Governor Dennis Daugaard is calling a special legislative session to consider recreational use of non-meandered bodies of water over private property.
The legislature will convene on Monday.
The governor says he made the call for a session after talking with legislative leaders from both political parties.
At issue is a decades long dispute over landowner rights and public access to water, which is held in public trust. In the early 1990’s, several lakes formed in northeastern South Dakota following a winter of heavy snowfall and spring rains.
South Dakota Game Fish and Parks removed access to all non-meandered lakes following a recent South Dakota Supreme Court decision. The proposed legislation re-opens those non-meandered bodies of water pending landowner approval.
20-11 is the last time a special session was called.