(a) The authority has the rights and powers of an independent conservation and reclamation district to construct, maintain, and operate in the valleys of the Neches River and its tributaries, inside or outside the authority, any work considered essential:
(1) to the operation of the authority; and
(2) for the authority's administration in the control, storage, preservation, and distribution to all useful purposes of the water, including storm water and floodwater, of the Neches River and its tributaries.
(b) The authority has the same power of control and regulation over the waters of the Neches River and its tributaries that the state has, subject to the constitution and statutes of this state.