Permit to drain subsurface waters required - Permit form - Penalty
N.D. Cent. Code § 61-32-03.1
in effect61-32-03.1. Permit to drain subsurface waters required - Permit form - Penalty
1. Installation of a subsurface water management system comprising eighty acres
[32.37 hectares] of land area or more requires a permit. A person that violates this
section is guilty of an infraction. Subsurface water management systems that use
surface intakes or lift stations must be permitted exclusively under this section.
2. For purposes of this section, a "natural watercourse" includes, in addition to
watercourses defined in section 61-01-06, any waterway depicted as a perennial or
intermittent stream or river on a United States geological survey topography map.
3. a. The department of water resources shall develop an application form for a permit
required under this section. A person seeking to construct a subsurface water
management system shall submit a completed application to the water resource
district board within which is found a majority of the land area for consideration
and approval. The district may charge permit applicants a fee up to five hundred
dollars. The fee must be paid before the water resource district may approve the
application.
b. A completed permit application includes:
(1) A completed application form signed by an applicant and filed with the
district;
(2) Evidence of ownership for each parcel to be tiled according to the tax rolls of
the county in which the parcel is located;
(3) A project design, including:
(a) A detailed drawing depicting the subsurface water management
system's location overlain on an aerial photograph of the parcel;
(b) The system's location by legal description identifying either the
relevant quarter, section, township, and range or the relevant block
and lot number;
(c) The physical footprint of the system's layout;
(d) The tile-main sizes and locations;
(e) The laterals to the tile-main sizes and locations;
(f) Surface inlet sizes and locations; and
(g) Outlet sizes, locations, and types;
(4) A downstream flow map or depiction of the flow direction from each outlet
location for one mile [1.61 kilometers] downstream which includes the
location of the downstream parcels by legal description identifying either the
relevant quarter, section, township, and range or the relevant block and lot
number; and
(5) Evidence of ownership for each parcel within one mile [1.61 kilometers]
downstream of each project outlet according to the tax rolls for the county in
which the parcel is located, unless the distance to the nearest assessment
drain, natural watercourse, slough, or lake is less than one mile
[1.61 kilometers] downstream of a proposed outlet, in which case the
applicant shall provide evidence of ownership for each parcel between the
outlet and the nearest assessment drain, natural watercourse, slough, or
lake.
c. Unless the district notifies an applicant the application is incomplete and provides
a list of information required to complete the application within three business
days after the day the district receives the application, the application is deemed
complete.
d. Detailed drawings submitted pursuant to subparagraph a of paragraph 3 of
subdivision b as part of an application for a permit under this section after May 3,
2021, are exempt records under section 44-04-18 and may be provided to
individuals only as necessary to make a decision whether to approve the permit.
4. A district may attach conditions to an approved permit for a subsurface water
management system if the conditions address:
a. Outlet locations including requirements for pump and control structures to be
installed no closer than twenty-five feet [7.62 meters] from the top of the back
slope of an assessment drain;
b. Installation and maintenance of proper erosion control at all outlets;
c. Re-establishment of disturbed areas to previous conditions;
d. The minimum distance from rural water supply lines. However, a district may not
attach a condition requiring a system to extend beyond an existing easement for
a rural waterline, or, if the rural waterline was installed under a blanket easement,
requiring a system to extend beyond twenty feet [6.1 meters] from either side of a
rural waterline;
e. Installation and operation of control structures at project outlets including
requirements for control structures to be closed or pump outlets to be turned off
during critical flood periods;
f. Requirements for a permittee to obtain an amendment to a permit for alterations
to outlet locations, new outlets, or improvements resulting in drainage of
additional acres;
g. If the subsurface water management system will discharge into the watershed
area of an assessment drain, inclusion of the relevant property into the
assessment district for the assessment drain in accordance with the benefits the
property receives, provided the property is not assessed already for the
assessment drain. The water resource district may include the new property into
the assessment district, and determine the benefits and assessment amounts
under chapter 61-16.1, without conducting the reassessment of benefit
proceedings under section 61-16.1-26, provided the property is not assessed
already for the assessment drain.
h. Requirements for a permittee to remove silt and vegetation, or repair erosion and
scour damages directly caused by the subsurface water management system, up
to one mile [1.61 kilometers] downstream from a proposed outlet, unless the
distance to the nearest assessment drain, natural watercourse, slough, or lake is
less than one mile [1.61 kilometers] downstream of the proposed outlet, in which
case the district may require silt and vegetation removal or erosion and scour
damage repair between the outlet and the nearest assessment drain, natural
watercourse, slough, or lake. For purposes of this subdivision and subdivision i:
(1) Downstream damage repair does not include deepening or widening a road
ditch or existing drain;
(2) The timing and method of silt and vegetation removal or damage repair in a
county or township road ditch must be preapproved by the appropriate road
authority; and
(3) The applicant shall follow any construction site protection requirements of
the road authority.
i. If a downstream landowner or road authority presents substantial evidence a
subsurface water management system directly has caused accumulation of silt,
vegetation erosion, or scouring, the requirement or authorization of the applicant
to remove the silt and vegetation or repair the erosion and scour damages
directly caused by the system. However, the applicant may not spread silt,
vegetation, or debris along adjoining land without the permission of all parties
having a legal interest in the land.
5. A district shall approve a permit, including any permissible conditions, within thirty days
after the district receives the completed application. If the district fails to approve the
permit application within that period, the permit is deemed approved with no
conditions.
6. Upon approval of a permit, the district shall forward notice of the approved permit and
the downstream flow map to the department of water resources and to each
landowner who owns property within one mile [1.61 kilometers] downstream of each
project outlet according to the tax rolls of the county in which the property is located,
unless the distance to the nearest assessment drain, natural watercourse, slough, or
lake is less than one mile [1.61 kilometers] downstream of the proposed outlet, in
which case the district shall provide notice to landowners with property between the
outlet and the nearest assessment drain, natural watercourse, slough, or lake. The
district shall send copies of the notice by first-class mail, attested by an affidavit of
mailing. The district does not need to provide copies of the permit application under
this subsection.
7. An amendment of a previously approved subsurface water management system
permit must be made according to the provisions for approving a permit under this
section.
8. A water resource district board may not be held liable to any person for issuing a
permit under this section.
9. Approval of a permit under this section does not prohibit a downstream party
unreasonably damaged by the discharge of water from a subsurface water
management system from seeking damages in a civil action.
10. This section applies only to subsurface water management systems that drain, in
whole or in part, platted or unplatted lands used for raising agricultural crops or grazing
farm animals.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t61c32.pdf#nameddest=61-32-03p1Fetched: 10/16/2026