Sec. 2.

 The objects and purposes of this act are to provide for the control and conservation of the flood, storm and other waste waters of said district, and to conserve such waters for beneficial and useful purposes by spreading, storing, retaining or causing to percolate into the soil within said the district, or to save or conserve in any manner, all or any of such waters, and to protect from damage from such flood or storm waters, the harbors, waterways, public highways and property in said the district.

Said The Los Angeles County Flood Control District is hereby declared to be a body corporate and politic, and as such shall have power has all the following powers:

1. To have perpetual succession.

2. To sue and be sued in the name of said the district in all actions and proceedings in all courts and tribunals of competent jurisdiction.

3. To adopt a seal and alter it at pleasure.

4. To take by grant, purchase, gift, devise or lease, hold, use, enjoy, and to lease or dispose of real or personal property of every kind within or without the district necessary to the full exercise of its power.

5. To acquire or contract to acquire lands, rights-of-way, easements, privileges and property of every kind, and construct, maintain and operate any and all works or improvements within or without the district necessary or proper to carry out any of the objects or purposes of this act, and to complete, extend, add to, repair or otherwise improve any works or improvements acquired by it as herein authorized. Construction or improvement of existing facilities may involve landscaping and other aesthetic treatment in order that the facility will be compatible with existing or planned development in the area of improvement.

6. To exercise the right of eminent domain, either within or without the district, to take any property necessary to carry out any of the objects or purposes of this act.

7. To incur indebtedness, and to issue bonds in the manner herein provided.

7a. In addition to the powers given in the next preceding subsection, to To borrow money from the United States of America, any agency or department thereof, or from any nonprofit corporation, organized under the laws of this state, to which the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of an act of Congress, entitled “Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act,” or other agency, or department, of the United States government, has authorized, or shall hereafter authorize, a loan to enable such nonprofit corporation to lend money to said the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, for any flood control work authorized under this act, and to repay the same, in annual installments, over a period of not to exceed twenty (20) years, with interest at a rate of not to exceed four and one-fourth per centum (4¹/₄%) per annum, payable semiannually, and, without the necessity of an election when authorized by resolution of the board of supervisors, as evidences of such indebtedness, said the district is hereby authorized to execute and deliver a note, or a series of notes, or bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, signed by the chairman of the board of supervisors of said the district, which notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, shall be negotiable instruments if so declared in said resolution of the board of supervisors providing for their issuance, and said notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, may have interest coupons attached to evidence interest payments, signed by the facsimile signature of said chairman the chairperson of said ‘ the board. All applications for such loans shall specify the particular flood control work or projects for which the funds will be expended, and when received, the money shall be deposited in a special fund, and shall be expended for those purposes only which are described and referred to in the applications. If a surplus remains after the completion of said the work, such surplus shall be applied to; the payment of the note, notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, executed as aforesaid, for the loan including interest coupons. The board of supervisors shall annually, levy a tax upon the taxable real property of said district, clearly sufficient to pay the interest and installments of principal, as the same shall become due and payable, under any loan made pursuant to the authority of this section, and to create and maintain a reserve fund to assure the prompt payment thereof, as may be provided by said resolution of the board of supervisors; provided, however, that the amount of taxes levied in any year, pursuant to the provisions of this subsection, shall, pro tanto, reduce the authority of the board of supervisors, during any such year, to levy taxes under Section 14 of this act, but this proviso shall not be a limitation upon the power and duty to levy and collect taxes under this subsection. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, interest earned on funds representing the proceeds of bonds of the district shall be deposited and retained in the reserve fund of the district to meet the principal and interest falling due on such bonds.

Notwithstanding anything in this subsection 7a to the contrary, the total amount which said the district may borrow under the authority of any or all of the provisions of this subsection is limited to and shall not exceed in the aggregate the sum of four million five hundred thousand dollars ($4,500,000).

7b. The power granted in the next preceding subsection is hereby extended to authorize the issuance and sale of bonds or other evidences of indebtedness of said the district to the County of Los Angeles and the purchase thereof by said the county in accordance with “An act authorizing the investment and reinvestment and disposition of any surplus moneys in the treasury of any county, city and county, incorporated city or town or municipal utility district or flood control district,” approved April 23, 1913, as amended; all subject to the provisions and limitations of the next preceding subsection relative to the disposition and use of funds, interest rate, period of repayment, tax rate and mode of issuance. The total amount of bonds or other evidence of indebtedness, in the aggregate, which the district may issue and sell under the authority of subsection 7a and of this subsection is limited to and shall not exceed four million five hundred thousand dollars ($4,500,000).

