Title 51, Waters, Water Resources, Water Districts, Drainage, and Flood Control

Upon the making of such finding, the governing body of each interested local governmental unit shall publish the finding accompanied by the initial resolution specified in Section 51-8-5 in the manner provided in Section 19-5-157. If twenty percent (20%) or fifteen hundred (1500)…

If no petition requiring an election be filed or if three-fifths (⅗) of those voting in said election vote in favor of the creation of such district, the governing body of such local governmental unit shall adopt a resolution creating the district as described in the initial reso…

All costs incident to the publication of the notices and all other costs incident to the public hearing and election provided in Sections 51-8-7 and 51-8-11 may be paid by the applicable governing body.

Any party having an interest in the subject matter and aggrieved or prejudiced by the findings and adjudication of the applicable governing body may appeal to the circuit court of the county in the manner provided by law for appeals from orders of such bodies. However, if no such…

From and after the date of adoption of the resolution creating a joint water management district, such district shall be a public corporation in perpetuity in its corporate name and shall, in that name, be a body politic and corporate with power of perpetual succession.

(1) The powers of each such district shall be vested in and exercised by a board of commissioners consisting of a minimum of five (5) members, to be selected in the manner provided in the initial resolution prescribed by Section 51-8-5. Provided, however, there shall be at least …

The board of commissioners shall organize by electing one (1) of its members as chairman and another as vice chairman. It shall be the duty of the chairman to preside at all meetings of the board and to act as the chief executive officer of the board and of the district. The vice…

Every resident citizen of a local governmental unit in any district created pursuant to this chapter, of good reputation, being the owner of land or the conductor of a business situated within such district and being over twenty-one (21) years of age and of sound mind and judgmen…

The board of commissioners shall have the power to adopt, promulgate, modify and repeal, and to make exceptions to and grant exemptions and variances from, and to enforce, rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of the creation of the district, provided that such regulat…

Districts created under this chapter shall have the powers set out in the creating resolution not inconsistent with the powers set forth in this chapter, and in addition, the power and authority to acquire, construct, reconstruct, improve, better, extend, consolidate, maintain an…

A joint water management district may be created for the purpose of establishing a water supply system, conserving water resources, developing additional water resources or any other water or wastewater management function not being performed by an existing water management distr…

(a) Any district created pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, acting by and through the board of commissioners of such district as its governing authority, shall have, among others, the following powers:(a) To sue and be sued;(b) To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, lease…

The board of commissioners may exercise, on behalf of the district, such powers of eminent domain as are specified in the creating resolution wherever and whenever public necessity and convenience so requires.

(1) Any such district shall have the power to provide funds for the purpose of constructing, acquiring, reconstructing, improving, bettering or extending the facilities of such district or for the purpose of buying, leasing or otherwise acquiring the assets and facilities of any …

(1) The board of commissioners of any district created pursuant to this chapter may issue revenue or special improvement bonds of such district by resolution spread upon the minutes of such board. Bonds may be issued from time to time without an election being held upon the quest…

The bonds issued under this chapter shall be sold for not less than par value plus accrued interest at public sale in the manner provided for in Section 31-19-25, Mississippi Code of 1972; however, bonds may be sold to the United States of America or an agency or instrumentality …

There is hereby created a statutory lien in the nature of a mortgage lien upon any system or systems acquired or constructed in accordance with this chapter, including all extensions and improvements thereof or combinations thereof subsequently made, which lien shall be in favor …

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2), the governing body of any local governmental unit which is a member of any such district may, according to the terms of the resolution, levy a special tax, not to exceed two (2) mills, on all of the taxable property in such dist…

(1) Funds for debt service for special improvement pollution abatement bonds, special improvement water bonds, or special improvement water and sewer bonds issued in lieu of or in conjunction with revenue bonds shall be provided by charges upon the properties benefitted according…

(a) The board of commissioners of the district issuing bonds pursuant to this chapter shall prescribe and collect reasonable rates, fees, tolls or charges for the services, facilities and commodities of its system or systems; shall prescribe penalties for the nonpayment thereof; …

The property and revenue of such district shall be exempt from all state, county and municipal taxation. Bonds issued pursuant to this chapter and the income therefrom shall be exempt from all state, county and municipal taxation, except inheritance, transfer and estate taxes, an…

Creation of a joint water management district shall be initiated by identical resolutions passed by each interested local governmental unit. Such resolution shall set forth in detail the geographic boundaries of the district, the function or functions to be performed by the distr…

All construction contracts by the district shall be made in accordance with the laws governing public contracts for counties and municipalities, being Sections 31-5-3 through 31-5-57.

