Every four years – including this month – voters in the overwhelming majority of Michigan counties elect a drain commissioner on the partisan ballot. But many of those voters likely do not understand the office.
Although the office of drain commissioner was explicitly created by the Legislature in the 1890s to drain wetlands, today that is only part of the commissioner’s duties. Saturday’s National Stormwater Day is a good opportunity to note the change.
Grand Traverse County Drain Commissioner Andy Smits, left, (easily re-elected last week) notes the 1956 Drain Code provides “a very public process through which services are provided to the public. A drain commissioner has a good deal of public interaction in that role and has the ability, really the necessity, of educating the public as to the natural processes involved in their service, about the water cycle, water quality, adverse impacts, hydrology, hydraulics, and more.”
Pictured left: Andy Smits, newly elected to serve as the Grand Traverse County Drain Commissioner. Right, former Grand Traverse County Commissioner Ron Clous // PHOTO CREDIT: The Ticker
He adds, “These roles have evolved over many years…and they continue to evolve with legislative amendments, with evolving technology and with improved understanding of the potentially detrimental effects that uncontrolled run-off can impart. Society’s improved understanding results in a greater degree of community engagement with the Office, something I welcome.”
In some counties, the name of the office has been changed to Water Resource Commissioner, reflecting conservation and environmental responsibilities.
The Michigan Association of County Drain Commissioners says “Michigan’s drain commissioners, sometimes called water resources commissioners, administer laws involving flood protection, stormwater management, and soil erosion and seek to protect Michigan’s water resources in the process. Today, drain commissioners strive to balance the need for proper drainage with water quality and natural resource management in a cost-effective manner, resulting in public health benefits.”
One of the drain commissioners best known for integrating environmental considerations in drainage and stormwater management is Patrick Lindemann of Ingham County. An example of his office’s work is the Tollgate Drain.
Almost from the first day of pioneer settlement in the 19th Century, public policy and private impulse had demonized Michigan wetlands as unhealthy wastes that were best filled or drained for productive use. Known as swamps or “drowned lands,” these areas were regarded as ugly and dangerous.
Michigan legislators were more than up to the task of curing the wetland blight. Lawmakers passed their first drainage law in 1839 and in 1846 authorized drainage of swamps and marshes if they were determined to be a source of disease. In 1898, the Legislature created the elected office of county drain commissioner and granted it extraordinary powers to establish drain districts and assess landowners within the districts the cost of draining wet areas.
Over a century of development, drainage laws and the filling of wetlands for the construction of roads, housing developments and commercial and industrial projects took an enormous toll on wetlands. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1990 put the total loss of wetlands at approximately 5.5 million acres of an original 11 million, a 50 percent loss.
The replacement of a culvert at the passage of Cass Road over Miller Creek in Garfield Township, supervised by Grand Traverse County Drain Commissioner Andy Smits, wasn’t just about moving stormwater. In addition to alleviating chronic flooding, the project improved the approach of the stream to restore the stream habitat and natural flows. The rock work provides substrate and aquatic habitat, increases dissolved oxygen, slows flow and reduces scour and sedimentation, opening the creek to a near “free flow” configuration, which supports fish and other aquatic life.
Protective laws didn’t follow for decades. Passing a state law in Michigan to protect wetlands was not an easy task because the public values of wetlands collided with the American tradition of private property rights. But under 1972 amendments to the federal Clean Water Act known as Section 404, the Army Corps of Engineers could authorize state agencies to issue federal “dredge and fill” permits for wetlands developments if the states could demonstrate adequate state laws. This gave development interests a reason not to fight the bill; they could more comfortably work with state Department of Natural Resources staff in Michigan than with federal bureaucrats. The Legislature passed the wetland law late on the final night of the legislative session in 1979.
