1. Fund; established. The Agricultural Water Management and Irrigation Fund, referred to in this chapter as "the fund," is established as a nonlapsing fund in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources. The commissioner board

may accept money for the fund from any public or private source and make expenditures from the fund for the purpose of improving the use of irrigation in agriculture and the use of water resources in animal agriculture.

2. Administration. The commissioner board shall administer the fund.

3. Rulemaking. The commissioner board shall adopt rules to carry out the purposes of this section. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.

4. Report. The commissioner board shall submit an annual report on March 1st to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over agricultural matters. The report must include a summary of money available in the fund, the use of the fund and the status of agricultural irrigation in the State.

Sec. 3. 7 MRSA §352 is enacted to read:

§352.__Agricultural water management program

1.__Definitions.__As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.

A.__"Agricultural water use management plan" means a written document that outlines how farm water is stored, managed and used on the farm for which the plan is written.

B.__"Board" means the Maine Agricultural Water Management Board, established in Title__5, section 12004-G, subsection__ 3-D.

2.__Duties of the commissioner.__The commissioner shall implement a program to promote responsible development and use of farm water sources in accordance with this chapter.__The commissioner has the powers and duties as established in this section and shall oversee the board.