Who We Are and What We Do

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 and the five cities with land in the West Mississippi watershed entered into Joint Powers Agreements to form WMOs that are governed by citizen Commissions with one representative from each city. Because many of the communities that are members of the Shingle Creek WMO are also members of the West Mississippi WMO, the Commissions often work jointly on issues of interest to both and have adopted similar standards.

By statute, the purposes of watershed planning are to:

• Improve water quality.
• Prevent flooding and erosion from surface flows.
• Promote groundwater recharge.
• Protect and enhance fish and wildlife habitat and water recreation facilities.
• Reduce, to the greatest practical extent, the public capital expenditures necessary to control excessive volumes and rate of runoff and to improve water quality.
• Secure other benefits associated with proper management of surface water.
  

To accomplish these purposes, the Commissions have developed a Watershed Management Plan, maintain standards for development and redevelopment projects, regularly monitor the water quality in lakes and streams, undertake diagnostic and planning studies, share in the cost of projects to improve our waters, and provide communication and outreach to residents, businesses, and other property owners in the watersheds.