REGULATORY POWERS; PETITION FOR ADOPTION.

(a) If petitioned by 50 or more eligible voters in the conservation district, the directors of a conservation district may propose an ordinance governing the use of land within the conservation district in the interest of conserving soil and soil resources and preventing and controlling soil erosion.

(b) An ordinance adopted under this subchapter may:

(1) require the carrying out of necessary engineering operations, including the construction of terraces, terrace outlets, check dams, dikes, ponds, ditches, and other necessary structures;

(2) require observance of particular methods of cultivation, including:

(A) contour cultivating, contour furrowing, lister furrowing, or strip cropping;

(B) planting, sowing, or seeding land with water-conserving and erosion-preventing plants, trees, or grasses; and

(C) forestations and reforestations;

(3) specify cropping programs and tillage practices to be observed;

(4) require the retirement from cultivation of highly erosive areas or of areas on which erosion may not be adequately controlled if cultivation is carried on; or

(5) provide other means, measures, operations, or programs that may assist conservation of soil resources or prevent or control soil erosion in the conservation district, having due regard for the legislative determinations made in Section 201.001 of this code.

(c) Land-use regulations must be uniform throughout the conservation district, except that the directors may classify land in the conservation district according to relevant factors, including soil type, degree of slope, degree of erosion threatened or existing, or cropping or tillage practices in use. The land-use regulations may vary with the type or class of land affected, but must be uniform as to all land within the type or class.