E-M:/ Drain Czar editorial

[benj@tir.com]

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Enviro-Mich message from benj@tir.com
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The following editorial ran in the Detroit Free Press last Tuesday
(9-8-98), in case you missed it.  It was written by Barb Stanton who has
been watching the progress--or lack of progress--in Drain Code reform over
the years.  Read this and I'll bet you'll be motivated to respond to Julie
Stoneman's posting above.  The very brief legislative session this fall
could be key.  Your calls were instrumental in preventing the Wetters bill
from getting to a midnight vote just before summer adjournment.  This gave
Rep. Willard time to write a substitute bill. Make your calls again now.  

DRAIN CZARS. Codes need to assure consistent resource protection.

Don't let anybody tell you urban sprawl is just an example of the good old
free market at work.  One big reason that so many wetlands, farms and
pleasant open spaces are vanishing before your eyes is that state law is
laced with hidden subsidies and incentives for developing them.  And one of
the worst offending statutes is the Michigan drain code.

The code dates back to the ages when southeastern Michigan was an
impassable swamp, and ditching and draining were the only ways to make the
region habitable.  It was last revised 40 years ago, when conventional
wisdom still regarded wetlands as wastelands, and streams and rivers as
expendable.

The current code gives immense powers to county drain commissiners, who can
decide where to ditch and dredge, and to whom to send the bill.  Drain
commissioners are exempt from most state laws protecting wetlands, lakes
and streams.

So developers who might never get permission from the Department of Natural
Resources to drain a wetland can ask a drain commisssioner to put in a
drain or a storm sewer connector for them.  In some cases, the cost may be
assessed against everybody in the neighborhood--including the farmer across
the road, who may be driven out of business by the higher assessments and
taxes generated by the new development.

All of this is done with little or no public input and oversight, and no
uniformity.  Some states have laws mandating how drain projects can be
assessed.  Michigan doesn't.  A property owner who owns a 100-acre farm may
be assessed the same as the owner of 100 acres with 200 houses on it, even
though the latter gets a lot more benefit--and causes much more of the
flooding problem--than the farmer.

Then there's the environmental impact.  Many designated "drains" are
natural creeks and streams that can be turned into barren, dirt-banked
ditches by decision of the drain commissioner.  Dredging upstream can flood
out owners downstream and harm water quality.  All these actions can be
taken without much public input or chance for effective appeal.

Many drain commissioners are careful about the environment and treating
property owners fairly.  It would be easier, though, if the law required
all commissioners to do that.

The Legislature has fussed over drain code reform for several years.  But
the bill that emerged on the House floor before recess does little to
change the current process.

A much beter alternative is being offered by state Rep. Karen Willard,
D-Algonac.  The Willard bill provides environmental safeguards, more public
input, and fairer treatment for all property owners than the present code
does.

Drain code reform is a phrase to make the eyes glaze over.  But it's a land
use issue, a fairness in assessments issue, and a public oversight issue.
It affects how communitites grow, how they look, and how much people pay.
The present code is an antique that deals with such issues poorly.  The
Willard bill can help property owners and local communities manage them
better.          *  *  *  *  *


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