Agenda - Council - 02/13/1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

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December Metro Loca/Waler Managemenf Task Forc¢- P, eporf i11. Findings & Recommendations A total of 10 meetings were held from Juh' 20 to December 15, 1989. Testimony was presented by the State Planning Agenc~,~ the Department of Natural Resources, the Pollution Cc;ntrol Agen%', the Associati0n of Metropolitan Municipalities, the Board of Water and Soil Resources, the Metropolitan Council, two joint powers watershed mona ement organizations, two metro watershed districts and the As- sociation of Soil~nd Water Conservation Districts. Two surveys were also conducted to gather data from local governments on some of the issues of concern. One was a ,a~'itten survey conducted by Mr. Gerald Butcher from the Association of Metro Municipalities of their 67 members. The second was a phone survey of the 46 metropolitan watershed management organiza- tions conducted by BWSR staff. The deliberations of the Task Force centered around this testimony, the results of the two surveys, and written input from the League of Women Voters, the Min- nesota Assomation of Watershed Districts and other interested persons. A brief summary of this testimony and comment is contained in section 'IV. - Summar7 of Testirnony% starting on page 17. The remainder of this section contains the findings and recommended actions of the Task Force for each of the eight legislative issues outlined in the previous sec- tion. ISSUE I How to accomplish constructive public participation in and local coordination of local water management. Findings for Issue 1: Metropolitan residents in general are not well-informed about local water management authorities and responsibilities. Most assume that their,, town, city, or county is doing, what is required in the v,a) of dealing v, ith drainage matters. Most are perplexed and angered when they are required to pay a special assessment for a water project. The majority are not aware of the watershed planning process, or the programs of soil and water conservation districts. Attempts by watershed districts to appoint and maintain active citizen advisory committees, as required by law, have generally not been successful. People usually are concerned about being heard only when p'roposed projects would affect their property. Rarely does an individual become actively invoh, ed at the local level in matters dealing with water management. It would be advaMageous for more information on local water management ".. activities to routinely reach the general pubIic. . ::.i::: .: : -