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January 8, 2009
The Role of Nine Mile Creek Watershed District
Water Policy Study Committee member Wally Neal recently spoke with Kevin Bigalke, Administrator of the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District -- a special-purpose unit of government charged with protecting and managing water resources in the watershed (which is in the Edina area). Wally has written up Kevin's comments as a guest blogger.
Dealing with nonpoint source pollution is the basis of what they and other watershed districts are doing, and is the heart of their overall plan, Kevin said. The district monitors water quality in lakes and Nine Mile Creek, identifies pollutant sources including sediment, phosphorus, and chlorides, and addresses storm water discharges, etc.
About their regulatory role: Nine Mile and other watershed districts require permits on development projects. A city can opt to take on permitting themselves, but they must adopt the Watershed District's rules and incorporate them into the city's ordinances, and the district can ask to review a project if it has a concern. The regulatory role varies amongst watershed districts. He said some watershed districts completely turn over permitting authority to the cities in their district. Other watershed districts ask cities to submit development project plans for review and comment, relying on the cities to manage the permitting and expecting cities to cooperate in following the district's recommendations.
Kevin said this approach has had mixed results depending on the city. Without a regulatory program, watershed districts have little enforcement power and the cities do not have to follow the watershed district's comments and recommendations. For example, a city can insist on using the piping and ponding approach to stormwater management despite having very sandy soils, where a watershed district may be advocating infiltration. They city may consider the watershed district's comments, but can still proceed with the pipe and pond approach.
I asked him how they can be assured of future maintenance of completed projects: Where Nine Mile has built a stormwater treatment facility (storm pond, infiltration basin, etc.), they work with their respective cities and turn the maintenance over to the city and cost-share future maintenance. On private developments that include a retention pond, rain garden or other facility, Nine Mile's permit requires that a maintenance declaration be filed with Hennepin County and appear on the property's title. That requires an actual maintenance schedule outlining the process and requiring an annual inspection. If the maintenance is not done, the district or the city can do the maintenance and back-charge the cost to the owner. This permit requirement began under new rules adopted by the district last March.
The District also has a non-regulatory role, such as its ongoing education program. They advocate projects that citizens can take responsibility for, such as rain gardens and infiltrations on site. They conduct an annual tour of projects the district has built or funded. Nine Mile has an active Citizens Advisory Committee that, among other things, plans their summer citizen education series, including the tour.
Note: I apologize for leaving this off initially -- the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District includes most of the cities of Hopkins, Minnetonka, Edina, Eden Prairie, Bloomington and Richfield. -- Annie, 2/2/09
Posted by Annie Levenson-Falk at January 8, 2009 5:20 PM