8. To cause taxes to be levied and collected for the purpose of paying any obligation of the district in the manner hereinafter provided in this section.

9. To make contracts, and to employ for temporary services only, expert appraisers, consultants and technical advisers, and to do all acts necessary for the full exercise of all powers vested in said the district, or any of the officers thereof, by this act.

10. To grant or otherwise convey to counties, cities and counties, cities or towns easements for street and highway purposes, over, along, upon, in, through, across or under any real property owned by said the Los Angeles County Flood Control District.

11. To remove, carry away and dispose of any rubbish, trash, debris or other inconvenient matter that may be dislodged, transported, conveyed or carried by means of, through, in, or along the works and structures operated or maintained hereunder and deposited upon the property of said the district or elsewhere.

12. To pay premiums on bonds of contractors required under any contract wherein if the amount payable to the contractor exceeds five million dollars ($5,000,000); provided, that the specifications in such cases shall specifically so provide and state that the bidder shall not include in his or her bids the cost of furnishing the required bonds.

13. To lease, sell or dispose of any property (or any interest therein) whenever in the judgment of said the board of supervisors said the property, or any interest therein or part thereof, is no longer required for the purposes of said the district, or may be leased for any purpose without interfering with the use of the same for the purposes of said the district, and to pay any compensation received therefor into the general fund of said the district and use the same for the purposes of this act; provided, however, that nothing herein shall authorize the board of supervisors or other governing body of the district or any officer thereof to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of any water, water right, reservoir space or storage capacity or any interest or space therein except to public agencies for recreational purposes when such use is not inconsistent with the use thereof by the district for flood control and water conservation purposes; or except as hereinafter provided by Section 17 of this act; provided, however, that said the district may grant and convey to the United States of America, or to any federal agency authorized to accept and pay for such land or interests in land, all lands and interests in land, now owned or hereafter acquired, lying within any channel, dam or reservoir site, improved or constructed, in whole or in part, with federal funds, upon payment to the district of sums equivalent to actual expenditures made by it in acquiring the lands and interests in land so conveyed and deemed reasonable by the Secretary of War and the Chief of Engineers.

14. To provide, by agreement with other public agencies or private persons or entities or otherwise, for the recreational use of the lands, facilities, and works of such the district which shall not interfere, or be inconsistent, with the primary use and purpose of such lands, facilities, and works by such district.

15. In addition to its other powers, the district shall have the power to preserve, enhance, and add recreational features to its properties and upon a finding by the board of supervisors that the acquisition is necessary for such purposes, to acquire, preserve, enhance, and add recreational features to lands or interests in lands contiguous to its properties, for the protection, preservation, and use of the scenic beauty and natural environment for such properties or such lands and to collect admission or use fees for such recreational features where deemed appropriate.

The said district by or through its board of supervisors, or other board or officers at any time succeeding to the duties or functions of its board of supervisors, is hereby authorized and empowered to warrant and defend the title to all land and interests therein so conveyed to the United States of America or to any such agency and their respective assigns; to covenant and agree to indemnify and keep indemnified and to hold and save harmless and exonerated the United States of America or any such agency, to which such lands or any interest therein are so conveyed by said district, from and against all demands, claims, liabilities, liens, actions, suits, charges, costs, loss, damages, expenses and attorneys’ fees of whatsoever kind or nature, resulting from, arising out of or occasioned by any defect or defects whatsoever in the title to any such land or interest in land so conveyed by said the district; to reimburse and save harmless and exonerated the United States of America or any such agency for any and all amounts, paid, and expenses incurred, in the compromise or settlement of any demands, claims, liabilities, liens, actions, suits, charges, costs, loss, damages, expenses and attorneys’ fees of whatsoever kind or nature, resulting from, arising out of or occasioned by any claim to or defect or defects whatsoever in the title to any such land or interests in land so conveyed by said the district; to pay all just compensation, costs and expenses, which may be incurred in any condemnation proceeding deemed necessary by the United States of America or such agency, in order to perfect title to any such land or interests in land, including without limitation all attorneys’ fees, court costs and fees, costs of abstracts and other evidences of title, and all other costs, expenses or damages incurred or suffered by the United States of America or such agency; and consent is hereby given to the bringing of suit or other legal proceedings against said the district by the United States of America or such agency, as the case may be, in the proper district court of the United States, upon any cause of action arising out of any conveyance, contract or covenant made or entered into by said the district pursuant to the authority granted in this act, or to enforce any claims, damages, loss or expenses arising out of or resulting from any defect whatsoever in the title to such land or any interest therein or any claims of others in or to such land or interest therein.

