(a) Within 12 months after certification of the description of the lands to be included within the proposed district, and before any groundwater management district shall be organized, a petition shall be circulated by the steering committee and filed with the secretary of state after being signed by not less than 50 eligible voters or 50% of the eligible voters of the district, whichever is the smaller.

(b) The petition shall set forth:

(1) The proposed name of the district, which name shall end with the words “groundwater management district No. ______.” It shall be the duty of the secretary of state to assign a number to each such district in the order in which petitions for organizations are received in his or her office.

(2) A description of the lands to be included within the proposed district identified by township, range, and section numbers and fractions thereof, and other areas as appropriate and a map showing the contiguous lands to be included in the district.

(3) A statement of the purposes for which the district is to be organized.

(4) A statement of the number of persons that will constitute the elected board of directors of the district, which shall be an uneven number of not less than three or more than 15.

(5) The names and addresses of the persons who constitute the steering committee.

(6) A prayer for the organization and incorporation of the district.

(7) Any other matter deemed essential by the steering committee.

(c) The petition shall be in substantially the following form:

“Before the secretary of state of the state of Kansas in the matter of the proposed ______________ groundwater management district No. ______, in ______________ county, (counties), Kansas.

PETITION

“Come now the undersigned persons and state that (1) they are eligible voters of the aforenamed groundwater management district, hereinafter more fully described; (2) each signer’s post-office address is set forth beside the signer’s name; (3) the purposes for which this district is organized are: (statement of purposes); (4) a seven-member steering committee for the organization of the district has been established; (5) the names of persons who serve on the steering committee, of which the first named shall be chairman, and their respective addresses are as follows: (list of names and addresses); and (6) the governing body of the district shall be an elected board of directors composed of ______ eligible voters.

“Attached hereto, marked exhibit A and made a part hereof, is a description of the lands proposed to be included in the district.

“Attached hereto, marked exhibit B and made a part hereof, is a map showing the lands proposed to be included in the district.

“Wherefore, the undersigned individually and collectively pray that a groundwater management district be organized in the manner provided by law for the purposes set forth herein, and that the secretary of state and the chief engineer of the division of water resources of the Kansas department of agriculture proceed diligently in the performance of their duties so that the organization and incorporation of this proposed district may be completed and approved at the earliest possible time.

“Submitted to the secretary of state this ______ day of ____________, __.”