SF 2221 contains amendments to the Drainage Law on considerations before drainage work is done.  The changes are recommendations from the Drainage Work Group.

Section 1 [Environmental, land use, and multipurpose water management criteria] modify certain criteria that must be considered before a drainage project (a new drainage system, an improvement of a drainage system, an improvement of an outlet, or a lateral). The major change in this section is to clarify alternative water management measures that must be considered before a drainage project is established. The alternative measures to consider are for water conservation and allocation, flow and flooding reduction, drainage system capacity enhancement, erosion and sedimentation reduction, and water quality protection and improvement.  The changes also update the criteria to make the wording consistent and to reflect other laws, including local water planning, local land use planning, and wetland laws.

Section 2 [Investigation of external sources of funding and technical assistance] directs drainage authorities to investigate external sources of funding for alternative water management measures prior to a drainage project (a new drainage system, an improvement of a drainage system, an improvement of an outlet, or a lateral) or a drainage system repair by petition (major repair).

Section 3 [Determining public utility] makes technical changes to clarify the inclusion of repairs and wetland laws.

Sections 4 to 14 [Technical changes] makes technical changes to other Drainage Law sections to reflect the changed name of the subdivision headnote in Section 1 of the bill.

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