Sec. 16.

 The said board of supervisors of said the district shall have power to make and enforce all needful rules and regulations for the administration and government of said the district, and to perform all other acts necessary or proper to accomplish the purposes of this act.

Said The board of supervisors shall have power to do all work and to construct and acquire all improvements necessary or useful for carrying out any of the purposes of this act; and said the board of supervisors shall have power to acquire either within or without the boundaries of said the district, by purchase, donation or by other lawful means in the name of said the district, from private persons, corporations, reclamation districts, swampland districts, levee districts, protection districts, drainage districts, irrigation districts, or other public corporations or agencies or districts, all lands, rights-of-way, easements, property or materials necessary or useful for carrying out any of the purposes of this act; to make contracts to indemnify or compensate any owner of land or other property for any injury or damage necessarily caused by the exercise of the powers conferred by this act, or arising out of the use, taking or damage of any property, rights-of-way or easements, for any of such purposes; to compensate any reclamation district, protection district, drainage district, irrigation district or other district, public corporation or agency or district, for any right-of-way, easement or property taken over or acquired by said the Los Angeles County Flood Control District as a part of its work of flood control or conservation or protection provided for in this act, and any such reclamation district, protection district, drainage district, irrigation district or other district or public corporation or agency is hereby given power and authority to distribute such compensation in any manner that may be now or hereafter allowed by law; to maintain actions to restrain the doing of any act or thing that may be injurious to carrying out any of the purposes of this act by said the district, or that may interfere with the successful execution of said work, or for damages for injury thereto; to do any and all things necessary or incident to the powers hereby granted, or to carry out any of the objects and purposes of this act; to require, by appropriate legal proceedings, the owner or owners of any bridge, trestle, wire line, viaduct, embankment or other structure which shall be intersected, traversed or crossed by any channel, ditch, bed of any stream, waterway, conduit or canal, so to construct or alter the same as to offer a minimum of obstruction to the free flow of water through or along any such channel, ditch, bed of any stream, waterway, conduit or canal, and whenever necessary in the case of existing works or structures, to require the removal or alteration thereof for such purpose; provided, however, that nothing in this act contained shall be deemed to authorize said the district in exercising any of its powers to take, damage or destroy any property or to require the removal, relocation, alteration or destruction of any bridge, railroad, wire line, pipeline, facility or other structure unless just compensation therefor be first made, in the manner and to the extent required by the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of California.

The board of supervisors of said the district is hereby vested with full power to do all other acts or things necessary or useful for the promotion of the work of the control of the flood and storm waters of said district, and to conserve such waters for beneficial and useful purposes, and to protect from damage from such storm or flood waters the harbors, waterways, public highways and property in said district; provided, however, that nothing in this act contained shall be deemed to authorize said the district, or any person or persons, to divert the waters of any river, creek, stream, irrigation system, canal or ditch, from its channel, to the detriment of any person or persons having any interest in such river, creek, stream, irrigation system, canal or ditch, or the waters thereof or therein, unless previous compensation be first ascertained and paid therefor, under the laws of this state authorizing the taking of private property for public uses; and provided further, that nothing in this act contained shall be construed as in any way affecting the plenary power of any incorporated city, city and county, or town, or municipal or county water district, to provide for a water supply of such public corporation, or as affecting the absolute control of any properties of such public corporations necessary for such water supply, and nothing herein contained shall be construed as vesting any power of control over such properties in said the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, or in any officer thereof, or in any person referred to in this act; and provided further, that nothing in this act contained shall be deemed to authorize said the board of supervisors to raise money for said the district by any method or system other than that by the issuing of bonds, or the levying of a tax upon the assessed value of all the real property in said district, or the imposition of a fee or charge in compliance with Article XIIID of the California Constitution, in the manner in this act provided, except from the sale and lease of its property as herein provided.