14-121-801. Cooperation with the United States.

14-121-801. Cooperation with the United States. (a) All drainage districts organized under the laws of Arkansas, within whose boundaries the federal government has been, or shall hereafter be, authorized to do improvement work in aid of drainage and flood control, pursuant to an act of Congress, whereby the ditches and drains are to be cleared of obstructions, deepened, widened, and repaired, and the natural drains within a district are to be improved by clearing, dredging, or making cutoffs therein, are authorized to cooperate with the Department of Defense of the United States or other federal agency by permitting the work to be done in the district, and by furnishing any right-of-way necessary for the drainage improvement, for which purpose the districts shall have the right of eminent domain in accordance with §§ 18-15-1001 — 18-15-1011, and amendments thereto. (b)(1) Any drainage district shall have the further right and authority to give assurance to the federal government that it will maintain and keep in proper repair any ditch or drain which may be widened, deepened, cleared of obstructions, improved, or repaired within the district by the federal government acting through the United States Army Corps of Engineers or other agency, pursuant to an act of Congress of the United States in aid of flood control and drainage, and to agree to save and hold harmless the federal government from any liability or damages due to the construction of the works. (2) Where the plans for the proposed improvement cover and include an area in which more than one (1) drainage district is located, and all of the included districts are part of one (1) comprehensive plan in the same drainage basin, then the districts in the affected area are authorized to form a permanent committee, composed of one (1) member from each of the districts, who shall be elected by the commissioners of each district, who may or may not be a commissioner, for the purpose of facilitating compliance with the regulations of the Secretary of Defense or other federal agency with reference to procuring all necessary commitments and assurances from the respective drainage districts, obtaining rights-of-way for the project, and as to inspections and maintenance of drainage and flood control works when completed by the federal government. (3) The committee may employ a competent person to coordinate and perform the work and such clerical help as it deems necessary for the purpose. (4) The expense thereof shall be considered as maintenance costs, which shall be paid by, and apportioned among, the districts in such areas on the basis of the total acreage in the districts in a fair and equitable manner. (5) The cost of maintaining ditches and drains or drainage structures of each district after completion of the work by the federal government shall be borne wholly by the district in which the work is done. (6)(A) For the purpose of carrying out all of the provisions of this section, districts are authorized to levy a maintenance tax, and obtain funds, as now provided by law. (B) The tax may be levied as a flat tax per acre. (7) In areas where all of the lands involved are situated within a levee district, the levee district may participate in the committee herein authorized to be formed on a basis which its commissioners deem to be fair and equitable. (c) This section is supplemental and does not repeal any existing drainage law.