May a ditch authority accept a private wastewater discharge into a ditch system, and may it charge a volume-based fee to do so? Agra Resources Coop v. Freeborn County Board of Commissioners, 682 N.W.2d 681 (Minn. App. 2004). Agra Resources Coop, a producer of ethanol from corn, challenged the power of Freeborn County, as the ditch authority, to charge a per-gallon fee for the right to discharge non-contact cooling water through a private drain tile to a public ditch. The county responded by questioning its own authority to accept private wastewater into the county ditch system. The Court of Appeals found precedent to support acceptance of private wastewater into a public ditch system, while noting the County’s responsibility to consider possible environmental impacts. The Court also found that a ditch authority has the implied power to impose a volume-based outlet fee if it can show that the fee corresponds to actual benefits, and upheld the County’s fee determination as carefully done.
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