Watershed District

Watershed Management Plan

Minor Plan Amendment - 2008

Commissions Adopt Revised Rules and Standards

At their October 9, 2008 meetings the Shingle Creek and West Mississippi Watershed Management Commissions adopted a Minor Plan Amendment to their Second Generation Watershed Management Plan to adopt revisions to the development Rules and Standards.� Revisions of particular note:

� Areas that drain to Impaired Waters may be subject to more stringent site-specific standards than the Rule requirements.

� Specified event depths will be used in modeling for consistency.

� Required removal rates are specified for phosphorus (60%) and TSS (85%), achieved either through ponds or a combination of BMPs that achieve that removal.

� Allows water quality treatment to be provided regionally.

� Expands the infiltration requirement as an abstraction requirement of 0.5� from new impervious surface.

� Revises the drawdown time when infiltration is used from 72 hours of 48 hours.

� Where infiltration is not allowed or where it is infeasible due to soil type or conditions, the volume management requirement must be met by a combination of other abstraction BMPs and biofiltration, with filtration as the last resort option.

� Actual infiltration rates must be determined by a double-ring infiltrometer test or other approved on-site test and should be corrected using the appropriate correction factor from the MN Stormwater Manual.

� Stormwater must be pretreated prior to discharge into an infiltration area.

� Expands the infiltration prohibition to include areas containing contaminated soils or groundwater, and areas within the one-year time of travel zone in a wellhead protection area.

� Volume management can be provided regionally.

� Erosion control plans must meet NPDES Construction Permit requirements.

� Side slopes must be stabilized with native seed and a 10� upland buffer must be provided where possible.

The revised Rules and Standards are effective January 1, 2009.� Click here to view the summary document.

Major Plan Amendment Revises the Capital Improvement Program

At their September 11, 2008 meetings the Shingle Creek and West Mississippi Watershed Management Commissions adopted a Major Plan Amendment to their Second Generation Plan revising the Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The amendment revises the CIP to add the Crystal Twin Oak Pond project to the 2008 CIP, split the Wetland 639W project into two phases over two years (2008 and 2009), move the Shingle Creek Restoration CR 10 to I-694 project from 2009 to 2010, and move the Maple Grove Pond P55 project from 2009 to 2010.

Major Plan Amendment - 2007

The Commissions also adopted a major plan amendment to their Second Generation Watershed Management Plan on May 10, 2007.� The amendment adopted:

� a Water Quality Plan that includes specific water quality goals for the lakes, streams and wetlands in the watershed and a specific set of management actions to manage and improve those resources.

� a revised Capital Improvement Program, and

� a revised cost-share policy that provides that, if affected cities agree, 25% of the cost of qualifying capital projects would be funded by the county ad valorem tax levy across all property in the watershed, with the balance of project costs paid for by cities.

Background:

The Shingle Creek and West Mississippi Watershed Management Commissions adopted their Second Generation Management Plan in May 2004.

In the first generation plan, the Commissions established standards in eight management areas, including runoff management, floodplain management, shoreland management, water quality monitoring, erosion and sedimentation control, stormwater treatment, wetlands management and groundwater protection.

The thrust of the Second Generation Plan is to establish water resources priorities for the next ten years, identify goals, and determine how best to achieve those goals.� It has been broken down into its various sections here for your convenience.