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bring this area within the provisions of the underground conservation law". At the time X made that statement X was under the impression that the certificate so signed by the Land & Water Company, the County Commissioners, and the City, was sufficient to authorize the State Engineer to administer the Act but after looking into the Act a little more carefully it occurs to me that notwithstanding the fact the State Engineer has been administering the provi­sions of the Act insofar as the appointment for a water Com­missioner is concerned and insofar as requiring a permit from the State Engineer before drilling operations can be commenced, that unless the petition called for in the Act signed **by not lees than ten percent of the owners of wells in any particular basin having a legal right to appropriate underground water therefrom as evidenced by the records of the State Engineer's Office” the State Engineer has no jurisdiction to administer the provisions of the Act. The Act pertaining to the conservation and distri­bution of underground waters, which X am referring to, was adopted March E5, 1939, and can be Nevada Compiled Laws Supplement at fSoeucntdi onin 7V9o9l3u.m10e tXoI oSfe c­tion 7993,24, Sections 5, 6, and 8 of said Act were amend­ed in 1943 (1943 Statutes, page 139-140). the StateSlg|i2lel gf f | ^ i 8 p l f e 8 | ® ister the provisions of this Act signed by not less than ten percent of the owners of wells in any particular basin having a legal right to appropriate underground water therefrom as evidenced by the records of the State engin­eer's Office, he shall designate such area by basin or by sub-basin or by township and proceed with the adminis­tration of this act on all wells that were drilled subse­quent to March 22, 1913, save and excepting those wells coming tinder the provisions of Section 2 of this Act (that should be Section 3)• I I am satisfied that no such petition was ever prepared or presented but as heretofore stated the State Engineer is now operating under the provisions of this Act in certain respects. Section 5, as amended, provides for the levy of a special tax by the Board of County Com­missioners for the purpose of paying the salary of the Artesian Well Supervisor and his assistant. At the pre­sent time, however, and pursuant to the 1943 amendment, such supervisor in this district is being paid out of the State Water Distribution Fund (see 1943 Statutes, page 34}, and such salary will probably continue to be paid out of said Water Distribution Fund so long as there is mtioonne'ys therein appropriated for that purpose although Sec­as amended, provides that pending the levy and col­lection of the tax to be levied by the Board of County Commissioners, such salary may be paid from said Water Distribution Fund.