LICA and Minnesota LICA are participating in an effort to dissuade the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) from attempting to regulate public agricultural drainage systems under the State Disposal System (SDS) permit program. LICA has joined the effort initiated by the Agriculture Drainage Management Coalition (ADMC) requesting that a petition from a coalition of environmental groups for the permitting requirements be declined. LICA believes that if such a permit requirement where to be adopted in Minnesota it could have National implications and the practice could spread to other states. The letter explains that agricultural drainage has never been treated as wastewater under Minnesota law and should not be. The groups petition’s proposed interpretation would conflict with legislative intent, established precedent, and the long-standing role of local drainage authorities. According to Jennifer Breberg, Executive Director of MNLICA, “This is just another of the many challenges we face here in Minnesota. The legislature, and more specifically special interest groups, are always trying to challenge everything related to agriculture in the state. It makes little sense in a prominently ag state. We have very strict rules already in place for ag drainage and they cover all areas, but foremost they are there to protect the environment."
The coalition letter, spearheaded by ADMC points out that the petition for the rulemaking relies on a framework that departs from legislative intent and precedent. Agricultural drainage water has never been defined as wastewater or drainage systems in agricultural settings as disposal systems. The petitioners’ claim that public drainage systems are “disposal systems” is inconsistent with the statutory text and decades of practice. The letter goes on, “Minnesota public drainage systems are a critical water management component meant to convey water from rural and urban landscapes and are engineered to provide safe, resilient, and dependable conveyance. Drainage systems increase agricultural productivity, reduce risks, decrease surface runoff, and lower agricultural N2O emissions. Nowhere in Minnesota statute or rule has agricultural drainage been treated as wastewater or subject to SDS permitting.”
ADMC’s letter calls for practical, science-based, voluntary solutions that improve water quality while sustaining productive agriculture. Increasing investment in public drainage systems and multipurpose drainage management (MDM) is essential for agricultural productivity and improving both hydrology and water quality. MDM includes a series of practices that help to manage volume and the timing of drainage flow.