N.D. Cent. Code § 61-16-06
A certified copy of the order creating a water resource district shall be filed with the county auditor of each county within the district. A like copy of the order shall be filed with the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall issue to the state water commission a certificate, bearing the seal of the state, of the due organization of the district, and shall file a copy of the certificate and the commission's order creating the district. The secretary of state's certificate, or a copy authenticated by the secretary of state, shall be prima facie evidence of the organization of the district. This new district shall be, and is hereby declared to be, a governmental agency, and a body politic and corporate with the authority to exercise the powers specified in this chapter, or which may be reasonably implied to exercise such powers. The commission's order shall specify the name or number by which a district shall be known.
N.D.C.C. § 61-16-06