12-08-1982 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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RAMSEY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT Town and Country Bank Building 1827 North St. Paul Road Maplewood, MN 55109 SURFACE WATER MANAGEMENT IN RAMSEY COUNTY OUTSIDE THE EXISTING WATERSHED DISTRICTS Need for Joint Powers Agreement The sentiment of the Board of Supervisors of the Ramsey Soil and Water Conservation District is that the formation of one or more Joint Powers Water Management Organizations can be a successful means of managing surface waters in Ramsey County. The success of the Joint Powers Water Management Organizations in Hennepin County, such as the Elm Creek Conservation Commission, has shown that this system of management is an appropriate one. Communities involved in such a Joint Powers Agreement, working in concert with neighboring units of government, have the freedom to decide and act in the best interests of the waters, soils and citizens. They can often use local planning and land use restrictions, to protect the local waters effectively, rather than relying on costly land altera- tions and building alternatives. In doing so they can use their own staff and facilities, and information and expertise from existing public agencies such as the Soil and Water Conservation District. Thus the establishment of a Joint Powers Water Management Organization not only can cost less than the other alternatives, but can provide a management tool easy to live with. Number of Water Management Organizations Needed. The number of future Water Management Organizations is in question at present, but it should be noted that the Ramsey Soil and Water Conservation District can and will work effectively with any number of Water Management Organizations (WMOs) that evolve. It appears that a strict interpretation of Chapter 509 would allow for only one WMO in the region in question, because the law defines "watershed" as including two or more units of government; and defines "Minor Watershed Unit" through reference to the Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources' map which at present allows for one single new unit, and places part of the territory in the Ramsey Washington Metro Watershed District drainage area.* After study of the hydrology in the region, the RSWCD Board of Supervisors believes that it would be most appropriate to divide the region in question into two Water Management Organizations - a Vadnais -Grass WMO and a Trout Mississippi WMO. It is the District's hope that we can-provide information to the Minnesota DNR that will allow for the revision of the Minor Watershed Map, so that the region can be divided into two WMOs, to follow the present hydrology; which is toward Vadnais Lake and Grass Lake in the north, and toward the ibrmer bed of Trout Brook and other small tributaries of the Mississippi River in the south. If this is accomplished successfully, the two proposed WMOs would be as shown on the enclosed map and parts of the following units of government would be * Subdivision 7: " 'Watershed' means a drainage area having boundaries which are substantially coterminous with those of an aggregation of contiguous minor water shed units possessing similar drainage patterns and which cross the borders of two or more local government units." Subd. 5: " 'Minor Watershed' means the drainage areas identified and delineated as such pursuant to Laws 1977, Chapter 455, Section 33, Subdivision & (a) " —i.e., Minn. DNR's, Minor Watershed Map. /1