When so proposed in the master plan for the development and management of the Canal, the Department is authorized, in its discretion, to prepare and devise schemes, plans, ways and means for the reservation and acquisition by the State of Illinois of desirable tracts of land abutting, adjoining, or situated in areas along the Canal. The Department is authorized to obtain options on such lands, to acquire by purchase, or by condemnation under the Eminent Domain Act, any and all land sought to carry out the provisions of this Act.