1 Name of Act and commencement
(1) This Act may be cited as the Drainage Act 1939.(2) This Act shall commence upon a date to be appointed by the Governor and notified by proclamation published in the Gazette.
3 By-laws and regulations continued and savings
(1)(a) All by-laws made in pursuance of Part 3 of the Water Act 1912–1936, or any provisions which that Part replaced, by the trustees of any drainage trust shall continue in force until repealed by regulations made under this Act.(b) All regulations made by the Governor in pursuance of Part 3 of the Water Act 1912–1936 or any provisions which that Part replaced and which relate to drainage trusts shall continue in force until repealed by regulations made under this Act.(c) All by-laws made in pursuance of Part 4 of the Water Act 1912–1936 or any provisions which that Part replaced shall continue in force until repealed by regulations made under this Act.(2) On and from the commencement of this Act the following provisions shall have effect:(a) all proclamations and notifications made or deemed to have been made under the Water Act 1912–1936 relating to any union or trust to which this Act applies, and in particular any such proclamation or notification relating to:(i) the cost of works,(ii) the number of years within which the cost of works shall be extinguished,(iii) the rate of interest on amounts due to the Colonial Treasurer, and(iv) the instalments of such amounts,and in force at the commencement of this Act shall continue in force as if this Act had not been enacted,(b) all rates, charges, fees, and sums of money which were immediately before the commencement of this Act due or payable to or leviable by or for any union or trust constituted or deemed to have been constituted under the Water Act 1912–1936 shall be paid to and may be received, levied, and recovered by the board of the union or trust constituted by or under this Act for the district comprising the tract of land or trust district of such first-mentioned union or trust,(c) all appraisements or assessments of the benefit received or estimated to be received by any lands within a district made for the purpose of rating such lands shall remain in force, and shall be used in connection with making and levying rates under this Act, until replaced by valuations made in pursuance of this Act,(d) all suits, actions, and proceedings pending immediately before the commencement of this Act at the suit of a union or trust constituted or deemed to have been constituted under the Water Act 1912–1936 shall be suits, actions, and proceedings pending at the suit of the board of the union or trust constituted by or under this Act for the district comprising the tract of land or trust district of such first-mentioned union or trust,(e) all contracts, agreements, and undertakings entered into with and all securities lawfully given to or by a union or trust constituted or deemed to have been constituted under the Water Act 1912–1936 and in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall be deemed to be contracts, agreements, and undertakings entered into with and securities given to or by the union or trust constituted by or under this Act for the district comprising the tract of land or trust district of such first-mentioned union or trust,(f) the board of a union or trust constituted by or under this Act may pursue the same remedies for the recovery of any such rates, moneys, and claims, and for the prosecution of such suits, actions, and proceedings as the union or trust constituted or deemed to have been constituted under the Water Act 1912–1936 might have done but for this Act,(g) the board of a union or trust constituted by or under this Act may enforce and realise any security or charge existing immediately before the commencement of this Act in favour of the union or trust constituted or deemed to have been constituted under the Water Act 1912–1936 in respect of any such rates, moneys, and claims as if such security or charge were existing in favour of the union or trust constituted by or under this Act for the district comprising the tract of land or trust district of such first-mentioned union or trust,(h) all debts due and moneys payable by, and all claims liquidated and unliquidated recoverable against a union or trust constituted or deemed to have been constituted under the Water Act 1912–1936 shall be debts due and moneys payable by and claims recoverable against the union or trust constituted by or under this Act for the district comprising the tract of land or trust district of such first-mentioned union or trust,(i) where in any Act, ordinance, regulation, or by-law reference is made to any of the provisions of the Water Act 1912–1936 repealed by this Act such reference shall be deemed to be to the corresponding provisions (if any) of this Act.
In this Act and any regulations made thereunder, unless the context or subject matter otherwise indicates or requires:Board means board of directors of a union or trust.
Crown lands has the meaning given to that expression in the Crown Lands Consolidation Act 1913 as amended by subsequent Acts.
Director means director of a union or trust.
District means the area for the time being of a union or trust.
Drain includes a natural watercourse.
Local land board means the land board for the land board district in which a work is situated, or if the work be situated in more than one land board district, such land board as the Ministerial Corporation may name.
Ministerial Corporation means the Water Administration Ministerial Corporation constituted by the Water Administration Act 1986.
Owner in relation to land includes every person who jointly or severally whether at law or in equity in respect of lands within a district:
(a) is entitled to the land for an estate of freehold in possession, or(b) is a person to whom the Crown has lawfully contracted to sell the land under the Crown Lands Consolidation Act 1913 or any other Act relating to the alienation of lands of the Crown, or(c) is entitled to receive, or is in receipt of, or if the land were let to a tenant would be entitled to receive the rents and profits thereof, whether as beneficial owner, trustee, mortgagee in possession, or otherwise, and includes every person who by virtue of this Act is deemed to be the owner:Provided that the Crown shall be deemed to be the owner of:(a) all lands of the Crown, and(b) all lands vested in a statutory body representing the Crown or any other body prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph.Owned and similar expressions have a meaning corresponding with that of owner.
Prescribed means prescribed by this Act or by any regulations under this Act.
Secretary means secretary of a union or trust.
Works includes drains, embankments, flood-gates, tide-gates, pipes, fencing, machinery, appliances or structures used or proposed to be used by a board, whether within or outside the boundaries of a district.
Unless otherwise expressly provided, nothing in this Act shall affect any of the provisions of:the Irrigation Act 1912–1931,
the Water Act 1912–1936,
the Reclamation Act 1930, or
any Acts amending any of the said Acts.