(1) The Department of Water, Energy, and Environment shall have the necessary authority to develop, construct, manage, and operate the Perkins County Canal Project consistent with the terms of the South Platte River Compact and pursuant to the Perkins County Canal Project Act. The department's powers under the act shall include: (a) Contracting for services, (b) acquiring permits, (c) acquiring and owning real property, (d) acquiring, holding, and exercising water rights, (e) employing personnel, (f) accepting grants, loans, donations, gifts, bequests, or other contributions from any person or entity, public or private, including any funds made available by any department or agency of the United States, (g) managing and expending such funds as are made available to it from the Perkins County Canal Project Fund, and (h) any other necessary functions consistent with the compact and pursuant to the act in protecting Nebraska's full entitlement to flows of the South Platte River. For purposes of the Perkins County Canal Project Act, the Department of Water, Energy, and Environment is authorized to acquire real estate or access thereto in the name of the State of Nebraska by the use of eminent domain as provided under section 76-725. The department is also authorized to resolve all disputes that may arise, including the initiation or defense of legal actions of any kind, as necessary to achieve the purposes of the act.

(2)(a) The department shall have the necessary authority to enter upon any property, after notifying the owner or occupier of such property, to make surveys, examinations, investigations, studies, geological soil borings, and tests and to acquire other necessary and relevant data in contemplation of (i) establishing the location of the Perkins County Canal Project, (ii) acquiring land, property, permits, and construction materials for the Perkins County Canal Project, or (iii) performing other operations or activities incident to the Perkins County Canal Project and pursuant to the Perkins County Canal Project Act.

(b) Entry upon any property pursuant to this section shall not be considered to be a legal trespass and no damages shall be recoverable on that account alone. In the case of any actual or demonstrable damage to the property, the department shall pay the owner of the property the amount of the damages. Upon failure of the owner and the department to agree upon the amount of damages, the owner, in addition to any other available remedy, may file a petition as provided in section 76-705.