Title 46A, WATER MANAGEMENT

Any surplus remaining in any fund at the close of a fiscal year may be used by a township to pay and apply toward any drainage assessment. In unorganized townships, the board may pay for drainage from any money of the unorganized township. Each succeeding year a like levy shall b…

Assessments for drainage or installments shall be enforced by the county treasurer by sale of property at an annual tax sale. However, no late assessment or installment may be included in the sale for any year unless it was delinquent on or before August first of that year. Any p…

After establishment of a project and fixing of damages, if any, the board shall determine the proportion of benefits of the proposed project among the lands affected and shall set a time and place for equalizing the benefits. The benefit determined for any tract of land shall be …

Any assessment made by a board upon land in another county shall be paid to the county treasurer of the county having charge of the project. If the assessment becomes delinquent, the treasurer of the county having charge of the project shall certify the amount delinquent on any s…

Installments of any assessment which has been made under the provisions of this chapter, including those past due, if no delinquent assessments have been sold and no bonds issued, at the discretion of the board may be canceled and reassessed separately or together with any furthe…

If the board determines that the estimated cost of a proposed project is greater than should be levied in a single year upon the lands benefited, it may fix the amount to be levied and collected each year and by resolution provide for issuance of bonds in an amount not to exceed …

Bonds issued pursuant to § 46A-11-23 shall be signed by the chairman of the board and the auditor, shall be issued for the benefit of the particular drainage district, and shall be numbered, recorded, and indexed in the office of the county auditor. The board shall negotiate the …

No county may be liable for payment of any bonds issued under this chapter. The bonds shall be paid from funds derived from assessments under this chapter. Source: SDC 1939, § 61.1024; SDCL, § 46-21-25; SL 1985, ch 362 , § 122.

Assessments are payable to the treasurer of the county in which assessed land is situated. Bonds may be issued by jointly acting boards and payable from assessments for the project. The bonds shall be signed by the chairman of each board, countersigned by the auditor of each coun…

If the cost of a proposed project exceeds the preconstruction estimate, a new apportionment of assessments may be made and additional bonds issued and sold in like manner. If the proceeds of the assessments are insufficient to pay the principal and interest of bonds sold pursuant…

Separate accounts shall be kept by the treasurer for each drainage project and no funds for one drainage project may be applied to any other project. Source: SDC 1939, § 61.1024; SDCL, § 46-21-28; SL 1985, ch 362 , § 125.

The board of any county having outstanding drainage bonds issued under the provisions of this chapter may extend unpaid installments of assessments for such project and issue and sell drainage refunding bonds as provided in §§ 46A-11-30 to 46A-11-34 , inclusive. Source: SDC 1939,…

Benefits which any county, municipality, township, railroad company, corporation, or other property owner may obtain for its property by construction of the project shall be fixed and equalized together with the proportion of benefits to tracts of land. Benefits shall accrue dire…

If there is filed with the county auditor a petition signed by owners of not less than fifty - one percent of the real property assessed for a project, which petition identifies the project and states that owners of land assessed for the project have defaulted in payment of one o…

At the time and place specified in a notice under § 46A-11-30 , the board shall consider the petition. If the board determines that the petition is proper and required notice has been given, it has jurisdiction to hear and decide the matter. The board may adjourn the hearing from…

Any person aggrieved by an order issued under § 46A-11-31 may appeal the order to the circuit court for the county within the time and in the manner provided by this chapter and chapter 46A-10A . On appeal, the right, power, and authority of the board to make the order and the ne…

If a board issues an order extending the time for payment of installments of assessments, or if all assessments not extended have been collected or become delinquent, the board may refund outstanding bonds, warrants, or certificates on account of any project, which may then be du…

Not later than its October meeting each year, the board shall calculate the funding required during the ensuing year to pay principal and interest on outstanding bonds on account of any projects for which assessments have been extended and the funding realized from assessments le…

If proceedings have been held for establishment of a ditch, drain, levee, or straightening or enlarging of a natural watercourse under prior law, if the project has been established, constructed, and assessments made therefor, and if the assessment cannot be enforced, the board s…

Abandonment or abolishment of any drainage project and its works may not affect the obligation or validity of any assessments made against any of the lands involved or a lien for such assessments. Source: SL 1939, ch 290 , § 6; SDC Supp 1960, § 61.1052; SDCL, § 46-21-37; SL 1985,…

The board shall refund, upon request, any excess assessment not used in construction of any project to any person, corporation, municipality, or township within a drainage project, in proportion to the amount paid. Source: SDC 1939, § 61.1043; SDCL, § 46-21-38; SL 1985, ch 362 , …

After a hearing on equalization of benefits, the board shall equalize and fix benefits, subject to revision, if necessary. If revision is necessary, notice and procedure shall be as required by § 46A-11-2 for equalization and fixing of benefits. If any moneys have been paid under…

