11/30/2011 Env Bd Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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land uses, wetland replacement obligations, and resulting excessive cost and assessments to benefitted landowners compared to the benefits. RCWD Policy: Drainage system maintenance and wetland replacement activities can have both public and private benefits. Therefore the District will develop a funding system that considers both: 1) localized charges on lands contributing to the drainage system management costs or benefitting from the system; and 2) ad valorem levies on lands and taxpayers benefited at large by the District's management program. RCWD Policy: The district will identify the level of drainage system maintenance on which landowners can depend, which in some instances could be less than the as- constructed and subsequently improved condition. RCWD Policy: Manage public drainage systems in a manner that recognizes the need to provide a functional level of service to benefitted lands, within the context of local, state and federal laws and programs. RCWD Policy: Develop a hybrid legal framework that includes Minnesota Statutes103E, 103D, and 103B that balances the legal interests of the Wetland Conservation Act and the Public Waters law, along with other laws that have placed boundaries on drainage rights. RCWD Policy: The management of drainage systems and conservation programs within the legal authority of the District may involve impacts to landowners rights. In such cases it may be appropriate to explore the conservation benefits of drainage related activities and consider a system of reasonable and fair compensation for the drainage rights and other voluntary or incentive approaches. RCWD Policy: Recognize the landowner as the primary entity responsible for maintaining, managing, and operating private drainage systems and mitigating wetland impacts associated with private drainage. RCWD Policy: Minimize and address channel instability as a result of additional runoff due to land use changes, and promote ecological value as appropriate for the type of open channel. RCWD Policy: Maintain legal right of entry and access along pubic drainage systems and formally document easements along public drainage systems as part of drainage system legal proceedings and the permit review process. RCWD Policy: Inventory, manage, and provide access to public drainage system records to improve operational efficiency, make accessible common information to constituents and improve the basic understanding of public drainage systems. RCWD Policy: Use consistent terms and definitions when describing the maintenance, repair, improvement and general management of public and private drainage systems. In support of the orderly and consistent management of public drainage systems in the District, it is the policy of the District to utilize the following definitions, to facilitate understanding and describe the work to be completed within repair reports and the need for maintenance activities, various public drainage system proceedings, and routine operation and maintenance. City of Lino Lakes SWMP I October 2011 3