(a)Whenever a majority of the freeholders owning lands
and the entrymen upon public lands in any district who shall
represent one-third the area of lands within said district, or
whenever the freeholders owning lands and the entrymen upon
public lands who shall represent more than one-half the area of
lands within said district, desire to provide for the irrigation
of the same; or to improve the existing water supply for said
lands; or to purchase, extend, operate or maintain constructed
irrigation works; or to cooperate with the United States under
the federal reclamation laws heretofore or hereafter enacted, or
for the assumption as principal or guarantor of indebtedness to
the United States on account of district lands, they may file in
the district court of the county which embraces t
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(a) Whenever a majority of the freeholders owning lands
and the entrymen upon public lands in any district who shall
represent one-third the area of lands within said district, or
whenever the freeholders owning lands and the entrymen upon
public lands who shall represent more than one-half the area of
lands within said district, desire to provide for the irrigation
of the same; or to improve the existing water supply for said
lands; or to purchase, extend, operate or maintain constructed
irrigation works; or to cooperate with the United States under
the federal reclamation laws heretofore or hereafter enacted, or
for the assumption as principal or guarantor of indebtedness to
the United States on account of district lands, they may file in
the district court of the county which embraces the largest
acreage of the district, a petition, hereinafter referred to as
the "petition", which shall include:
(i) The name of the proposed irrigation district;
(ii) The necessity of the proposed work describing
the necessity;
(iii) The object and purpose of the system proposed
to be constructed, together with a general description thereof;
(iv) A general description of the lands proposed to
be included in said district. Accompanying said petition shall
be a preliminary engineering report on the feasibility of the
project, including a report on the sufficiency of its water
supply; the approximate area of irrigable land within the
district, including an estimate of the cost of construction; all
of which shall be approved by the state engineer;
(v) The names of all freeholders owning lands and the
entrymen on public lands in said district, when known;
(vi) Whether or not the petitioners desire and
propose to cooperate with the United States;
(vii) A general prayer for the organization of the
district.
(b) No petition having as many signers as are required by
this section shall be declared void, but the court may at any
time permit the petition to be amended in form and substance to
conform to the facts, if the facts justify the organization of
an irrigation district. Several similar petitions for the
organization of the same district may be circulated, and when
filed, shall together be regarded as one petition having as many
signers as there are separate signers on the several petitions
filed. All petitions for the organization of said district filed
prior to the hearing on said petition shall be considered by the
court, the same as if filed with the first petition placed on
file, and the signatures thereon contained shall be counted in
determining whether sufficient persons have signed said
petition.