N.D. Admin. Code 89-01-01-01
The office of the state engineer was established in 1905. As initially created, the state engineer had many responsibilities, including as an ex-officio state coal mine inspector, as well as the chief engineer and secretary for the newly created highway commission. Eventually the state engineer's focus shifted to water-oriented responsibilities.
The water commission was created as a separate state agency in 1937, as an emergency measure during the prolonged drought. The law originally provided the state engineer was the commission's chief technical adviser, but that such responsibilities would be in addition to the engineer's regular duties as state engineer. In 1941, the law was amended to provide the state engineer would be the commission's secretary and chief engineer.
From 1937 through approximately 1977, the legislative assembly often vested either the water commission or state engineer with particular authority regarding water-related issues without any expressed reason or clear consistency. This commingling of regulatory authority created confusion, and likely led to the convention of referring to both the water commission and the office of the state engineer collectively as the commission. Finally in 1981, the legislative assembly passed a bill amending several sections and chapters of law to clarify the intent that:
[w]henever the term "water conservation commission", "water commission", or "commission", or any derivative of those terms, which when used in context, indicates an intention to refer to that commission regarding [regulatory duties, those terms] shall be construed as granting full administrative and enforcement authority to the state engineer.
1981 N.D. Sess. Laws ch. 365 § 6. As such, the office of state engineer, rather than the water commission, was the agency charged with enforcing most water-related regulations.
In August 2021, House Bill No. 1353 of the sixty-seventh legislative assembly replaced the office of the state engineer with the department of water resources, which is led by a director. The department's primary functions are to promote statewide water management policies, enforce water-related regulations, and provide staff and engineering services for commission initiatives.
N.D. Admin Code 89-01-01-01
General Authority: NDCC 61-02-11, 61-03-13
Law Implemented: NDCC 61-02-11, 61-03-13