As used in this article, the term:

(1) "County" means any county created under the Constitution or laws of this state.

(2) "Environmental services" means the provision, collectively or individually, of water facilities or management services.

(3) "Lease" includes a lease or sublease and may, in the discretion of the department, be in form and substance an estate for years, usufruct, license, concession, or any other right or privilege to use or occupy.

(4) "Lessee" includes lessee or sublessee, tenant, licensee, concessionaire, or other person contracting for any estate for years, usufruct, license, concession, or other right or privilege referred to in paragraph (3) of this Code section.

(5) "Local government" or "local governing authority" means any municipal corporation or county, any local water district, or any state or local authority, board, or political subdivision created by the General Assembly or pursuant to the Constitution and laws of the state.

(6) "Management services" means technical, administrative, instructional or informational services provided to any current or potential recipient in, but not limited to, the areas of service charge structure; accounting, capital improvements budgeting or financing; financial reporting, treasury management, debt structure or administration or related fields of financial management; contract or grant administration; management of water systems; and economic development administration or strategies. Management services may be furnished either directly, on-site, or through other written or oral means of communication and may consist of reports, studies, presentations, or other analyses of a written or oral nature.

(7) "May" means permission and not command.

(8) "Municipal corporation" or "municipality" means any city or town in this state.

(9) "Obligation" means any bond, revenue bond, note, lease, contract, evidence of indebtedness, debt, or other obligation of the state or local governments which are authorized to be issued under the Constitution or other laws of this state, including refunding bonds.

(10) "Project" means and includes the acquisition of real property for water reservoirs; the construction and reconstruction or improvement of water reservoirs; the acquisition of real property surrounding water reservoirs; the acquisition of real property for mitigation of any alteration of environmental resources by the construction of a water reservoir; and all necessary and usual water facilities useful for obtaining one or more sources of water supply, the treatment of water, and the distribution and sale of water to users and consumers, including counties and municipalities for the purpose of resale, inside and outside the territorial boundaries of the users and consumers, and the operation, maintenance, additions, improvements, and extensions of such facilities so as to assure an adequate water utility system deemed by the department to be necessary or convenient for the efficient operation of such type of undertaking, all for the essential public purpose of providing water facilities and services to meet public health and environmental standards and to aid the development of trade, commerce, industry, agriculture, and employment opportunities.

(11) "Water facilities" means any projects, structures, and other real or personal property acquired, rehabilitated, constructed, or planned for the purposes of supplying, distributing, and treating water and diverting, channeling, or controlling water flow and head including, but not limited to, surface or ground water, canals, reservoirs, channels, basins, dams, aqueducts, standpipes, penstocks, conduits, pipelines, mains, pumping stations, water distribution systems, compensating reservoirs, intake stations, waterworks or sources of water supply, wells, purification or filtration plants or other treatment plants and works, connections, water meters, mechanical equipment, electric generating equipment, rights of flowage or division, and other plant structures, equipment, conveyances, real or personal property or rights therein and appurtenances, furnishings, accessories, and devices thereto necessary or useful and convenient for the collection, conveyance, distribution, pumping, treatment, storing, or disposing of water.