The Mankato Free Press

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency

Some counties and farmers want the state to delay implementing the buffer law that requires a vegetative strip along most farm drainage ditches and all streams, rivers and lakes.

They say there is too much confusion and questions about details of the law, according to a story by Minnesota Public Radio.

There are tasks that need to be completed by the state, particularly additional funding for counties to oversee the program. But there is no need to delay the important water protection law’s implementation.

The law is not new and many details have been widely available for a long time. Gov. Mark Dayton proposed the law nearly two years ago, it was heavily debated and widely discussed and signed into law in June of 2015.

Many buffer strips have already been put in or work has started on them. Farmers have until November of this year to be in compliance.

Counties were slated to get $10 million in the tax bill so they could oversee and ensure compliance of the buffers in their counties. That tax bill wasn’t signed into law, however, and some counties say they don’t want to be responsible for local enforcement if they don’t have the funding. But the funding was agreed to in both parties and by the governor and there’s not reason to believe the Legislature won’t come through with the money.

Some want to continue debating the law that has already been debated and passed. They argue the state is “taking” land and farmers need to be better compensated for it.

But farmers can enroll the land that will be used for buffers into the federal Conservation Reserve Program, which pays them an annual fee for putting the land in perennial vegetation.

And the law does not constitute the legal definition of taking or eminent domain in which land is taken by the government for public use, such as building a highway. The buffers remain the property of the landowners and no one can set foot on them without permission. The landowners can get annual compensation by enrolling the land in conservation programs.

Indeed, landowners are restricted in how they can use the buffer strip land, but that is a common and necessary action of government for the public good. It’s the same type of restriction as is put on all property owners who are prevented from building a certain distance from lot lines (setbacks). And it’s similar to sidewalks and boulevards in front of homes and businesses that landowners must mow, shovel and maintain, even though the strip is a public right-of-way anyone can walk on.

Another issue is the lack of details explaining what “alternative water quality practices” farmers are allowed to use if they don’t want to install a buffer. Some counties say they haven’t gotten enough information on what those alternatives are. The state needs to get more information out and says it will have a list of examples for farmers by this spring.

Like many large programs, there are complications and some details of the buffer law that need to be ironed out. The state needs to provide the funding to counties and to give farmers better details on alternative practices. But there isn’t any reason to delay implementation of the law beyond the end of this year.