Department of water resources organization and functions

1. The department is headed by the director, who is a member of the governor's cabinet. The director provides overall leadership and decisionmaking, has hiring responsibilities, and oversees the department staff. The director also acts as a liaison between the department and the legislative and executive branches of state government, as well as a liaison between the governor and the federal government on water-related issues. 2. The state engineer, under North Dakota Century Code section 61-03-01.3, is responsible for associated technical duties related to public safety and property protection, including dam safety, water appropriations, and construction and drainage permits. 3. a. The department consists of several divisions. Some of the divisions are responsible for providing staff support to the commission functions, including management of the cost- share assistance program; maintaining a water project inventory and water development plan; representing the commission on regional, national, and international natural resources planning bodies; assisting water resource boards; preparing engineering and feasibility reports and designs for construction, maintenance, and major repair of water resources projects throughout the state; and general accounting, budgeting, information technology, and support services. b. Other divisions are responsible for assisting and advising the director and the state engineer in state law, administrative rule, and policy enforcement. The responsibilities of these regulatory enforcement divisions include reviewing and making recommendations on permit applications for drains, dikes, dams, and sovereign lands; administering the state's dam safety program; assisting communities with floodplain management; conducting navigability determinations and ordinary high water mark delineations; conducting analysis and providing recommended decisions on water permit applications; monitoring and balancing water use and availability throughout the state; enforcing the water permitting system; licensing water well contractors, water well pump and pitless unit installers, monitoring well contractors, and geothermal system drillers; developing and maintaining permit records; licensing weather modification contractors; permitting cloud seeding operations and research activities; conducting research into atmospheric research and cloud seeding technology; and monitoring, collecting, and disseminating precipitation and climate data.