Surface Water

Local water management plans are required to include an executive summary that summarizes the highlights of the local water management plan, a summary of the water resource management related agreements that have been entered into by the local community, and a section must define the process by which amendments may be made.

 Minimum Requirements: 

• Provide an executive summary that includes the highlights of the local water management plan.

• Describe the water resource management related agreements that have been entered into by your community. This includes joint powers agreements related to water management that the community may be a party to between itself and watershed management organization(s), adjoining communities, or private parties.

• Include a section on amendment procedures that defines the process by which amendments may be made. The amendment procedure must be consistent with the amendment procedures in the watershed organization(s) plans that affect your community.

Local water management plans are required to include a description of the existing and proposed physical environment and land use. Knowing the existing conditions in your community helps to better address the issues that need to be addressed.

 Minimum Requirements:

• Describe the existing physical environment and existing land use. You may be able to incorporate data by reference if allowed by the appropriate watershed organization(s) plan. You should be aware that not all watershed plans contain the level of detail needed and in those cases, you will be required to provide this information directly in your local water management plan.

• Describe the proposed physical environment and future land use.

• Include a map and/or description of drainage areas that includes path and flow directions of the stormwater runoff in your community.

• Describe the volumes and rates of flow for those defined drainage areas.

 Get More Out of Your Plan:

• Consider including information on the physical environment and land use information, such as:

  • Topography

  • Soils

  • General geology

  • Precipitation

  • Surface water resources including stream, lakes, wetlands, public waters, and public ditches

  • Water quality and quantity information

  • Groundwater resources including groundwater and surface water connections if defined in an approved and adopted county groundwater plan

  • Stormwater systems, drainage systems, and control structures

  • Regulated pollutant sources and permitted wastewater discharges

  • Fish and wildlife habitat and rare and endangered species

  • Water-based recreation areas

• It is suggested that at a minimum, land-altering activities do not increase peak stormwater flow from the site for a 24-hour precipitation event with a return rate frequency of 1 or 2, 10, and 100 years.

• Priority areas or policies for identifying priorities for wetland preservation, enhancement, restoration, and establishment.

 We Can Help!

• Check your Community Page for updated existing land use maps for your community.

• We have a map of the regional priority lakes within your community.

• We have information on groundwater sources and recharge for your community.

• We have monitoring information on around 200 lakes in the metro area, 21 stream sites and 22 river locations available at metrocouncil.org/streams or upon request. This data can help with assessing existing and potential issues in your community.

Part of planning for appropriate local water management is to assess the water resource-related issues in your community, both those that already exist and those that are likely to occur given changes in development or other foreseeable changes. Assessing these issues helps your community to better understand how to prevent or address those issues. Your local water management plan needs to include an assessment of both existing and potential water resource-related problems in your community

 Minimum Requirements:

• Include an assessment of the existing water resource related problems in your community.

• Include an assessment of the potential water resource related problems in your community.

• Include a list or map of impaired waters within your community as shown on the most current 303d impaired waters list

 Get More Out of Your Plan: 

• Prioritize the assessment of the water quality and quantity problems in your community.

• Provide an explanation of how your community is, or intends to be, involved in the development of total maximum daily load studies (TMDLs) for the impaired waters.

• Watershed Restoration and Protection Plans (WRAPs) are taking the place of and including future TMDL work in Minnesota. For areas not covered by TMDLs and where WRAPs are planned, provide an explanation of how the community is, or intends to be, involved in the development of the WRAP should be included in the plan.

• If a TMDL or WRAP has been completed and the community has been given a waste load allocation for impaired waters in the community, you should include implementation strategies, including funding mechanisms that will allow the community to carry out the requirements and recommendations directed to them in the WRAP or TMDL.

• If your community has a designated trout stream, you should identify actions in your plan to address the thermal pollution effects from development.

• If your community has special waters, such as outstanding resource value waters, you should include information on how the community will meet State requirements for development near these waters.

 We Can Help!

• We have maps of impaired waters for the metro area only that you can use in your plans.

• We have a map of priority lakes in the metro area that you can use as a starting point to evaluate and prioritize your lakes.

• We have monitoring information on around 200 lakes in the metro area, 21 stream sites and 22 river locations available at metrocouncil.org/streams or upon request. This data can help with assessing existing and potential issues in your community.

• We have information on groundwater sources and recharge for your community.

Your local implementation program or plan must detail the nonstructural, programmatic and structural solutions to the problems identified in the assessment of existing or potential water resource related problems section, and prioritize those solutions. Your implementation program must be consistent with and not jeopardize achievements of any of the goals of the watershed organization(s) within which your community lies. In addition, all local official controls identified in this implementation program must be enacted within six months of approval of the local water plan by the appropriate watershed organization(s).

 Minimum Requirements: 

• Include prioritized nonstructural, programmatic, and structural solutions to identified problems.

• Describe the areas and elevations for stormwater storage adequate to meet performance standards or official controls in watershed organization(s) plan.

• Define the water quality protection methods that would be adequate to meet performance standards or official controls.

• Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the community from that of the WMO(s) for carrying out implementation components.

• Describe the official controls and any changes needed to official controls.

• Include a table briefly describing each component of the implementation program that clearly details the schedule, estimated cost, and funding sources for each component, including annual budget totals.

• Include a table describing the capital improvement program that sets forth by year, details of each contemplated capital improvement that includes the schedule, estimated cost, and funding source.

 Get More Out of Your Plan: 

• Information on the types of best management practices to be used to improve stormwater quality and quantity. A five-year establishment period is recommended for native plantings and bio-engineering practices.

• Include a maintenance schedule for the best management practices identified in your plan.

• An erosion and sediment control ordinance consistent with NPDES Construction Stormwater permit requirements and other applicable State requirements.

• Identify ways to control runoff rates so that land-altering activities do not increase peak stormwater flow from the site for a 24-hour precipitation event with a return frequency of 1 or 2 years. If your community has known flooding issues, you may want to require rate control for storms with other return frequencies (10-year, 25-year, or 100-year).

• To calculate precipitation amounts and stormwater runoff rates, use NOAA Atlas 14, Volume 8 (Precipitation Frequency Atlas of the United States).

• Considering adopting the MPCA’s Minimal Impact Design Standards (MIDS) performance goals and flexible treatment options.

• For communities that do not adopt MIDS, your plan should use stormwater practices that promote infiltration/filtration and decrease impervious areas, such as using better site design and integrating stormwater management, where practical.

• Include education strategies to raise awareness of stormwater issues in the community and teach residents about good conservation practices.

• Support green infrastructure strategies to increase the opportunity for natural processes to treat stormwater and remove pollutants, increase stormwater infiltration and improve groundwater recharge (Minnesota Healthy Planning: How-To Guide, page 81). For more information, please visit the Minnesota Department of Health Healthy Places website.

 We Can Help!

• The State Stormwater Manual and the Council’s Urban Small Sites BMP Handbook are useful resources for different practices that you might use in your community.

• Use the MPCA MIDS calculator to determine stormwater runoff volume and pollutant reduction capabilities of various BMPs.

• Access maps of priority lakes in the metro area and maps specific to your community that you can use as a starting point to evaluate and prioritize your lakes.

• Access maps of impaired waters for your community on your Community Page.

• Check our metro area watershed map to find your watersheds.

• Access information on groundwater sources and recharge for your community.

• We have monitoring information on around 200 lakes in the metro area, 21 stream sites and 22 river locations available at metrocouncil.org/streams or upon request. This data can help with assessing existing and potential issues in your community.