5 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Minnehaha County, South Dakota.
Verified from official government sources
Minnehaha County regulates stormwater runoff from construction and development in unincorporated areas through its Subdivision Regulations and through the Minnehaha County / City of Sioux Falls Drainage Basin design standards. Construction sites disturbing one acre or more must obtain a South Dakota General Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Activity from the SD Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) and file a Notice of Intent (NOI) under the federal Clean Water Act NPDES program (40 CFR 122.26).
Erosion and sediment control on construction sites in unincorporated Minnehaha County is enforced primarily through the SD General Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Activity (administered by SD DANR) for projects disturbing one acre or more, and through Minnehaha County Subdivision Regulations and Floodplain Ordinance for plat-level grading and channel work. Best management practices (silt fence, inlet protection, stabilized construction entrances, prompt seeding) are required under any SWPPP.
Coastal development regulations do not apply in Minnehaha County. South Dakota is an inland state with no ocean or Great Lakes shoreline and is not covered by the federal Coastal Zone Management Act (16 USC 1451 et seq.). Riverine shoreline development along the Big Sioux River, Skunk Creek, and Split Rock Creek is governed by FEMA floodplain rules (Zone A/AE) and SD DANR water rights — not coastal-zone regulation.
Minnehaha County participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and enforces a Floodplain Management Ordinance for unincorporated areas, requiring floodplain development permits for any construction, fill, or substantial improvement within Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) shown on FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). The Big Sioux River, Skunk Creek, and Split Rock Creek are the principal mapped flooding sources. CID 460059.
Grading and drainage work in unincorporated Minnehaha County is regulated through the County Zoning Ordinance, County Subdivision Regulations (SDCL Chapter 11-3), and the Floodplain Management Ordinance. Major earthwork in a subdivision or within a Special Flood Hazard Area requires a permit; routine agricultural land leveling is generally exempt. Drainage cannot be altered to increase off-site flow onto neighboring property under SD common-law civil-law rule.
1 cities in Minnehaha County have their own environmental rules rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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