(a) Cities of the first class owning a water impoundment in excess of one thousand two hundred fifty (1,250) acres in a county other than the county in which the city is located shall pay to the school districts wherein their water impoundments are located, in lieu of property tax on the water impoundments, an annual amount equal to the property taxes the cities would pay to such school districts were their water impoundments not exempt from property taxation.
(b) It is declared to be the intent of the General Assembly to afford school districts located in counties where there is no corresponding benefit from the water impoundment a means of recovering lost revenues due to the impoundment.