WATER WORRIES: Drain commissioner faces flood of challenges

Mar. 9—TRAVERSE CITY — Flooding is the most common and expensive natural disaster in America, accounting for two-thirds of the costs of all such disasters in the U.S., according the National Centers for Environmental Information.

No one takes that threat more seriously than Andy Smits, the drain commissioner for Grand Traverse County.

"The rapid development of our area is directly impacting our ability to channel water away from critical infrastructure that our community depends on," he said during a recent inspection along Miller Creek. "We can't afford to ignore this problem."

Smits is passionate about his work, even though many area residents don't understand what he does or why it matters.

At last week's meeting of the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners, board members seemed puzzled and sometimes exasperated when discussing the role of drain commissioner — an elected position mandated by state law.

In the end, they voted to keep his salary at the current level of $45,000, which they had temporarily increased in 2022 — up from $18,000 in earlier years. They also requested county legal counsel to look into options regarding the future of the drain commissioner's role.

Smits said he's used to the tension and acknowledges a sometimes rocky history between the board and his office going back long before he was elected.

"I ran for this office [in 2020] because I wanted to give back to the community using the special skills I have," he said. "I also wanted to change what had been going on in the [drain commissioner's] office, to fix what was broken through neglect and make it better for the long term.... For me, it's a marathon, not a sprint."

Raised in the Detroit area, Smits later earned an engineering degree, with a specialty in geology and hydrology, from Michigan Technological University in Marquette. He then spent 35 years working in the field as a project and consulting engineer.

Growth equals greater risk

The growth in this area is a key factor in the ongoing debate about the office of drain commissioner.

Grand Traverse County is the second-fastest growing county in Michigan, with a total population of 96,464 in 2022 — up from 64,273 in 1990, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

With each new building, each new parking lot or road, the surface "pervious factor" (permeability) in that area drops dramatically. That means stormwater doesn't percolate into the soil as before and may run off in dramatic — and destructive — ways.

To make matters worse, saturated soil near these developed areas can drive huge volumes of water downward with gravity, overwhelming older drains and culverts.

"Flooding can be a very traumatic event," said Stacy Hissong, general counsel for the Michigan Association of County Drain Commissioners. "When you're going down the street during a rainstorm, you probably don't think of the vast network of drains and underground pipes that channel that rain away from your property. But if your basement suddenly floods, the role of the drain commissioner is front and center."

Taxpayers have footed the bill for more than $850 billion in flood damage since 2000, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, adding that an urban flooding "event" has occurred every two to three days in America for the past 25 years.

And most of those events aren't tied to a hurricane or tornado.

A major flood along Cass Road in October 2023 cost more than $1.5 million to remediate. That flood closed roads, a railway and threatened major employers in the adjacent industrial park. Several local companies took action to prevent future damage.

Traverse City Cold Storage operates a 116,000-square-foot facility on Cass Road, making it the largest public refrigerated warehouse in northern Michigan. Following a 1986 flood, company leaders worked with county officials to create new water diversion methods, including a permanent culvert leading into Miller Creek.

Andy Thomas works at nearby Thomas & Milliken Millwork, which provides products for both the commercial and residential building market. Thomas said the potential for flooding damage is one reason why the 47-year-old company keeps its floor samples above ground level.

"We have a big investment in our showroom and we know that wood products and water don't get along," he said. "At the same time, this [Cass Road area] industrial park is one of the best for a company like ours because we can have a warehouse that's also close to the city and our customers."

Poor water management and soil erosion can lead to other unexpected problems. That was a factor in the closure of Bluff Road in Peninsula Township in 2020, along with high water levels on Lake Michigan at the time, Smits said.

Failed drainage can also lead to pools of standing water that become homes to mosquitoes carrying serious diseases, such as Jamestown Canyon virus and West Nile virus. "Outbreaks of WNV have been occurring every summer since 2002," according to the state office that studies emerging diseases.

The most common causes of drain failures are clogging (typically with plant matter), erosion and sedimentation. Contractors working for the drain commissioner often use tracked robots to enter culverts and measure their diameters for potential problems.

After a new or upgraded drain is completed, workers install "coir logs" made of coconut fiber surrounded by plastic netting to prevent soil erosion and segmentation.

However, many drains abut forested land and areas with thick vegetation, which is why regular inspections are so crucial, officials said.

