MDARD Reports Technical Issues with Agricultural Water Use Reporting System

Valley irrigation. Photo provided

Winter is normally a good time to complete the many filings and reports farmers need to complete as part of running an agricultural business. However, this winter one of those reports is causing technical issues for farmers — the State of Michigan’s agricultural water use reporting system.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is working on solutions, but in the meantime has shared some steps to assist agricultural water users while the problems continue, according to Michigan Farm Bureau Agricultural Ecology Department Manager, Laura Campbell.

“Any farmer or agricultural operator with the capacity to withdraw more than 100,000 gallons of water per day (approximately 70 gallons per minute) – including for seasonal irrigation – is required to report their use each year by April 1,” Campbell explained.

The annual reporting system, formerly submitted by mail, moved online in 2015, according to Campbell. While reporting water use for 2020, many farmers are reporting issues with accessing their log-in information.

“The MILogin system, used to access account information, is locking out or disabling some users’ accounts when they reset their passwords, which the system requires annually,” Campbell added. “New protocols for email and phone number validation are also causing some problems for farmers.”

The MILogin system additionally does not allow multiple accounts to be attached to the same email address, so it may prevent farmers from logging in if they have more than one account. If you are trying to report your water use and are experiencing trouble, MDARD staff suggest the following:

  • If you are having trouble logging in, resetting your password, or if you are getting error messages because you have multiple accounts going to the same email, you can call the State of Michigan’s technology Customer Service Center at 1-800-968-2644, and select the Password Reset option. You will need your MILogin user ID.
  • If you do not know your MILogin user ID, or you are unable to resolve the issues with the Customer Service Center, you can contact Abby Eaton at MDARD, at eatona@michigan.gov or 517-284-5612 to retrieve your ID or to request a paper water use reporting form be mailed to you.

MDARD will continue to work on solutions to this problem with the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget to reduce problems users are having. In the meantime, MDARD has advised that even if farmers can’t get their reports completed by April 1 due to these technical issues, they should still submit them as soon as they can.

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