§ 14-32-1-1 — Conservation declarations

The following are declared as a matter of
legislative determination:
(1) That the land and water resources of Indiana are among the
basic assets of Indiana and that the proper management of these
resources is necessary to protect and promote the health, safety,
and general welfare of the people of Indiana.
(2) That improper land use practices and failure to control and use
rainfall and runoff water cause and contribute to deterioration and
waste of these resources of Indiana.
(3) That the breaking of natural grass, plant, and forest cover has
interfered with the natural factors of soil stabilization, causing
loosening of soil and exhaustion of humus and developing a soil
condition that favors excessive runoff and erosion, with the
following results:
(A) The topsoil is being blown and washed out of the fields and
pastures.
(B) There has been an accelerated washing of sloping fields.
(C) These processes of erosion by wind and water speed up
with removal of the topsoil, exposing the less absorptive, less
protective, less productive, and more erosive subsoil.
(4) That valuable water resources are being lost causing damages
in watersheds.
(5) That failure by a land occupier to properly manage the soil and
water causes a washing and blowing of these resources onto other
land and makes the conservation of these resources on the other
land more difficult.
(6) That the consequences of soil erosion and failure to control
and use rainfall and runoff water are the following:
(A) The silting and sedimentation of stream channels,
reservoirs, dams, ditches, and harbors.
(B) The loss of fertile soil material.
(C) The piling up of soil on lower slopes and the deposit over
alluvial plains.
(D) The reduction in productivity or outright ruin of bottom
land by flooding and overwash of poor subsoil material, sand,
and gravel swept out of the hills.
(E) The deterioration of soil and the soil's fertility, deterioration
of crops grown, and reduction in crop yields.
(F) The loss of soil and water that causes destruction of food
and cover for wildlife.
(G) A blowing and washing of soil into streams and lakes that
silts over spawning beds and destroys water plants, diminishing
the food supply of fish.
(H) A diminishing of the underground water reserve and loss of
surplus rainfall runoff causing water shortages, intensifying
periods of drought, and causing crop failures.
(I) An increase in the speed and volume of rainfall runoff,
causing severe and increasing floods.
(J) Economic hardship for those attempting to farm land that is
eroded or subject to frequent flooding.
(K) Damage to roads, highways, railways, farm buildings, and
other property from floods and from dust storms.
(L) Losses in navigation, hydroelectric power, municipal water
supply, recreational water development, irrigation
developments, farming, and grazing.
(7) That to conserve soil and water resources, control and prevent
soil erosion, protect water quality, reduce flood damage, and
further the conservation development, use, and disposal of water,
it is necessary that:
(A) land use practices contributing to soil and water wastage,
water quality impairment, and soil erosion be discouraged and
discontinued; and
(B) appropriate soil and water conserving land use practices
and works of improvement for flood prevention or the
conservation development, use, and disposal of water be
adopted and carried out.
(8) That among the procedures necessary for widespread adoption
are the following:
(A) Carrying on of engineering operations such as the
construction of flood preventing reservoirs and channels,
terraces, terrace outlets, check dams, dikes, ponds, ditches, and
similar operations.
(B) The use of soil protecting agronomic practices, such as strip
cropping, contour cropping, and conservation tillage.
(C) Land irrigation.
(D) Seeding and planting of sloping, abandoned, or eroded land
to water-conserving and erosion-preventing plants, trees, and
grasses.
(E) Forestation and reforestation.
(F) Rotation of crops.
(G) Soil stabilization with trees, grasses, legumes, and other
thick-growing, soil-holding crops.
(H) Retardation of runoff by impounding the runoff water
behind structures, by increasing the absorption of rainfall, and
by retiring from cultivation all steep, highly erosive areas and
areas already badly eroded.
(I) The use of water quality protection practices, including
nutrient and pesticide management on all lands.
[Pre-1995 Recodification Citation: 13-3-1-2(a), (b),
(c).]

Legislative History

As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.25. Amended by P.L.136-1997, SEC.7; P.L.175-2006, SEC.2.