Agenda - Planning Commission - 12/01/2011 - Work Session

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11A Metropolitan Council AA Regional Benchmarks Measuring Our Progress 2011 Update 4. Environment • Water Quality Goal: The quality of the water leaving the metro area is as good as the water's quality entering the metro area and in compliance with federal and state regulations. Baseline and Targets 2000 Baseline Input (in tons per year) 2000 Baseline Output (in tons per year) 2000 Baseline Difference (in tons per year) 2030 Target Total Phosphorus Total Nitrogen 4,380 80,800 1,320,000 3,840 80,900 956,000 -540 (-12 percent) 100 (0 percent)-364,000 (-28 percent) Total Suspended Solids Output is no more than in 2000 and output -input difference is held to 0. Due to the Twin Cities' location at the northern end of the Mississippi River, Metropolitan Council wastewater treatment plants must meet stringent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) operating standards. The Council's treatment plants continue to have a near -perfect compliance record, while maintaining rates that are lower than the average for similar -sized sanitary districts. Total Phosphorus Wastewater treatment 5 - A 19.3% 20 plants in the region and regulations on industrial 4 - wastewater are succeeding at removing pollution from 3 - the wastewater stream. However, water quality is - also affected by nonpoint 2 pollution sources (both urban and agricultural) and -123% year-to-year climate variations. The indicators for phosphorus, nitrogen, and suspended solids are determined by taking the sum of the loads from the Minnesota River at Jordan, the Rum River in Anoka, the Mississippi River in Anoka, and the St. Croix River in Stillwater, and comparing them to the load at the Mississippi River near Red Wing. Optimally, the difference between the output and input mass would be zero or less. However, there is a statistical uncertainty of about ±10 percent on both the input and output mass, and pollutant loading varies from year to year. Use of a 10-year median as an indicator helps to minimize, though not eliminate, variability from annual climate differences and other natural sources. 1- 0 ti �cq V M co. co. CO CO CO CO co -. N M co.M N M co. co. N N 6/c. (O V N N -0.4% A V V N N -11.0% N N 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 - 15 10 5 0 -5 -10 -15 Input Output Target Load L, % Difference 14