After equalization of benefits, the board may make an assessment against each tract and property affected, in proportion to the benefits as equalized, to pay damages and project costs incurred. Costs shall include expenses of the board, surveyors and assistants, plans and profile…

Thirty days after an assessment is made, a copy certified by the county auditor shall be filed by him with the county treasurer. However, before it is filed, the board shall give notice of the time of filing, by publication at least once in each week for two consecutive weeks in …

An assessment is due from the time a certified copy is filed in the treasurer's office. Perpetual liens shall attach against assessed tracts, except those owned by the state and the United States, and, if an assessment is not paid within thirty days, a penalty of five percent sha…

A board may issue separate assessment certificates against each tract assessed for the amount of its assessment and may sell them at not less than par value with accrued interest or may contract to pay for construction of the project with assessment certificates or with warrants.…

After damages arising from establishment and construction of a project are paid and lands for the drainage are taken, assessments may be made for further costs of construction. Source: SDC 1939, § 61.1011; SDCL, § 46-21-9; SL 1985, ch 362 , § 106.

The Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources shall establish and administer a statewide mediation program to provide assistance to property owners who seek to use mediation as a method to resolve disputes over the surface or subsurface drainage of water. The secretary of t…

All staff services required by the drainage mediation program shall be provided by the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The secretary of agriculture and natural resources may employ agents and employees as the secretary deems necessary. The mediation services shal…

Any fees incurred in the mediation process provided under this chapter and by rule shall be borne equally between the parties to the drainage dispute. The fees shall be deposited in the farm mediation operating fund. All money in the farm mediation operating fund is continuously …

The Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in the administration of this chapter, may contract with one or more governmental entities, nonprofit corporations, individuals, or other entities as determined by the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources to provide …

The requesting party shall promptly provide to the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, upon the agreement of at least two parties to enter into the mediation program created under this chapter, a list of other parties to the drainage dispute and any property owner an…

Any agreement reached between the parties to the drainage dispute as a result of mediation shall be drafted into a written agreement. If signed by the parties, the agreement constitutes a binding contract, and the mediator shall so certify. Source: SL 2015, ch 226 , § 6.

Information relating to the dispute between the parties to the drainage dispute which is disclosed to the mediator or which is created, collected, or maintained by the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources mediation program pursuant to the terms of this chapter is confi…

Any person serving as a mediator pursuant to this chapter is immune from civil liability in any action brought in any court in this state on the basis of any act or omission resulting in damage or injury if the person was acting in good faith, in a reasonable and prudent manner, …

Any person or party that claims to be impacted by the planned drainage activities, upon timely notice, is allowed to intervene in the mediation process if the person's or party's claim of impact is supported by a claim that the person or party owns or administers real property im…

At least fifty affected South Dakota resident landowners, or the county commissioners of any affected county, may file a petition with the clerk of the circuit court for the affected county requesting the formation of a drainage district as provided in this chapter. The provision…

At least twenty-five South Dakota resident owners of not less than ten acres of land each within an interstate drainage district formed pursuant to this chapter, or the governing body of any county or municipality located within the district that is likely to be affected by a pro…

Before acting upon the petition for such improvements, such interstate drainage district commission shall require the petitioners to furnish a bond with proper sureties to be approved by such commission in such sum as it may designate, to secure the payment of all expenses which …

The interstate drainage district commission and the authorities representing drainage in the adjoining state may make all necessary orders and regulations relative to the making of the survey and report of the engineers appointed under § 46A-13-10 and may specify all information …

In the event the proposed improvement affects a navigable stream or body of water, and as such is under the control of the United States government, any surveys or plans for improvements made and furnished by the United States government engineers which may be submitted may be us…

Upon the filing of the report of the engineers appointed to make the joint survey, which in all instances shall be made at the earliest possible date, the interstate drainage district commission, together with the representatives of the adjoining state or states, shall consider t…

Upon the adoption of the joint plan, the interstate drainage district commission, together with the representatives of any adjoining state, may appoint a commission of viewers consisting of three disinterested persons, at least one of whom shall be a citizen of this state, who ma…

In estimating the probable total cost of the construction of such improvement, all damages resulting therefrom and all expenses and fees attending the same, including counsel fees, except the expenses of the representatives of the various states, may be included. Source: SDC 1939…

Upon the filing of a copy of the viewers' report with the commission of the drainage district, the commission and the proper representatives of any adjoining state shall agree upon the proportionate amount of the cost of the improvement that shall be borne by the property located…

The determination so made by the drainage commission fixing the proportion of the cost of the proposed improvement that shall be paid by such drainage district shall be final and conclusive on all persons and property within such district in case the improvement is constructed. S…