Water and sanitation districts may be created for the purpose of:

A. purchasing, acquiring, establishing or constructing waterworks to supply water for domestic, commercial and industrial purposes by any available means to persons within and without the boundaries of the district. For this purpose, any district has the power to extend its water lines outside the boundaries of the district for the purpose of securing a source of water supply or for the purpose of supplying the water to any lands of the United States, New Mexico or Indian reservations for use by any person, firm or corporation;

B. purchasing, acquiring, establishing or constructing sanitary sewers or a system of sewage disposal, garbage or refuse disposal;

C. purchasing, acquiring, establishing or constructing streets and street improvements, including without limitation grades, regrades, gravel, oiling, surfacing, macadamizing, paving, crosswalks, sidewalks, driveway approaches, curbs, gutters, culverts, drains, sewers, manholes, inlets, outlets, retaining walls, bridges, overpasses, tunnels, underpasses, approaches, artificial lights and lighting equipment, parkways, grade separators, traffic separators and traffic-control equipment and all appurtenances and incidentals or any combination of them, including real and other property for them;

D. establishing or constructing park and recreational improvements;

E. purchasing, acquiring, establishing, constructing or operating other public facilities or economic development projects; or

F. all of the improvements in Subsections A through E of this section or any combination of them within or without the district.

History: 1941 Comp., § 77-3402, enacted by Laws 1943, ch. 80, § 2; 1953 Comp., § 75-18-2; Laws 1963, ch. 261, § 1; 1975, ch. 219, § 1; 1977, ch. 345, § 2;; 2005, ch. 167, § 2.

The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, added Subsection E to provide that water and sanitation districts may be created for the purpose of purchasing, acquiring, establishing, constructing or operating other public facilities or economic development projects.

Summary judgment was proper where plaintiff gave up potential contractual rights to provide solid waste disposal services. — Where plaintiff contracted with Lincoln county for the authority to collect solid waste in the unincorporated areas of the county prior to the legislature adopting the Water and Sanitation District Act, 73-21-1 to 73-21-55 NMSA 1978, to permit more densely populated unincorporated areas in the state's various counties to provide their own quasi-municipal services to benefit their residents, the district court properly granted summary judgment against plaintiff where plaintiff gave up any potential contractual right to provide solid waste disposal services when it failed to submit a proposal in response to defendant's request for proposals for continued operation of solid waste disposal services. Greentree Solid Waste Auth. v. County of Lincoln, 2016-NMCA-005, cert. denied, 2015-NMCERT-012.

County Improvement Law. — References in County Improvement Law (now County Improvement District Act, Section 4-55A-1 NMSA 1978 et seq.) to purposes of that law should be interpreted as referring instead to this section when the improvement district is one that has been formed by a water and sanitation district. 1976 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 76-01.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 78 Am. Jur. 2d Waterworks and Water Companies § 4.

39A C.J.S. Health and Environment § 8.