Flood damage reduction and drainage; plan and activities; potential coordination with another governmental entity
Ind. Code § 14-30.5-3.5-4
in effectSec. 4. (a) The board of a watershed development commission shall develop a plan for flood damage reduction and drainage within the commission's designated watershed.
(b) A watershed development commission:
(1) subject to subsection (f), has authority to perform drainage, storm water management, flood damage reduction, and soil and water conservation activities within the designated watershed;
(2) may participate in the flood control program established under IC 5-1.2-13; and
(3) may acquire interests in land, including easements, for the commission's use in:
(A) providing flood storage; and
(B) the construction of low profile berms and other flood damage reduction improvements.
(c) The drainage, storm water management, flood damage reduction, and soil and water conservation activities that a watershed development commission has authority to perform under subsection (b)(1) include the following:
(1) Bank stabilization.
(2) Tree removal.
(3) Construction and operation of sediment traps.
(4) Channel reconstruction.
(5) Sediment removal.
(6) Two-stage ditch construction.
(7) Installation of best management practices (as described in the local Natural Resources Conservation Service Field Office Technical Guide as of July 1, 2025, and any amendments thereto), including:
(A) blind tile inlets;
(B) cover crops;
(C) grass buffer or filter strips;
(D) regional detention ponds;
(E) tile inlet buffers;
(F) nutrient management;
(G) edge of field bioreactors;
(H) riparian buffers; and
(I) wetland restoration.
(8) The acquisition, construction, and maintenance of access roads to levees and the channel of a river to which subsection (b)(1) applies.
(9) Other actions that the board of the watershed development commission reasonably considers necessary to carry out this chapter.
(d) Subject to subsection (f), a county must obtain the authorization of the board of the watershed development commission before performing any:
(1) construction work; or
(2) drainage or flood damage reduction activities;
within the area described in subsection (b)(1) unless the work must be performed in response to an emergency.
(e) Subsection (f) applies if a governmental entity other than the watershed development commission has authority:
(1) to perform one (1) or more activities set forth in subsection (c) within any part of the watershed development commission's designated watershed; and
(2) to collect a tax or an assessment or to impose another duty of financial contribution upon the owners of property located in any part of the watershed development commission's designated watershed.
(f) The board of a watershed development commission may enter into an interlocal cooperation agreement under IC 36-1-7 with a governmental entity described in subsection (e):
(1) under which:
(A) the watershed development commission will perform, and the other governmental entity will relinquish its authority to perform, the activity or activities set forth in subsection (c) within the watershed development commission's designated watershed; and
(B) the governmental entity will cease collecting the tax or assessment or imposing the other duty of financial contribution described in subsection (e)(2) for performing the activity or activities set forth in subsection (c) within the watershed development commission's designated watershed; or
(2) under which:
(A) the governmental entity will continue to perform, and the watershed development commission will relinquish its authority to perform, the activity or activities set forth in subsection (c) within the part of the watershed development commission's designated watershed in which the governmental entity performs those activities;
(B) the governmental entity will continue collecting the tax or assessment or imposing the other duty of financial contribution described in subsection (e)(2) in the part of the watershed development commission's designated watershed in which the governmental entity performs the activity or activities set forth in subsection (c); and
(C) the watershed development commission will:
(i) relinquish its authority to receive; or
(ii) appropriately reduce;
the annual special assessments or support by optional methods to which the watershed development commission is otherwise entitled under IC 14-30.5-5 with respect to taxable parcels of real property located in the part of the watershed development commission's designated watershed in which the governmental entity performs the activity or activities set forth in subsection (c).
As added by P.L.104-2025, SEC.5.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/14Fetched: 10/17/2026