Section 48.14. Annual inspection.

 

(1)   Requirement. A county drainage board or its authorized employee or agent shall annually inspect every drainage district. The inspection shall include an inspection of all district drains and district corridors, and shall determine all of the following:

(a) Whether district drains are being maintained in compliance with this chapter.

(b) Whether a district corridor has been established and is being maintained around every district ditch in compliance with this chapter.

(c) Whether landowners are complying with applicable requirements under this chapter.

(d) Whether, and to what extent, sedimentation has occurred in district drains.

(e) Whether the cross-sections or grade profiles of district drains have changed significantly from the formally established cross-sections or grade profiles.

(f) Whether any drains should be restored, altered or improved to ensure proper drainage, to reduce soil erosion or sedimentation problems, or to comply with this chapter.

(g) Whether the district drainage system is operating effectively to achieve the goals which have been specified for the drainage district pursuant to s. 88.63 , Stats., and s. ATCP 48.36 (1) (f) .

(2)   Landowner participation. The county drainage board shall, by publishing a class 2 notice under ch. 985 , Stats. , notify the landowners in each drainage district of the inspection under sub. (1) . The notice shall inform landowners and land users that they may accompany the inspection under sub. (1) of lands owned or used by them, and may submit comments related to the performance of the district drainage system.

(3)   Inspection report. A county drainage board shall, in conjunction with its annual report for each drainage district under s. 88.24 , Stats., prepare an annual report summarizing the results of its inspection under sub. (1) , including any comments received under sub. (2) . The county drainage board shall file a copy of its report with the county zoning administrator and with the department by December 1 of each year. Before filing the report under this subsection, the county drainage board shall present its report at a public meeting which is preceded by a class 2 notice under ch. 985 , Stats. Notice of the meeting shall also be sent to all known landowners in the drainage district.

(4)   Report contents. The county drainage board's annual inspection report under sub. (3) shall report the board's inspection findings related to each of the items listed under sub. (1) . For each item, the report shall identify any problems, violations or deficiencies noted by the county drainage board. The report shall also specify how the county drainage board will address each problem, violation or deficiency.

Cr. Register, June, 1995, No. 474 , eff. 7-1-95; am. (1) (e), Register, August, 1999, No. 524 , eff. 9-1-99.

Note

A county drainage board may perform an annual inspection in stages during the year. Reports covering the various stages of the inspection may be combined in a single report under sub. (3). Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 The department will make available, to the state of Wisconsin department of natural resources, copies of the reports which the department receives under sub. (3). Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1