Counties vs. DNR

OHWM Legislation

A bill by State Representative Dan Meyer (R-Eagle River) to convey to individual counties the final authority to make ordinary high water mark (OHWM) determinations is headed to a public hearing in Madison.

The Assembly Natural Resources Committee hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 26, 10 a.m. The session is slated for the Capitol in Room 417-N. Under the proposal, in the event of a dispute over an OHWM location between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and local zoning officials, the county's position would prevail.

…The bill has also garnered the support of the Wisconsin Realtors Association (WRA). Meyer has said he is simply trying to put into law what the Attorney General's office has already indicated is the prevailing law of the land. "This initiative simply clarifies existing state law to make sure there is no confusion on the part of the DNR when it comes to whose decision will prevail in OHWM determinations," he said when introducing the bill. Meyer's legislation would presumably limit the DNR's future authority to set the OHWM for state permits.

…"If the OHWM of a property changes, the amount and value of the land owned by the property owner also changes," Larson wrote in Wisconsin Real Estate Magazine last April. "For example, if a property owner has a deed indicating that he owns 40 acres of land along a lake, moving the OHWM five feet inland from where it is believed to be located can effectively convert a sizable amount of land (e.g., three to five acres) from private property to lakebed which is owned by the state." In addition, a change in the OHWM could transform homes into non-conforming structures, and could impact local governments by shrinking the tax base.