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Committee approves changes to Maumee River Basin Watershed commission membership and duties
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Summary
House Bill 11-26 passed the Senate Natural Resources Committee and was recommitted to the Senate Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy; the bill would revise membership and emphasize best management practices for the Maumee River Basin Watershed Development Commission.
The Senate Natural Resources Committee approved House Bill 11-26, a measure that modifies membership and duties of the Maumee River Basin Watershed Development Commission and recommitted the bill to the Senate Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy.
Representative Heiney introduced the bill and asked stakeholders to explain the changes. Rod Reichenberger, executive director of the Maumee River Basin Commission, said the changes are intended to “enhance” the existing commission’s flexibility to address locally identified priorities without infringing on other state or local statutes, such as the Indiana drainage code or existing soil and water conservation districts. Reichenberger said the bill restores soil and water conservation district representation to the commission and adds representation for a second-class city (Fort Wayne) in the basin.
Mike Fruci, Allen County surveyor and president of the Maumee River Basin Commission, and Tom Miller, president of the Allen County Farm Bureau, testified in support. Fruci described unanimous local decision-making and engineering-based approaches to flood mitigation and conservation. Miller emphasized the watershed’s scale — roughly 8,316 square miles with about 1.3 million acres in Indiana — and argued a watershed development commission would enable locally controlled, science-based conservation and flood-control measures that also protect agriculture and downstream water quality in Lake Erie.
Committee members moved to pass the bill and recommit it to the Senate tax and fiscal committee. The clerk recorded the passage with eight yeas and no nays; one senator was excused. Sponsors and witnesses said the bill aims to continue the basin commission’s work on flood mitigation, best management practices and water quality implementation without superseding existing authorities.
The measure will proceed to tax and fiscal review, where members indicated further technical and fiscal considerations will be examined.
