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DEPARTMENT OF <br />NATURAL RESOURCES <br />STATE OF MINNESOTA <br />DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES <br />In the Matter of the Improper Inclusion ) FINDINGS OF FACT, <br />Of Certain Water Courses within PWI Maps) CONCLUSIONS AND ORDER <br />for 71 Counties ) REVISING PWI MAPS <br />FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS <br />A. The Public Waters Inventory Process <br />1. In 1979, the Minnesota Legislature directed the Commissioner of the Minnesota <br />Department of Natural Resources (DNR) make a preliminary designation of public waters and <br />wetlands for each county and deliver a copy of the preliminary public waters inventory (PWI) <br />list and PWI map to the county board for each county. 1979 Minn. Laws, ch. 199, § 7. <br />2. Within 90 days of receipt of the preliminary PWI list and PWI map for a county, <br />the county board had the opportunity to submit any recommended changes to the DNR. 1979 <br />Minn. Laws ch. 199, § 7. During this 90 -day period, county boards were directed to hold at <br />least one public informational meeting on the preliminary PWI list and PWI map developed for <br />the county. Id. <br />3. After reviewing any county board response to the preliminary PWI list and PWI <br />map, the DNR had the opportunity to make revisions. 1979 Minn. Laws. ch. 199, § 7. The <br />revised list and map were then filed with the county recorder and published in the official <br />county newspaper. Id. The published notice detailed an appeal process available to those <br />counties or citizens wishing to challenge the inclusion of a water basin, watercourse, or wetland <br />on the PWI list and PWI map. Id. <br />4. The PWI maps developed through this process "show the waters of this state <br />that are designated as public waters under the public waters inventory and classification <br />procedures prescribed" by the Legislature in 1979. See Minn. Stat. § 103G.201(a) (2016). <br />B. PWI Mapping Errors Are Identified During Development of Buffer Protection Map <br />5. In 2015, the Legislature directed the DNR to establish and maintain the buffer <br />protection map identifying water resources subject to buffer requirements under the state's <br />new buffer legislation. 2015 Minn. Laws. ch. 4, § 79 codified in Minn. Stat. § 103F.48 (2016). <br />6. . During the development and refinement of the buffer protection map in 2016 <br />and 2017, the DNR discovered that a subset of watercourses mapped on PWI maps as public <br />ditches, indicated by heavy dashed lines, were in fact not public ditches. The DNR verified <br />Minnesota Department of Natural Resources • Ecological and Water Resources <br />500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155 <br />