Devote more resources to inform local governments and landowners about the law's benefits. Designate new natural rivers, starting with the current proposal to protect the Big Manistee and its tributaries. A collection of 19th-century laws recodified in 1956, the Drain Code gives elected county drain commissioners the authority to tax property owners for drainage projects. Originally designed to turn the state's vast wetlands into cropland, the code has become a tool to subsidize sprawl. Drainage projects often are unnecessary and undertaken for the benefit of private developers.
Citizens have virtually no involvement.
The majority of drain projects are exempted from the state Wetlands Act. Direct drain commissioners to protect natural resources. Subject drain projects to all applicable environmental laws. This 1981 law protects agricultural operations from nuisance lawsuits if they follow generally accepted management principles. Compliance is voluntary.