§ 14-30.5-3.5-4 — Flood damage reduction and drainage; plan and activities; potential coordination with another governmental entity

Indiana § 14-30.5-3.5-4

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Art. 30.5: WATERSHED DEVELOPMENT COMMISSIONS
• Ch. 3.5: Purposes, Powers, and Duties of the Maumee River

Text

(a) The board of a watershed development
commission shall develop a plan for flood damage reduction and
drainage within the commission's designated watershed.
(b) A watershed development commission:
(1) subject to subsection (f), has authority to perform drainage,
storm water management, flood damage reduction, and soil and
water conservation activities within the designated watershed;
(2) may participate in the flood control program established under
IC 5-1.2-13; and
(3) may acquire interests in land, including easements, for the
commission's use in:
(A) providing flood storage; and
(B) the construction of low profile berms and other flood
damage reduction improvements.
(c) The drainage, storm water management, flood damage reduction,
and soil and water conservation activities that a watershed development
commission has authority to perform under subsection (b)(1) include
the following:
(1) Bank stabilization.
(2) Tree removal.
(3) Construction and operation of sediment traps.
(4) Channel reconstruction.
(5) Sediment removal.
(6) Two-stage ditch construction.
(7) Installation of best management practices (as described in the
local Natural Resources Conservation Service Field Office
Technical Guide as of July 1, 2025, and any amendments thereto),
including:
(A) blind tile inlets;
(B) cover crops;
(C) grass buffer or filter strips;
(D) regional detention ponds;
(E) tile inlet buffers;
(F) nutrient management;
(G) edge of field bioreactors;
(H) riparian buffers; and
(I) wetland restoration.
(8) The acquisition, construction, and maintenance of access
roads to levees and the channel of a river to which subsection
(b)(1) applies.
(9) Other actions that the board of the watershed development
commission reasonably considers necessary to carry out this
chapter.
(d) Subject to subsection (f), a county must obtain the authorization
of the board of the watershed development commission before
performing any:
(1) construction work; or
(2) drainage or flood damage reduction activities;
within the area described in subsection (b)(1) unless the work must be
performed in response to an emergency.
(e) Subsection (f) applies if a governmental entity other than the
watershed development commission has authority:
(1) to perform one (1) or more activities set forth in subsection (c)
within any part of the watershed development commission's
designated watershed; and
(2) to collect a tax or an assessment or to impose another duty of
financial contribution upon the owners of property located in any
part of the watershed development commission's designated
watershed.
(f) The board of a watershed development commission may enter
into an interlocal cooperation agreement under IC 36-1-7 with a
governmental entity described in subsection (e):
(1) under which:
(A) the watershed development commission will perform, and
the other governmental entity will relinquish its authority to
perform, the activity or activities set forth in subsection (c)
within the watershed development commission's designated
watershed; and
(B) the governmental entity will cease collecting the tax or
assessment or imposing the other duty of financial contribution
described in subsection (e)(2) for performing the activity or
activities set forth in subsection (c) within the watershed
development commission's designated watershed; or
(2) under which:
(A) the governmental entity will continue to perform, and the
watershed development commission will relinquish its authority
to perform, the activity or activities set forth in subsection (c)
within the part of the watershed development commission's
designated watershed in which the governmental entity
performs those activities;
(B) the governmental entity will continue collecting the tax or
assessment or imposing the other duty of financial contribution
described in subsection (e)(2) in the part of the watershed
development commission's designated watershed in which the
governmental entity performs the activity or activities set forth
in subsection (c); and
(C) the watershed development commission will:
(i) relinquish its authority to receive; or
(ii) appropriately reduce;
the annual special assessments or support by optional methods
to which the watershed development commission is otherwise
entitled under IC 14-30.5-5 with respect to taxable parcels of
real property located in the part of the watershed development
commission's designated watershed in which the governmental
entity performs the activity or activities set forth in subsection
(c).

Legislative History

As added by P.L.104-2025, SEC.5.