease of
water or the sale of electricity (or any combination thereof), and the district shall
not be otherwise obligated for the payment thereof. At the time such revenue
bonds are issued, the board of directors of the district shall make and enter in the
minutes of the proceeding a resolution in which the due dates of such revenue
bonds, the rates of interest thereon, the general provisions of the bonds, and a
recital that the same are payable only out of bond proceeds, sale proceeds, rental
and lease proceeds, service charges, and other income from such works or other
improvements and from the sale, rental, lease, or exchange of water or the sale or
exchange of electricity (or any combination thereof) are set forth. In addition, the
board of directors shall require the payment of rental or lease charges, service
charges, or other charges by the political subdivisions or persons who are to use or
derive benefits from the water or other services furnished by such works or
improvements or otherwise. Such charges shall be sufficient to pay operation and
maintenance expenses thereof, to meet said bond payments, to accumulate and
maintain reserve and replacement accounts pertaining thereto as set forth in such
resolution, and to provide funds sufficient for the further development of water
resources for all of the foregoing beneficial purposes. Such resolution shall be
irrepealable during the time that any of the revenue bonds are outstanding and
unpaid. Except as provided in sections 11-55-101 to 11-55-106, C.R.S., the revenue
bonds shall be signed Colorado River Water Conservation District, By ............,
President. Attest .................., Secretary, and they shall be countersigned by the
treasurer.