A lake facilities authority may be created by the board of county commissioners of a county that contains all of the territory of an impacted watershed. If the territory of an impacted watershed is contained within more than one county, a joint facilities lake authority may be created by resolution of the board of commissioners of each county in which the impacted watershed is located. A resolution creating a lake facilities authority must include a finding that the watershed sought to be improved or remediated pursuant to this chapter is an impacted watershed.

A lake facilities authority created pursuant to this section is a body corporate and politic which may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, and has the powers and jurisdiction enumerated in this chapter. The exercise by an authority of the powers conferred upon it shall be deemed to be essential governmental functions of this state.

Within sixty days after the creation of a lake facilities authority, the county engineer of each county with territory in the impacted watershed shall prepare a survey denoting the boundaries of the impacted watershed in the county. The survey shall include references to the county auditor's permanent parcel number designations as those parcel number designations correspond to the boundaries of the impacted watershed. If requested by the county engineer of each county with territory in the impacted watershed, the cost of such surveys shall be paid from the funds of the lake facilities authority pursuant to an agreement between the lake facilities authority and the county engineer of each county. Such funds may be advanced by the board of county commissioners of any county with territory in the impacted watershed.

The county auditor of the county with the greatest amount of territory in the impacted watershed shall be the fiscal officer for the lake facilities authority. The county prosecutor of the county with the greatest amount of territory in the impacted watershed shall be the legal advisor of the lake facilities authority and shall prosecute and defend all suits and actions that the lake facilities authority directs or to which it is a party.

Upon the creation of a lake facilities authority, no authority that is granted by law any powers or duties that are substantially the same as the powers and duties of a lake facilities authority may be created if its territorial jurisdiction includes any territory within the impacted lake district.

Added by 130th General Assembly File No. 25, HB 59, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2013.