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resi e s of by Tom Ebnet The 2004 Legislative Session was a big disappointment with the session ending without any agreements on any of the major funding bills or a taxes bill. Unfortunately, our major initia- tives suffered the same fate. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program and the Flood Hazard Mitigation Program were not funded because of the legislature's failure to pass a capital investment bill. Numer- ous other items also fell by the way- side as a result of the work not being completed. We are unsure, like everyone else, if there will be a special session to pass this much needed legislation. All indicators are that the possibility of a special session gets more remote as each day passes since the end of the regular session. Another major disappointment during the session was the failure to deal with the impaired waters issue. While the establishment of the council was placed in the House and Senate Finance bills, even that small step forward was not passed. We have again been asked to spend time on the "G-16" group though this summer and fall to help keep a focus on this important issue. We will continue to work on this issue and hope for some breakthrough on along-term funding mechanism for the next session. Another issue that appears to be surfaci.*:g is opening of the drainage law. The Department of Natural Resources is making overtures that the drainage law should be "opened up" and changes made. They have suggested that a dialogue be estab- lished to work on this issue. We are working with the Association of Minnesota Counties and other groups to find out more about what changes they are seeking and how that would effect us as drainage authorities, the drainage ditches we have jurisdiction over, and the agri- cultural community. We'll keep you posted on this issue as it develops over the summer and fall, but rest assured we are following develop- ments very closely. On behalf of the MAWD Board I'd like to welcome Barb Haake, Kay Cook, and Bob Roach to the Board of Directors. One of the real strengths of MAWD has been the diversity and commitment of the Board. Clearly, these new board members bring those same strengths with them to the MAWD Board. I look forward to working with these new Board members in the future. The MAWD Annual Summer Tour is being hosted by the Buffalo-Red River Watershed District in North- 2004 M~~I) ~®~~a' ®f ~irecf®r~ i1~t~~ti~gs Jane; 24 3:00 Ma~~riot Ise n Moarh~ act September C(1 9:3t1 Ei~~li~la~~~ Inn ,~I,x~n<Iri<< December 2 3:00 :~\rrcm~l~~ir~~l ~11r~anciria Dec;etnber 4 [~TOOn ~rro~titivot~cl ~ i~ Kandria west Minnesota. Our headquarters hotel will be in Moorhead, and the theme for the Tour is "Mediation: Building Consensus -Achieving Goals". Buffalo-Red River Watershed District has a full and exciting agenda planned. We hope you can join us for this important program. See you on June 24th. Galen r Sttrnrner T®ur June 24-26 Buffalo-Red River Watershed District Anna~~l I~Iec;ting December 2-4 Drainage Seminar New Manager Workshop 2