2004 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. 

    HIST: 2002 c 327 s 3