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Riparian Protection Aid

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This aid program is for counties and watershed districts to oversee the riparian protection and water quality practices required under statute. Each county’s aid amount is based on several factors, including its share of the total statewide:

class 2a agricultural acreage
centerline miles of public watercourses
miles of public drainage ditches

The Board of Water and Soil Resources and the Department of Natural Resources certify the data used to calculate the aid to the Department of Revenue.

How is the aid distributed?

Each county's share of the aid is distributed to the entity with jurisdiction over implementing the buffer law. This may be the county, watershed districts, or the state Board of Water and Soil Resources. The Department of Revenue will pay the counties and the Board of Water and Soil Resources. The counties will pay the watershed districts.

Enacted in 2015, Minnesota Statutes, section 103F.48, requires buffer land along all public waters and public drainage systems in the state. The Riparian Protection Aid in this section is to be used to enforce and implement these requirements.

For more information on Riparian Protection Aid, view the law (M.S 477A.21).