CHAPTER 74. [S. B. 165.] AMENDING LAWS RELATING TO SINKING ARTESIAN WELLS. AN ACT Amending Chapter 14, Session Laws of 1889, Entitled An Act to Provide for Sinking Artesian Wells and Construction of Water Courses Therefrom. Be it Enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota: § 1. AMENDMENT.] That Section 13 of Chapter 14, Session Laws of 1889, be amended by adding to the same the following: And when thus turned over to the proper township, the supervisors thereof if situated wholly in and for one town ship, or of the proper townships if more than one township is interested, shall have exclusive control of said well and the ditches and waterways therefrom; and they shall have the power to make such rules and regulations for the management and control of the well, the ditches, waterways and water as to the said supervisors may seem best; Provided, that they shall not unnecessarily impair the rights of those who have been specially assessed for the sinking of the wells, and, provided further, that whenever the proper board of supervisors shall have made any rule or resolution touching the control or management of the well, ditches, waterway or water from any such well, and shall have notified the persons interested either by written notice or by posting such rules or regulations for ten days in four public places in the township, any person violating any such rule or regulation shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail not exceeding thirty days or by both such fine and imprisonment. $ 2. CONTRACTS RATIFIED.] That said chapter be further amended by adding thereto Section thirty-one (21), which shall read as follows: That all wells attempted to be sunk under the provisions of this act, which have been completed and accepted, or shall hereafter be completed and accepted and turned over to the proper townships, shall be deemed and are hereby declared to have been legally sunk, and all contracts made for the sinking of such wells are hereby ratified and legalized; and where the public has received and retained the benefits of such wells no county, township, corporation or individual shall be permitted to avoid the payment of the sum contracted to be paid by showing a failure to comply with any of the technical provisions relating to sinking artesian wells; Provided, the well has been completed in substantial conformity to the contract. $ 3. REPEAL.] All acts and parts of acts in conflict with the provisions of this act are hereby expressly repealed. 4. EMERGENCY.] An emergency is hereby declared to exist, and this act shall be in force from and after its passage and approval. Approved March 9, 1897. CHAPTER 75. PROVIDING FOR THE STORING OF SURFACE WATERS. AN ACT Entitled an Act to Provide for the Saving and Storing of the Surface Waters of the State of South Dakota, and to Preserve the Same for Public Use. Be it Enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota: § 1. FOR PUBLIC USE.] That all surface waters in the state of South Dakota are hereby appropriated to the use and benefit of the public. § 2. CONSTRUCT DAMS ON SECTION LINES.] The supervisors in each township may construct dams across all draws, sloughs, ravines and other natural drains or water courses except permanent flowing creeks and rivers. The dams shall, as far as practicable, be constructed on the section lines or public highways of the township and shall be built out of earth, straw or other practicable materials, and the dams shall be of such height and dimensions as to safeguard the surface water and prevent it from flowing over or around such dams; Provided, that said supervisors may, if they deem it necessary for the protection of such dams in cases of floods, construct sluiceways, or other openings for the outflow of such surface waters. Said dams shall be at least twenty feet wide across the top, smooth and level, so that all kinds of vehicles including steam threshing machines can pass over them in safety. § 3. CONSENT OF OWNER OF PRIVATE PROPERTY.] Before constructing any dam on private property the board of township supervisors shall obtain consent of the owner of such property to construct the proposed dam, which consent shall be in writing and shall be filed with the town clerk of the township and preserved as other records are in his office. In cases of refusal by such owner, to give consent, the supervisors shall appoint a person, the owner of such property another person, but if he neglects to do so for three days after written notice has been given him or his agent, then the supervisors shall appoint another person, and the two so appointed shall appoint a third person. Each person so appointed must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of the township. The three persons so appointed shall act as a jury to appraise all damages to the owner of the lands upon which such dam is to be constructed. They shall first elect one of their number foreman, and shall then proceed to estimate all damages such dam is likely to cause the owner of the property. Such jury shall reduce their estimate to writing, and the foreman shall file said instrument with the clerk for the township in which said property is situated, together with a bill for their services for which they shall each receive the sum of two dollars per day. Said town clerk shall present said estimate for damages to the township board of supervisors at their next meeting after such appraisement. The supervisors shall then proceed to examine the estimate, and if they find that the damages are just and fair, they shall allow and pay the same in the same manner as other township bills are paid out of the general fund, but if they find that the estimate of the jury is excessive or unjust they shall reject it. If the owner of such property is dissatisfied with the findings of the jury or the allowance of the supervisors then he or she may bring suit against the township and the same shall be tried by a court of competent jurisdiction the same as other civil actions; Provided, that if the owner of such private property does not live on the land or his address can not be found by the board of supervisors after diligent