INDIANAPOLIS – A task force created to study drainage regulations in Indiana will begin meeting in November after the general election, according to the senator whose the legislation authorized the committee.

Under legislation authored by Sen. Jean Leising (R-42nd district), the 19 members of the task force were to be chosen by House and Senate leaders (12 members) and by Gov. Eric Holcomb (seven). Last week, legislative leaders appointed their share of the members. The governor announced his appointments to the committee in July.

The task force has six Senate and six House members, eight Republicans and four Democrats. Those appointed by Holcomb include representatives from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and two county surveyors.

Leising will serve as co-chair of the committee, along with Rep. Beau Baird (R-44th district).

There are several questions Leising said she hopes the task force can answer, such as why is Indiana seemingly more regulated when it comes to drainage than some nearby states. She also has concerns about the length of the permit process and about fines.

“I’m going to try to find answers for those questions,” she said. “The good news is, we have until the first of December of next year to make recommendations. I’m hoping we can actually do a decent job of doing that.”

Leising introduced her legislation in early January after heavy rains in the summer of 2021 caused flooding in her rural district, and constituents in the district contacted her for help.

“It’s a complicated enough issue, I couldn’t just file a bill and say I’m going to fix it,” she explained. “That why I went the route of the task force. There need to be rules, need to be accepted rules. You can’t just throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

The legislation calls for the task force to review the responsibilities of landowners and state and local authorities according to current laws relating to the drainage of land. It will make determinations concerning drainage and regulatory matters based on its findings, such as whether authority over drainage matters is shifting from county drainage boards to state authorities. The task force will also determine whether the balance between state authority and local authority over drainage of agricultural land favors state authority more in Indiana than in neighboring states.

Steve Slonaker, an appraiser and owner of Slonaker Farm Management, was appointed by Holcomb to the task force. He said he hopes to see legislation after the task force has finished meeting, or that a compromise can be reached on some of the issues to be brought before the group.

Slonaker said he questions why Indiana is more restrictive on agriculture than surrounding states and why Indiana is more restrictive than the Federal Emergency Management Agency requires.

“I hope I can convey this is a pressing issue,” he said. “There are a lot of frustrated people in agriculture about this. Farmers in Indiana deserve a little better process than what we’ve got. This is supposed to be a farm state.”

Leising said one of her goals for the task force is to find out which drainage regulations are actually required by the federal government. “It will be a challenge,” she said. “Regulatory people – regardless of the agency – like the power they have come to realize.”