13 local government units each will decide whether to adopt document
Preston, MN – Better water management in the Root River Watershed is moving forward. On Monday, December 19, the Policy Committee of the Root River One Watershed, One Plan (1W1P) voted unanimously to approve the final draft of the water management plan at a meeting in Chatfield.
Root River 1W1P’s planning document now will go to 13 local government units’ (LGUs) boards for approval. Policy committee members anticipate that their local boards will adopt the Root River 1W1P plan and a joint powers agreement designed continue the working relationship among the 13 LGUs without adding another layer of government. The committee also heard from the local water management staff on the planning work group about tentative implementation plans for 2017.
Root River 1W1P’s LGUs include Dodge, Fillmore, Mower, Olmsted, Houston and Winona counties along with their respective Soil & Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs), with Root River SWCD representing Houston County. Crooked Creek Watershed District in Houston County also is among them.
Root River 1W1P’s planning area covers more than 1.3 million acres in parts of six counties – Dodge, Fillmore, Houston, Mower, Olmsted and Winona – and includes the Root River Watershed; Minnesota’s portion of the Upper Iowa River Watershed; and Houston County’s Mississippi-Reno Watershed.
Starting as a drainage ditch in eastern Mower County, the Root River flows eastward through much geologic diversity, including glacial till, karst topography and bluff land. In Fillmore County, the Root River disappears underground near Forestville State Park before resurfacing near Preston and eventually emptying into the Mississippi River near Hokah in Houston County.
In September, the Policy Committee – which has consisted of elected representatives from each of those local government units – hosted two public hearings on the draft plan in Stewartville and Caledonia. The plan then went out to five state agencies for final review and recommendation for approval. Presentations about the plan were made in November to BWSR’s Southern Regional Committee and the state’s Clean Water Council.
On Dec. 14, Fillmore SWCD’s Donna Rasmussen and Jennifer Ronnenberg presented the final Root River 1W1P document to the full board of the Minnesota Board of Water & Soil Resources (BWSR). The Root River 1W1P was the first of the pilot projects approved by the BWSR Board on December 14 along with the Yellow Medicine River 1W1P.
Root River 1W1P officials agreed to quarterly meetings for the Policy Committee, with the first tentatively set for March 20. The Planning Work Group expects to meet quarterly; the Technical Advisory Committee will meet yearly. Each committee could meet more frequently when necessary. Annual work plans and budgets will be developed by the committees with approval by the Policy Committee. The plan will get a five-year evaluation and 10-year revision.
One of five 1W1P pilot projects in Minnesota, Root River 1W1P has involved planning partners representing a broad range of stakeholders, including local governments, state agencies, community members and organizations. Fillmore SWCD has led the 1W1P process and hosted most meetings in Preston. Winona SWCD has been the fiscal agent.
BWSR has led the statewide 1W1P program aiming to reduce Minnesota’s more than 200 water-management plans based on political boundaries to less than 100 plans created on watershed boundaries. Watershed-based plans have the potential to allow for streamlined funding and administration to maximize efficiency, minimize redundancy and prevent duplication of efforts both on the local and state levels.
The Root River 1W1P planning document – along with other related materials, such as meeting minutes – is available on Fillmore SWCD’s website at: www.fillmoreswcd.org/rootRiverWatershed.html.
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