search, then such supervisors shall build such dam without his or her consent; Provided, that the owner of the land may recover damages thereafter according to the above provisions; Provided, that all suit for damages under this act shall be commenced in the county where such property is located within one year from the time that work is begun on such dam. In counties where the townships are unorganized, it shall be the duty of the board of county commissioners to construct and maintain such dams, and their duties shall be the same as the duties of the boards of supervisors in organized townships. $4. RIGHT TO USE ROAD AND BRIDGE FUND.] Such dams shall be built at such places on section line highways or private lands as in the judgment of the supervisors shall best preserve all the surface waters and prevent the same from es caping to the creeks and rivers and it shall be lawful to dam up all culverts and bridges that may now be built on any public highway, except such bridges as are built over living creeks, or any permanent flowing stream of water in this state, and said board of supervisors shall have the right to use all the road and bridge fund of their township if necessary for the construction of said dams. § 5. UNDER CONTROL OF ROAD OVERSEER.] The work of building such dams shall be under the immediate control and direction of the road overseer in the district where the same are to be constructed. The road overseer shall have the right to warn out all resident inhabitants of his district to perform labor on the construction of said dams the same as is now provided for working the roads, and with like effect and each resident for such district shall receive the same pay as for working roads, and the receipt for such labor, signed by the overseer shall be accepted in lieu of road tax. § 6. WHERE TO BEGIN BUILDING DAMS.] The respective officers may begin building dams at the source or upper end of the smaller water course first, then at the upper end of the next larger ravines. All dams built on township lines shall be under the sole supervision and direction of the supervisors of the township through which such water flows before it gets to the dam. $ 7. KEEP IN REPAIR.] After the construction of said dams it shall be the duty of the township supervisors, through the road overseers of the township, to keep said dans in a good state of repair by planting native willows and other vegetation on the sides of such dams and do anything which in their judgment seems best to effectively prevent the water from washing the dam away, but all such work shall be called road work and be paid for at the regular rate out of the road and bridge fund of the township in which such dam is constructed, and any person who shall interfere with the construction of said dams, or shall tear down or destroy the same in any manner, so as to render them unfit for the purpose intended, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars nor less than twenty-five dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail not more than ninety days nor less than ten days or by both such fine and imprisonment. § 8. CONSTRUCTION MANDATORY.] The provisions of this act shall be mandatory upon road overseers, supervisors, county commissioners and all others interested, and they are hereby required to begin the construction of said dams on or before the first day of June 1897, and the work of building said dams shall proceed with all reasonable dispatch to the end that the waters accumulating from the melting snows or spring rains may be stored and preserved for the use of the public. § 9. PENALTY FOR NEGLECT.] Any person who shall neglect or refuse to do his duty under the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined in a sum not more than twenty dollars nor less than five dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail not more than ten days nor less than five days, or by both such fine and imprisonment for each and every offense. § 10. OPTIONAL WITH COUNTIES.] Provided that this law shall take effect only in such counties as shall adopt it by a majority vote at any election. § 11. PETITION FOR ADOPTION. ] A petition to vote upon the adoption of the storage act, signed by at least thirty of the legal voters of any county, shall be presented to the county commissioners of the county at least thirty days before any election in and for said county. § 12. BALLOTS-HOW VOTED.] All persons voting at any election for or against the water storage act shall have written or printed on their ballots For the storage of water", also "Against the storage of water", and if a majority of the votes cast in such county are "For the storage of water", the law shall at once take effect and be put into force by the construction of dams, etc., and if a majority vote is "Against the storage of water', then the law shall be of no effect in such county. § 13. REPEAL.] All acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. § 14. EMERGENCY.] An emergency is hereby declared to exist and this act shall be in effect on and after its passage and approval. Approved March 5, 1897. CHAPTER 76. AMENDING LAWS RELATING TO LAND DRAINAGE. AN ACT to Repeal Sections Two Thousand Forty-seven to Two Thousand Sixty-two, Both Inclusive of Article One of Chapter Twenty, of the Compiled Laws of 1887, the Same Being Sections One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen and Sixteen of Chapter Seventy-five of the Session Laws of 1883, and Sections One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten and Eleven of Chapter Forty-seven of the Session Laws of Eighteen Hundred Eighty-five, and Sections One, Two, Three, Four and Five of Chapter Forty-three of the Session Laws of Eighteen Hundred Eightyseven, Referring to Land Drainage, and Substitute the Following Sections. Be it Enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota: § 2047. POWER OF COMMISSIONERS.] The board of county commissioners of any county or the board of supervisors of any organized township, shall have power at any regular or special session, when the same shall be conducive to the public health, convenience or welfare, or when the same will |