MCWD launches conservation partnership with Hennepin County

An investment in water quality

For more information contact: Michael Pressman, Minnehaha Creek Watershed District land conservation specialist, 952-471-0590 ext. 203.

Looking to jumpstart a water quality initiative already recognized as among the most proactive in the state, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) has entered into a $20 million partnership with Hennepin County that promises to pay dividends for decades to come.

On Tuesday November 28th, the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement that will allow MCWD to borrow up to $20 million over the next five to eight years to help the District purchase land or conservation agreements in priority areas around streams, lakes, and wetlands. The District will repay the money and any costs using its levy for its land conservation program, currently budgeted at $2 million annually.

“Our lakes and streams are some of the most attractive and popular features in the area, providing a huge contribution to the county’s quality of life,” said Hennepin County Commissioner Penny Steele.  “This partnership goes a long way towards assuring that these resources will continue to provide their benefits in the years to come, without any added cost to county taxpayers.”

Hennepin County Board of Commissioners Chair, Randy Johnson, noted that “we hope this partnership with the Watershed District will help stimulate ideas for opportunities to conserve critical natural resources in other parts of the County as well.”

Now in its third year, the District’s land conservation program aims to preserve water quality by protecting natural areas around streams, lakes, and wetlands. But with the area rapidly developing, many opportunities for conservation could be lost unless the District enhances its capacity to act quickly over the next five years. By partnering with the county to increase short-term funding capacity, the program also will head off rapidly escalating land prices.

“By working with the county to invest in water quality now, we’ll be able to have a much greater positive impact and save millions of dollars over the long term,” said District land conservation specialist Michael Pressman. “This is an entrepreneurial approach to water quality - one that maximizes benefits and minimizes costs.”

Studies by District consultants show that by protecting riparian areas before they’re developed, water quality goals can be achieved with a savings of 25-50 percent over traditional detention ponds and other end-of-pipe stormwater treatment methods. That’s because open vegetated lands absorb rain water, filtering out pollutants and replenishing aquifers from which drinking water is drawn. As an area develops, more and more of the landscape gets covered by pavement and other impervious surfaces, causing stormwater to run off rapidly, picking up pollutants, eroding soil and causing downstream flooding. By strategically protecting land in critical drainage areas, the District can take advantage of nature’s free water quality services, lessening pollution, erosion and flooding, while also reducing the need for costly stormwater infrastructure.

So far the District has launched five such land conservation projects at a net cost of about $1.4 million and by leveraging more than $6 million in other funds. The program relies primarily on the purchase of conservation easements from willing sellers in key natural resource areas. Conservation easements protect the natural resources on a property while keeping it in private ownership and on the tax rolls.

Since its formation in 1967, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District has led the region in cutting edge research and technical expertise in water resource management. The district protects, improves and manages water resources, runoff and related natural resources for 129 lakes, eight major creeks and thousands of wetlands located within the 181 square mile watershed of Minnehaha Creek and Lake Minnetonka, in partnership with 29 communities, other agencies and concerned citizens.