Any area adjacent to any district created pursuant to this chapter may be annexed to and become a part of such district by the same procedure as prescribed for the original creation of the district. All costs incident to the publication of notice and all other costs incident to t…

The board of commissioners of any district created pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall have the authority to enter into cooperative agreements with the state or federal government, or both; to obtain financial assistance in the form of loans or grants as may be avail…

When any district is created within three (3) miles of the corporate boundaries of any existing municipality, the municipality is empowered to require such district to construct and maintain all facilities, whether purchased or constructed, to standards commensurate with those of…

The provisions of this chapter, without reference to any other statute or statutes, shall be deemed to be full and complete authority for the creation of such districts and for the issuance of such bonds. No proceedings shall be required for the creation of such districts or for …

Within ninety (90) days after the close of each fiscal year, the board of commissioners shall publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the county a sworn statement showing the financial condition of the district, the earnings for the fiscal year just ended, a statement of…

(1) If authorized pursuant to Section 51-9-121, 51-11-13, 51-13-111 or 51-15-119, as applicable, any corporate body organized under the provisions of Chapters 9, 11, 13 and 15 of Title 51, Mississippi Code of 1972, may elect by resolution duly adopted by its board of directors, t…

(1) From and after July 1, 1995, no joint water management district shall be created without the approval of the Commission on Environmental Quality. The commission may establish criteria for the approval of a request to create a joint water management district, but may not final…

Each governmental unit proposing to form a joint water management district shall hold a public hearing in the same manner as set out in Section 19-5-155.

After the public hearing required by Section 51-8-7 and upon full consideration of all matters and facts presented at such hearing, each such local governmental unit shall make a finding that the public convenience and necessity requires the creation of the district and that the …

There is created the Pearl River Industrial Commission, composed of Hinds, Leake, Madison, Neshoba, Rankin and such other counties in the state through which or bordering which the Pearl River runs. The Governor shall appoint one (1) member to the commission from each county from…

The board of supervisors of any of the several counties of this state bordering on the Pearl River, or through which the Pearl River flows, and the governing authority of any municipality within any such county are each respectively hereby authorized and empowered, in their sole …

The members shall serve without pay except they shall be reimbursed out of county funds provided by this article for their actual traveling expenses and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties, in an amount equal to travel and subsistence exp…

The Pearl River Industrial Commission is hereby authorized and empowered to do any and all things necessary or deemed by it advisable in making a survey or surveys of the region bordering the Pearl River, to investigate the possibilities of developing such areas from an industria…

The commission shall be financed in all its activities from funds made available by each of the associated counties, and each such county is authorized and empowered to contribute any amount or amounts which the board of supervisors thereof shall deem advisable, acting in their s…

This article shall be considered supplemental and additional to any and all other laws, and confers sufficient authority in and of itself for the purposes set forth herein.

This article may be cited as the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District Law.

It is hereby declared, as a matter of legislative determination, that the waterways and surface waters of the state are among its basic resources, that the overflow and surface waters of the state have not heretofore been conserved to realize their full beneficial use, that the p…

The Pearl River Valley Water Supply District may hereafter be organized in this state under the provisions of this article, in the manner hereinafter provided. This water supply district shall be an agency of the state and a body politic and corporate, and may be composed of one …

(a) All powers of the district shall be exercised by a board of directors, to be composed of the following:(a) Each member of the Pearl River Industrial Commission whose county becomes a part of the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District shall be a member of the Board of Direct…

(a) The Pearl River Industrial Commission, acting through it members who favor bringing the counties they represent into the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, shall petition the chancery court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County to organize and establish the Pe…

The board of water commissioners shall make a written report on the preliminary study or plans furnished them and shall, within thirty days after receipt of the said study, file such report with the chancery court setting forth their recommendations concerning the proposed water …

The chancery court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County may hear the petition at any term thereof, or the chancellor of said court may fix a time to hear such petition at any time in vacation, and may determine all matters pertaining thereto, may adjourn the hearing fro…

If the court or chancellor thereof finds that the proposed water supply district should be organized, the chancellor shall then order an election in each county in the proposed district, which election shall be held not less than twenty-one nor more than forty-five days from the …