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Community involvement: Minnehaha Creek Watershed District

Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, which covers 181 square miles in the western and central metropolitan area, has been recognized for its environmental stewardship. In 2007 Legislative Auditor James Noble called the District “one of the best [watershed management organizations] in the state.”

In its 40-year history, the district has reduced pollution and total phosphorus in key areas, including Lake Minnetonka and the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes. However, the District’s latest management plan represents a significant departure from earlier decades, said District Administrator Eric Evenson.

“Our new standards are based on outcomes, rather than procedures,” he said, “and they treat stormwater as a resource, rather than a waste product.”

Management plan began with scientific studies

The District began the plan development process with scientific studies conducted by industry experts. As the studies obtained results, the district presented their findings, and worked with members of the local community to draft goals through its outreach meetings. The District held more than 100 meetings and got help from 70 local stakeholders to define specific goals for 62 sub-watersheds. The plan, released in draft form in October 2006, was announced through the media, on the district web site, by distribution of a colorful plan brochure, and through the District’s print and electronic newsletters. The District collected comments through its website and written letters, at meetings with local council members, staff and officials, and from more than 150 people who attended a series of four District-led public briefings.

Prior to final adoption of the plan, the District held two public hearings. Several of the concerns expressed prior to and during the public hearings were solved, said Evenson, with clarification or more specific language, and did not require changes to the District’s goals or strategies.

Richard Curry Smith, a Minneapolis resident and environmental anthropologist, endorsed the document. “The plan is ecologically sound,” he testified at the District’s January public hearing. “If people understand what (the plan) is trying to achieve they will support it.”

The District will develop new rules and regulations to carry out the plan through a 20-member representative committee, which will hold its first meeting in April. “Adopting this plan is not an end product, but a beginning,” said board member Pamela Blixt. “We will continue to address issues in a cooperative manner.”