Draft 509 Plan

MCWD's Final Comprehensive Management Plan

2007-2017 MCWD Plan Completed

Following a public hearing on July 5, 2007, the MCWD Board of Managers approved the the final version of the MCWD Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan. This constitutes the final approval in the overall planning process. The MCWD Plan will serve as the guiding document for the organization for the period covering 2007-2017. Click here to view the draft minutes from the public hearing

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The Plan: What's New
Download a Chapter or the Entire Plan

The Plan: What's New

The 2006 Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan was based on an extensive scientific study and stakeholder input. It steps away from a 'one size fits all' regulatory approach to a performance management structure, and recognizes that different water bodies require different levels of protection. The new management structure increases flexibility for the District's 29 partner cities and townships.

Click here to view and download a fact sheet about the 2006 Plan

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Addressing Impacts from Development and Redevelopment
District Established TMDLs
New Focus on Outcomes
Most Valuable is Most Conserved
District As a Partner: Projects Address Multiple Priorities
Public Process May Lead to Revised Rules
Participation, Partnership Key to Plan Success

Download a Chapter or the Entire Plan

The Plan includes twelve chapters, or subwatershed plans, available for viewing or download. Final versions, updated 8/22/07.

Cover, Water Resources Management Plan

The Plan: What's New, Continued

Addressing Impacts from Development and Redevelopment

he Metropolitan Council forecasts that the population within District boundaries will more than double between 2000 and 2030, increasing from 300,000 to 678,000 people.

The Plan addresses impacts from development and redevelopment of lands within the District. It lays out a strategy to:

Maintain and improve the quality of ground and surface waters
Use Low Impact Development Techniques to limit impervious surfaces and minimize effects of development and redevelopment
Conserve and restore natural systems and habitat
Identify and implement best management practices such as more frequent sweeping of city streets and installation of community rain gardens

District Established TMDLs

The Plan reflects MCWD’s science-based approach to water management and its work with state and federal governments to refine water quality goals.

Federal requirements mandate that local governments address waters identified by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as impaired through Total Daily Maximum Load (TMDL) studies and plans. The MCWD is taking a leadership role in addressing this issue through its Plan, which lays out a watershed-wide framework for addressing lake and stream impairments. The District will complement local efforts with its own capital improvements, as well as regulatory changes to prevent further degradation.

By defining pollutant-reduction strategies and implementing monitoring programs for impaired lakes, the Plan assures consistent practices among communities that share receiving waters, and it reduces associated costs for individual communities.

The plan seeks to reduce regulatory burdens by integrating local plans with communities’ Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans, helping local governments meet National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requirements.

New Focus on Outcomes

In its 2006 Plan, MCWD moves from a traditional stormwater management approach, which stressed detention and conveyance facilities, to comprehensive watershed management. This method adds innovative techniques that treat stormwater as a resource instead of a waste product.

Based on current research and practices, the Plan encourages infiltration, plant uptake of stormwater, and other techniques to reduce downstream pollutant loading, erosion and flooding. One proposal, subject to public review and Board approval, would treat the first inch of every rainfall on site, managing 70 percent of local precipitation runoff. The resulting increased infiltration would support existing aquifers, wetlands and streams.

Most Valuable is Most Conserved

The Plan ties wetland regulation to wetland function, and suggests additional safeguards for those that function best. The Plan also encourages incentives for conserving undisturbed native vegetation and habitats.

District As a Partner: Projects Address Multiple Priorities

Subject to biannual review by Hennepin and Carver Counties, the Plan includes MCWD’s 10-year capital improvement program. High-priority projects serve multiple objectives and help local communities achieve pollution reduction goals. They include:

Conservation and restoration of high quality wetlands and habitat areas
Stabilization of eroded stream banks
Infiltration, detention and pretreatment facilities
District-funded surveys, studies and conservation strategies

Public Process May Lead to Revised Rules

The Plan sets the stage for MCWD’s Board of Managers to consider and adopt future rule revisions. Rule revisions will go through an additional public review process after the Plan is approved and may incorporate the following concepts:

Vegetation surveys and stormwater management plans (removing remove the first inch of rainfall at the site) prior to preliminary plat submission
Natural Resource Inventories and Conservation Plans, conserving undisturbed, minimally disturbed, or high-restoration-potential areas wherever possible
Wetland values and functions assessments related to proposed wetland impacts, with mitigation for fill-in areas and preservation of high-function wetlands
Analysis and review of groundwater impacts where potential degradation might occur from connecting surface waters
Steps to minimize erosion and sediment impacts, such as maintaining stream corridors, preserving existing trees, and minimizing steep slopes, cuts and fills.

Participation, Partnership Key to Plan Success

Through its 2006 Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District continues its efforts to inform, involve and educate the public in conserving the waters and wetlands within its boundaries. The plan increases District emphasis on cooperation with local officials and communities and offers tools to help avoid degrading the natural resources so important to the quality of life for people who use Lake Minnetonka, Minnehaha Creek, the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes, and the other waters in the District.