01-08-2025 Workshop Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MA-13 INFLOW AND INFILTRATION (I/I) •The protection of natural resources is significant to a multi-county area that is home to more than 50 percent of the state’s population and a travel destination for many more. Given the limited availability of resources and the artificial nature of the metropolitan area’s borders, and the numerous entities that are involved in protecting the natural resources of the region and state, neither the region nor individual metropolitan communities would be well served by assuming primary responsibility for financing and protecting these resources; •The completion of local Natural Resource Inventories and Assessments (NRI/A) is not a regional system nor is it a required component of local comprehensive plans under the Metropolitan Land Use Planning Act; •The protection of natural resources should be balanced with the need to accommodate growth and development, reinvest in established communities, encourage more affordable housing and provide transportation and transit connections; and •Decisions about the zoning or land use designations, either within or outside a public park, nature preserve, or other protected area are, and should remain, the responsibility of local units of government. The Metropolitan Council’s role with respect to climate change, as identified in the 2040 regional development guide, should be focused on the stewardship of its internal operations (wastewater, transit) and working collaboratively with local governments to provide information, best practices, technical assistance and incentives around responses to climate change. Metro Cities urges the Legislature and the Metropolitan Council to provide financial assistance for the preservation of regionally significant natural resources. The Metropolitan Council has identified a majority of sewered communities in the metropolitan region to be contributing excessive inflow and infiltration (I/I) into the regional wastewater system or to be on the threshold of contributing excessive inflow and infiltration. Inflow and infiltration are terms for the ways that clear water (ground and storm) makes its way into sanitary sewer pipes and gets treated, unnecessarily, at regional wastewater plants. The number of identified communities is subject to change, depending on rain events, and any city in the metropolitan area can be affected. The Metropolitan Council establishes a surcharge on cities determined to be contributing unacceptable amounts of I/I into the wastewater system. The charge is waived when cities meet certain parameters through local mitigation efforts. Metro Cities recognizes the importance of controlling I/I because of its potential environmental and public health impacts, because it affects the size, and therefore 69