Two area "at risk" drains are on Smits' radar as possible points of failure: One is a private drain that diverts water from Sam's Club, 2401 US-31, down the hill and under the nearby Harbor Freight store. Smits has contacted the corporate staff at Walmart, which owns Sam's Club, to discuss the risk.

"Nothing is known about the condition of that pipe," he said, adding that the drain commissioner has no jurisdiction over it, outside the contracted area on Walmart-owned property.

"If this pipe fails, it could not only precipitate a building collapse or failure, it would [also] cease to drain Sam's Club and that water would back up."

Another concern is the Deepwater Point drain where some flooding occurred about two years ago.

Smits said it wasn't caused by a drain failure, but did shed light on the "miserable state of maintenance and neglect" in that drain district. He is working with Whitewater Township and county officials to develop an action plan.

Myth and reality

The role of county drain commissioner is frequently misunderstood and often ignored in public discourse. Contrary to popular myth, the county drain commissioner has almost nothing to do with sewers, potable water mains or waste treatment plants.

Instead, the drain commissioner's job is to oversee the county's drains — those vital — but often overlooked — channels that divert stormwater and groundwater away from developed areas.

State law — the Michigan Drain Code of 1956 — empowers the county drain commissioner to create drainage districts and borrow money without a vote of the people. No other state official, not even the governor, has that power.

"About 75 percent of the calls I get are from landowners who want help addressing a water-related issue," Smits said. "Sometimes those calls are drainage-related, sometimes not. If I can't help them on a particular issue, I make sure they know who to call next."

Grand Traverse County currently has 13 "drainage districts" — legally established areas of land that are equipped with drains to move excess water into creeks, rivers or lakes. Five of them are county drains and seven are private drains that were requested via an individual contract with the drain commissioner's office.

Over time, the size of many of those local districts has grown dramatically because of development activity, requiring more drains, bigger culverts and more frequent maintenance.

In addition to inspecting, managing and maintaining drains (often with help from contractors), he is responsible for keeping historical, financial and easement records; requiring permits; responding to service requests; and scheduling maintenance. He also oversees dams that regulate water levels on Silver and Duck lakes.

Keeping up with that work is far more than a part-time job, Smits said.

Elected or appointed?

Drain commissioners are elected on a partisan ballot for a term of four years.

Smits, 65, was elected on the Republican ticket in 2020 and he recently filed for re-election in the August 2024 primary election. His predecessor, Steve Largent, did not seek re-election in 2020, and endorsed Smits for the office.

Much of the county's drain infrastructure has been neglected for the past 20 to 30 years, Smits said.

Even finding documentation from the past is a challenge, he said.

During his tenure, Smits has been an outspoken advocate for increasing the resources devoted to managing county drains: "I want to see this office set up for a healthy succession so that the next drain commissioner doesn't face the same issues."

Commissioners are also mulling Smits' request to use one of the decommissioned county vehicles in his job.

Currently, he rents a U-Haul van on some days to transport needed equipment to various drainage sites.

"Being drain commissioner in a growing area like ours is far more than a low-paid, part-time job," Smits said. "If you pay $18,000 a year, what kind of person are you going to get? What kind of work can you expect? On an hourly basis, McDonald's pays more than that."

In the early history of Michigan, draining wetlands for farming was a critical part of the state's economic development, said Hissong of the state association. As its importance grew, in 1897, the state Legislature abolished the post as a township government function and transferred it to county government.

The Michigan Drain Code of 1956 further codified the role, authorizing drain commissioners to assess the cost of drain work to landowners in the drainage district, among many other mandated duties.

Over the years, many officials have attempted to reform or even abolish the office of drain commissioner. Some counties changed the title to "water resources commissioner," while others eliminated the office and made it part of the county road commission.

Today, Michigan is one of the few states that elect drain commissioners, according to the Michigan State University Extension Services. Wayne County, with an appointed position, is the exception.

State law allows counties with fewer than 12,000 residents to make the post part of the county road commission, which Schoolcraft County did in 2012. But such a change would not seem feasible in Grand Traverse County, with its growing population of 96,464 in 2022.

Whatever the outcome of current county board considerations, rain will continue to fall and water will continue to flow across the landscape, sometimes with violent consequences.

Whether area drains will be up to the challenge is the question.