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History

In 1982 the Minnesota Legislature adopted the Metropolitan Surface Water Management Act mandating that all watersheds within the seven county area be governed by a watershed management organization (WMO).  The nine cities with land in the Shingle Creek watershed (Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Maple Grove, Minneapolis, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth and Robbinsdale) and the five cities with land in the West Mississippi watershed (Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Champlin, Maple Grove, and Osseo), entered into Joint Powers Agreements (JPA) to form watershed management organizations charged with certain surface and groundwater management functions.  In 2006 the member cities adopted an amendment to the JPA that set an “assessment cap” for general fund purposes. 

The surface and groundwater management functions include:


  •       Alleviating damage from flood waters by requiring construction of facilities to drain or pond stormwaters
  •       Improving creek channels for drainage
  •       Assisting in planning for land use
  •       Assisting in water conservation, abatement of water pollution, and improvement of water quality
  •       Promoting groundwater recharge; and
  •       Protecting and enhancing fish and wildlife habitat and water recreational facilities

Although the Commissions were formally established as WMOs under the basis of Joint Powers Agreements in 1984, the roots of these organizations go back to the early 1970's when seven communities organized to jointly sponsor and fund the development of the 1974 Shingle Creek Basin Management Plan. 


The Barr Study was developed largely in response to the USGS study of the metro area for the National Flood Insurance Program.  The cities believed parts of the USGS study establishing 100 and 500-year flood elevations were in error and did not fully take into account local conditions such as the anticipated fully developed condition.  They decided a joint management study should be undertaken to more fully understand the nature of the watershed and its hydrology.  The study recognized that future development in what were then largely undeveloped upstream communities such as Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove, and Plymouth, would have a dramatic impact on flood elevations in downstream, developed communities such as Brooklyn Center, Crystal, Minneapolis, New Hope, Osseo, and Robbinsdale.


After the Barr Study was completed and issues with the Flood Insurance Program resolved, the communities struggled with the next step.  They were interested in jointly managing the watershed through the application of common standards and in monitoring the entire watershed to assure the preservation of water quality and to reduce flooding potential.


In the late 1970s Minnesota Statutes authorized communities to establish watershed management organizations by creating either a watershed district or a joint powers commission.  Each of these types of organizations has its strengths and weaknesses.  After extensive discussions, in 1979 the cities decided to form joint powers commissions for the following reasons:


  •       The cities were very clear they did not wish to create “another layer of government” or, more importantly, another taxing body.

  •       The cities desired to create a planning group that would develop the expertise to design and adopt water resource policies.  They preferred that cities carry out the implementation of the overall watershed plan in accordance with uniform standards agreed to by all the cities.
  •       The cities were concerned that with a District, they would lose local representation and local control over issues often of great importance to their residents.

The joint powers type of organization was selected, in summary, because the cities believed it provided the best balance for the establishment of watershed-wide policies and strategies for meeting watershed management requirements while at the same time retaining the most flexibility and local input at the lowest cost.


When the Minnesota Legislature mandated watershed governance the specific organizational charges, financing, and governance of the Shingle Creek and West Mississippi watershed management organizations were debated and joint powers agreements approved.  The Barr Study had identified not only management strategies but also capital improvements, some of which the local communities had already implemented.  The Commission selected the engineering firm of Hickok & Associates to update the Barr Study and to expand it to meet the new requirements.  The Commissions’ Water Management Plans were completed in 1988.