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14 Regulatory Element of the Drainage Management Program The advantages of the recommended Technical and Financial elements cannot be realized unless the entire drainage management program is packaged within effective regulation. Regulatory legislation that insures the consistent, equitable, and reasonable application of these program elements must be developed. The legislation must be carefully drafted to minimize legal uncertainties that might subject the regulatory program to interpretative court actions. The nature of the hydrologic problem suggests that the regulatory mechanism be invoked at the time that the land alteration is approved, and that the regulatory legislation be drafted to provide for a watershed management approach, This latter suggestion must be tempered with the prevalent socio-political climate, At the present time, the politically practical approach to drainage management is based on local control without any regional or state intervention. In this situation, the writers feel that the first suggestion is best accomplished by incorporating legislation for drainage management within local subdivision regulations. The division of land marks the beginning of the alteration of the land; the developer should at this stage, be required to internalize the drainage-related costs that his land alteration is creating, The writers also suggest a regulatory mechanism that would be appropriate under a more cooperative local/regional/state organization. The mechanism would provide for stronger regional and state control over land development. This approach would combine statewide exper- tise to the benefit of each local community, and would bring to fruition management of entire watersheds. It does, however, require considerable relinquishment of local control to regional or state governments. ,