(a) The proposed name of the district and the areas to be included in the district, the areas to be that area directly or indirectly benefited by or protected from overflow or flood waters by the contemplated flood or drainage control improvements and any area which is necessary to be included in the district to carry out the purposes of this article. Any municipality or any part thereof, or any county or any part thereof, which is subject to overflow or flood from waters of any river or its tributaries, or which benefits from improvements, may be included in the district.

(b) The fact that a preliminary report or study to determine the engineering feasibility of constructing flood or drainage control improvements along any river or its tributaries has been made by a competent engineer or engineering firm, or any other competent institution or agency, and that such study or report shows that the construction of such facilities is feasible for flood and drainage control or for any of the other purposes or services contemplated by the legislative declaration of public policy in this article.

(c) The necessity and desirability for the construction of such facilities.

(d) A general description of the purposes of the contemplated works, a general description of the plan including the lands to be protected by said flood or drainage control improvements or otherwise affected thereby, and maps or plats showing the general location of any flood and drainage control improvements and related facilities. The word “project” when used herein shall mean the general plan and purposes of the flood and drainage control improvements and associated development, as set out in this petition to the chancery court, and the words “project area” shall mean the physical location of any levees, channels, drains, or related facilities and associated development, and those areas which are necessary to be included in the district to carry out the purposes of this article, and the area of the district as shown on the plats filed with the chancery court. The words “related facilities” as used in this article shall mean any facilities which are correlated with or used in connection with the project.

The petition shall be filed with as many copies as there are parties defendant. A copy of the preliminary report or study shall be attached to the original petition as an exhibit.

It shall not be necessary that any landowners in the counties to be included in said proposed district be named in the petition or made parties defendant. The chancellor of the chancery court in which said petition shall be filed shall have jurisdiction of the entire flood control district and project area for the purposes of this article. Such jurisdiction may be exercised by the chancellor in termtime or in vacation, as provided in this article.

In the event any part of the proposed flood and drainage control district lies outside the limits of the municipality filing the petition, the county or counties in which lie said lands outside said municipality shall be made a defendant to the petition by service on the clerk of the board of supervisors; however, should said county or counties join in said petition pursuant to a resolution of a majority of the members of the board of supervisors thereof, it shall not be necessary to make said county or counties a defendant to said petition.

In the event any part of said proposed flood and drainage control district lies within any municipality other than said municipality petitioning for the creation of said district, said municipality or municipalities not joining in said petition shall be made a defendant to said petition by service of process on the clerk of said municipality; however, should said municipality join in said petition pursuant to a resolution of a majority of the governing authorities thereof, it shall not be necessary to make said municipality a defendant to said petition.