85-7-1411. Authority to acquire, construct, maintain, operate, and lease various undertakings. (1) An irrigation district may:

(a) construct, acquire by gift, purchase, or lease, or improve any undertaking, within or outside the irrigation district, and acquire by gift, purchase, or lease land or rights in land or water rights in connection with the undertaking;

(b) operate and maintain or enter into a contract for the operation and maintenance of any undertaking and furnish or enter into a contract for the furnishing of services, facilities, and commodities of the undertaking for its own use and for the use of public and private consumers within or outside the territorial boundaries of the irrigation district. However, an irrigation district may not furnish or enter into a contract for the furnishing of electrical energy or capacity except to a qualified purchaser under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978.

(c) lease any undertaking to a private or governmental entity.

(2) This section may not be construed to permit an irrigation district to condemn any property owned or controlled by a rural electric cooperative or a utility, whether publicly or privately owned. An irrigation district is expressly prohibited from condemning, pursuant to Title 70, chapter 30, property owned or controlled by a rural electric cooperative or utility.