2007 Minnesota Statutes

103E.812 TRANSFER OF ALL OR PART OF DRAINAGE SYSTEM.
    Subdivision 1. Drainage lien payment period must expire. After the period originally
fixed or subsequently extended to pay the assessment of the drainage lien expires, all or part of
a drainage system may be transferred from the jurisdiction of the drainage authority to a water
management authority as provided in this section.
    Subd. 2. Petitioners. (a) For drainage systems outside of the seven-county metropolitan area,
and outside of the municipal boundaries of a statutory or home rule charter city, a petition must
be signed by at least 51 percent of the owners of property assessed for the construction of the
drainage system, or portion of the drainage system proposed to be transferred, or by the owners of
not less than 51 percent of the area of the property assessed for the drainage system, or portion
of the drainage system sought to be transferred. The water management authority to which the
drainage system is to be transferred must join the petition.
(b) For drainage systems wholly or partially within the municipal boundaries of a statutory
or home rule charter city, the city may petition for transfer if the drainage system or portion of
the drainage system proposed to be transferred lies within the boundaries of the city. The water
management authority to which the drainage system is to be transferred must join the petition.
(c) For drainage systems within the seven-county metropolitan area and within the
jurisdictional boundaries of an existing water management authority, the water management
authority may petition for transfer if the drainage system or portion of the drainage system
proposed to be transferred lies within the boundaries of the water management authority.
(d) For the purpose of the petition, the county is the resident owner of all tax-forfeited
property held by the state, under chapter 282, and assessed benefits for the drainage system, and
the board may execute the petition for the county as an owner. This paragraph does not apply to
lands acquired by the state under chapter 84A.
    Subd. 3. Petition. (a) The petition must designate the drainage system, or portion thereof,
proposed to be transferred and show that the transfer is necessary for the orderly management of
storm, surface, or flood waters, including management for water quality purposes.
(b) The petition must indicate the impact, if any, that the transfer will have on properties
utilizing the drainage system for an outlet or otherwise benefiting from the existence of the
drainage system.
(c) The petition must include an engineering report, prepared by the transferee water
management authority, establishing, for the record, the nature and extent of the drainage easement
occupied by the drainage system, and the as-constructed, or subsequently improved, depth, grade,
and hydraulic capacity of the drainage system.
    Subd. 4. Filing petition; jurisdiction. (a) If the drainage system is administered by a county
or joint county drainage authority and if all property assessed for benefits in the drainage system
is in one county, the petition must be filed with the auditor unless the petition is signed by the
board, in which case the petition must be made to the district court of the county where the
drainage system is located and filed with the court administrator. If the board, acting as the
drainage authority, is also the petitioning water management authority, the petition must be made
to the district court of the county where the drainage system is located and filed with the court
administrator. If property assessed for benefits is in two or more counties, the petition must be
filed with the auditor or court administrator of either (1) the county where the portion of the
drainage system sought to be transferred exists; (2) the county not petitioning for the transfer; or
(3) the county where the majority of the drainage system sought to be transferred exists.
(b) If the drainage system is administered by the board of managers of a watershed district,
the petition must be filed with the secretary of the watershed district. If the watershed district
is also the petitioning water management authority, the petition must be filed with the court
administrator consistent with the criteria in paragraph (a), clauses (1) to (3).
(c) When the petition is filed, the drainage authority in consultation with the auditor or
secretary, or the court administrator with the approval of the court, shall set a time and location for
a hearing on the petition. The auditor, secretary, or court administrator shall give notice by mail
and publication of the time and location of the transfer hearing to all persons interested. The notice
shall include a description of the property owner's right to object under subdivision 5. The drainage
authority or the district court where the petition is properly filed has jurisdiction of the petition.
    Subd. 5. Transfer hearing. (a) At the hearing, the drainage authority or court shall examine
the petition and determine whether it is sufficient and shall hear all interested parties.
(b) If a property owner assessed benefits for the drainage system appears and makes a written
objection to the transfer of the drainage system, the drainage authority or court shall appoint a
technical panel to examine the drainage system, the property, and the proposed transfer and report
to the drainage authority or court. The hearing must be adjourned to make the examination and
report and a date must be set to reconvene. The technical panel shall consist, at a minimum, of a
representative of the drainage authority, a representative of the commissioner, a representative of
the soil and water conservation district, a representative of the Board of Water and Soil Resources,
and a viewer. The technical panel shall proceed to examine the drainage system, the property,
and the property owner's objections to the proposed transfer of the system and report as soon as
possible to the drainage authority or court with the merits of the objections. The technical panel
shall also determine the extent to which the transfer of the drainage system will damage or take
property. Nongovernment employee members of the technical panel must be compensated in the
same manner as viewers under section 103E.645, subdivision 3.
(c) The Board of Water and Soil Resources and the commissioner, if requested by the
drainage authority or court, shall provide any technical assistance, including engineering, surveys,
hydrologic analyses, or water quality studies as requested by the drainage authority or court.
(d) When the hearing is reconvened, the drainage authority or court shall consider the
technical panel's report and all evidence offered. If the drainage authority or court determines
that storm, surface, or flood waters along the drainage system or within the benefited area of the
drainage system, could be better managed by a water management authority, it shall authorize
the transfer of the drainage system.
    Subd. 6. Costs related to transfer and transfer proceedings. Costs, including engineering
and attorney's fees, related to the proceedings to transfer a drainage system must be paid by the
proposed transferee water management authority. If the drainage authority or court orders that
the drainage authority should not be transferred, the drainage authority shall reimburse the water
management authority from the drainage system account for the reasonable value of engineering
work conducted as part of the transfer proceedings.
    Subd. 7. Guarantee of outlet; no compromise of existing rights. (a) Any proceeding
to transfer all or part of a drainage system to a water management authority must guarantee
that all rights to an outlet are preserved for property assessed for benefits on the transferred
drainage system of at least equal hydraulic efficiency as the rights to an outlet that existed on
the date of transfer.
(b) The transfer of a drainage system to a water management authority is not a compromise
of any property right held by an owner of assessed property on the transferred drainage system.
(c) A water management authority shall compensate any owner of property assessed for
benefits on the transferred drainage system for the loss or impairment of any drainage rights
occurring after transfer of the drainage system.
    Subd. 8. Effect of transfer. (a) Except as provided in this section, after transfer of a drainage
system, or any part thereof, to a water management authority, the drainage system ceases to be
subject to regulation under this chapter except that if only a portion of a drainage system is
transferred, the water management authority may be assessed for improvements under section
103E.215 or repairs under sections 103E.701 to 103E.711 in the manner provided under sections
103E.315 and 103E.601 to 103E.615. The water management authority may manage water
within its jurisdictional boundaries according to whatever law controls the function of the water
management authority. The transferred drainage system shall become a work and a responsibility
of the transferee water management authority. All responsibility of the drainage authority for the
transferred drainage system ends.
(b) Activities conducted in the transferred drainage system must continue to be eligible for
all exemptions and exceptions available for activities conducted in public drainage systems under
sections 103G.2241 and 103G.245.
    Subd. 9. Effect on other law. This section does not amend, supersede, or repeal any existing
law providing for the transfer of a drainage system under this chapter, chapter 103D, or other law,
but is supplementary to those laws.
History: 2002 c 327 s 3