It is hereby declared that the said Lower Waihao Water-supply District and the Lower Pareora Water-supply District shall be deemed to have been and to be legally constituted districts within the meaning of The Water-supply Act 1891; and all water-races constructed within the said districts respectively shall be deemed to have been and to be legally constructed water-races respectively within the meaning of The Water-supply Act 1891; and all rates levied and collected, and all rates and charges made and collected, and all acts, matters, and things done or purported to have been done by the Waimate County Council in exercise of the powers contained in The Counties Act 1886, or in The Water-supply Act 1891, or conferred on or exercisable by the said Council by any other Act or law in respect of the said water-races respectively are hereby validated. And in particular all plans of such water-race districts and water-races deposited in the Magistrate's Court House at Waimate, certified as substantially correct for the purposes of The Water-supply Act 1891, by the Chairman and Engineer of the Waimate County Council, shall be deemed to have been duly deposited as on the respective dates of the certificates appearing on the same respectively for all purposes for which under the provisions of The Water-supply Act 1891, the deposit of plans is required, and shall be deemed to be true and correct:
Provided that any rights to the water of Whitney's Creek existing at the time of the passing of this Act shall not be deemed to be prejudiced by the provisions of this Act, and that any defendant in any action brought for charges for water supplied shall not be hereby prejudiced in any right to the water of the said creek or on any ground of exemption provided for by The Water-supply Act 1891.