State's attorney says county has filed rehearing with DWR over Devil's Lake emergency denial

Ramsey County's state's attorney, Daniel, told the commission he submitted a request for rehearing to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) after DWR denied the county's emergency application related to Devil's Lake.

"The request for rehearing has been submitted to the Department of Water Resources. The Department of Water Resources acknowledged receipt," Daniel said, and added DWR has not yet scheduled when a rehearing would occur. Daniel described the rehearing as likely to focus on "why they are not granting our emergency application," contrasting the initial hearing where the county sought to prove an emergency existed.

Daniel said the county will continue to pursue legal options and will follow the process set by the legislature: if DWR denies the rehearing, the county's next step could be an appeal to district court. He also said he would coordinate with highway and emergency-management staff to assemble supporting data and press for timely scheduling: "I will be following up with DWR to make sure that that's done in a timely manner so that they don't just leave us hanging out there for as long as they can manage."

Commissioners discussed parallel technical and nonlegal remedies, including potential subsurface drainage projects modeled after work in other counties.

Provenance: topicintro SEG 453; topfinish SEG 560.