There is growing interest among water resource managers to find an alternative means to assess for drainage system maintenance and repair costs. The Red River Watershed Management Board, the International Water Institute, and BWSR have been hard at work to develop a practical, transparent, science-based and cost-effective GIS application for use by drainage authorities to assess maintenance/repair costs for public drainage systems based on each parcel’s relative contribution of runoff and sediment to the system. They asked Smith Partners to assess the legal authority for this alternative approach and provide suggestions for legislation. The BWSR Drainage Work Group is continuing to work on these issues.