Agenda - Public Works Committee - 03/31/2015

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Updated Surface Water Management Plan (SWMP) City of Ramsey, Minnesota D. Total Maximum Daily Loads and Impaired Waters The 1987 amendment to the Federal Clean Water Act required all impaired waters to be corrected. In making rules to meet the 1987 Amendment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) first set criteria to determine a list of impaired waters depending on the potential use of the water. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) worked to set guidelines to establish intended uses for the waters of the state and then set acceptable water quality criteria. After testing to determine the water quality, waters failing to meet the water quality criteria are placed on the 303d Impaired Waters list that is submitted to the EPA. Table 15 in Section IV, page 16 of this report, lists the current (2006) MPCA 303d Impaired Waters in Ramsey. It should be noted that, as of 2007, only about 25% of the waters of the State of Minnesota had been tested. Hence, the impaired waters list is likely to increase in the Ramsey area. The process to remedy the impairment includes establishing a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) allocation to each contributor to the problem. A TMDL is a calculation that determines the allowable pollutant load that can be discharged into the impaired water so that the limited load will ensure that the water improves to levels where it is no longer impaired. The typical process is initiated by the MPCA and includes a series of stakeholder meetings to formulate viable solutions and mutually work out a reasonable allocation of acceptable pollutant loading. E. Specific Lakes and Streams with Water Quality Problems Since a TMDL study has not been completed for the known impaired waters in Ramsey and downstream from Ramsey (such as Lake Pepin), the City should identify the priority it places on addressing impaired waters and how the City intends to participate in the development or implementation of TMDL projects. The Rum River and Mississippi River watersheds are too large for the City of Ramsey to take the lead on the TMDL Stakeholder process for these two waters. It is recommended that the City volunteers to participate in the Stakeholder process for these waters. Through this SWMP, the City of Ramsey has the capability of modeling contaminant transport using the SSA model. The City will work with the LRRWMO and the MPCA to formulate a TMDL for the impaired Rogers Lake. Once a TMDL study is completed for the impaired water, the City must include, in this SWMP and its City-wide SWPPP, an implementation strategy including funding mechanisms that will allow the implementation of the TMDL requirements. As MPCA completes its TMDL process for each impaired water, the implementation of the measures to meet the TMDL will immediately become a priority item for the City of Ramsey. F Lower Rum River Water Management Organization The City of Ramsey entered into a Joint and Cooperative Agreement for the Establishment of the Lower Rum River Watershed Management Organization to Plan, Control and Provide for the Development of the Lower Rum River Watershed in June of 1995. The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources officially signed the Findings of Fact, Conclusions and Order accepting the Second Generation Watershed Management Plan on August 26, 1998. The LRRWMO updated its plan in 2012. The LRRWMO's plan update will trigger the mandatory re-evaluation and potential need for an update of the City's SWMP within two years from the date the LRRWMO's plan is approved by Section III March 20, 2015 Page 10