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HomeMy WebLinkAbout87-013 ~ , . . STATE OF MINNESOTA COUNTY OF RAMSEY CITY OF ARDEN HILLS RESOLUTION NO. 87-13 RESOLUTION CONCERNING RICE CREEK WATERSHED DISTRICT WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PLAN WHEREAS, the Rice Creek Watershed District has prepared a water resources management plan as required by Chapter 509 of the Laws of Minnesota of 1982; and WHEREAS, as part of said law such plans are to be sent to any city within the district for comment as part of the overall review process; and WHEREAS, such planning needs to be undertaken in a practical, cost effective, and achievable manner; and WHEREAS, the City of Arden Hills has reviewed this plan and finds it to be generally acceptable in many aspects with the exception that there are areas of potentially very serious impact on the city. Said area being set forth in Exhibit A entitled RICE CREEK WATERSHED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PLAN, CITY COMMENTS. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Arden Hills hereby advises the Rice Creek Watershed District that it finds the Water Resource Management Plan to be generally acceptable with the exception of several areas of potentially very serious impact as follows and more explicitedly detailed in Exhibit A: 1. Water quantity implementation approach. 2. Water quality protection approach. 3. Overall management of the Rice Creek trunk itself. 4. Duplication of effort with other agencies. 5. High implementation cost. 6. Ditch modification restrictions. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Clerk Administrator of the City of Arden Hills is hereby instructed to send this resolution expressing the City's serious concern to the Rice Creek Watershed District before March 1, 1987. 1987. Passed by the Arden Hills Council this 23rd day of February, ;;::: ll../ ,4..p:,~'f./,,~'7t"dv!r~.J Robert L. Woodburn, Mayor . (SEAL) ( atricia J. M rison Clerk Admin1strator . EXHIBIT A RICE CREEK WATERSHED WATER RESOURCES KAHAGEMENT PLAN CIn COMMENTS 1. ITEM Management implementation strategy concerning water quantity (Page V-15l. PROBLEM The Management Plan states -The local water management plan must demonstrate that for a 100-year return frequency rainfall event, the rate of storm water runoff leaving the municipality will not exceed the rate storm water runoff leaves the municipality in its undeveloped condition.- This strategy creates a much higher goal than the current strategy of required new development to have storm water runoff rates equal to the existing condition. Developed municipalities will have difficulty attaining this goal in a cost effective and environmentally sound manner. Municipalities will need to purchase additional land for ponding. . Trying to reduce outflow rates from a muncipality is a laudable idea, but it is too idealistic. CIn POSITION The management implementation strategy concerning water quantity should require cities to maintain the existing storm water runoff rates as established per the TR-20 model results referred to on Page 111-26 of the Management Plan. New developments and redevelopments shall have storm water runoff rates equal to the existing condition. If opportunities are available, redevelopments shall have storm water runoff rates equal to undeveloped condition. The problem concisely. problems . statement in the plan should be more detailed and stated more The plan shall then recommend a solution to the identified 2. ITEM Water quality protection and pretreatment approach (Page V-1Bl. PROBLEM . Water quality control and/or pretreatment objectives are too stringent. It will be difficult to achieve from an effective environmentally and fiscally sound approach. . Quality control and/or pretreatment before all protected waters and wetlands is impractical. Present RCliD rules permit use of public wetlands as a method of pretreatment. CIn POSITION The RCWD plan should identify and prioritize which of the water resources are of greater public benefit. Sometimes it may be necessary to permit trade-offs to provide protection of a greater public benefit. Use of an existing wetland may be the most practical and cost effective method of pretreatment to protect the more significant resource a of downstream lake. The plan must be flexible to recognize and permit quality control and/or pretreatment methods which protect the most critical resource. 3. ITEM Overall management strategy of the Rice Creek trunk storm sewer system (Page V-5). PROBLEM . The plan as submitted does not identify existing district trunk problems nor establish a program or commitment by the Rice Creek Watershed District governors to correct and manage the problems. CIn POSITION a. The Rice Creek Watershed District Management Plan should use the TR-20 computer run on the existing development and projected year 2,000 water quantity conditions. Any development or redevelopment within the district would then be required to satisfy the existing condition in water quantity design. b. The plan should then specifically address the identified flooding, erosion, and quantity problems providing the time frame for identifying the most economical and cost effective solutions. c. The Rice Creek Watershed Management Plan must then identify the trunk system within the district (recommended outline attached). This trunk system then becomes the specific responsibility of the Rice Creek Watershed Board of Governors for correcting and managing in the plan. Provisions should be incorporated that provides for the district governors to coordinate and facilitate maintenance, repair, and construction of improvements for non-mainline trunk projects involving two or more muncipalities, if requested. 4. ITEM . Responsibilities of regulatory agencies and how these agencies will interface with Rice Creek Watershed District (Page V-46). .' . . . PROBLEM Proposed Rice Creek Watershed Plan and proposed Plan Implementation Budget aay reflect duplication of activities in areas relating to regulation, planning, enforcement, and oapital expentitures of ourrent agency programs inCluding the following agencies and ourrent program. a. DNR--wetland management, shoreland protection, flood plain management, ground water protection and fisheries management. b. PCA--septic system regulation. o. SWCD--sediment/erosion oontrol. d. LCD (Lake Conservation District)--water quality monitoring, lake improvements. e. HIlD/water--potable water supply lIBIlagement autborities. CITY POSITION RCWD Board should reevaluate and clearly define its role relating to water quality/quantity matters to insure that RCWD programs and resultant expenditures do not duplicate current activities of other agencies more qualified to deal with specific water quantity or quality issues. Final RCWD Plan should contain an Implementation Plan Budget and list of Management Strategies that have been carefully reviewed by each agency to insure current programs and expenditures are not duplicated. When local units of government must work directly with affected agencies to meet atatutory requirements or atandards, RCWD need not he involved in review capacity. 5. ITEM High expenses to implement the plan (Page V-59 and VII-5). PROBLEM The plan includes levels of expenditures for the period of 19B6 through 1990 which are too high for the benefit received and do not adequately take into account the impact these increased costs will have on the property owners. The plan is not well focused to solve identified criticall problems and prioritize the available resources to address such problems. City oosts to complete the local plan by the January 1, 1990 deadline will be unnecessarily high due to the short time available. CITY POSITION The level of expenditures should be reduced. The schedule to achieve the goals ahould be extended to better match the ability of the property owners to pay for the work and to reflect a more realistic timetable for accomplishment after the plan is finally approved. The expenditures should give priority to and better focus on the serious problems of the watershed. The deadline for the local plan to be completed should be changed to three years after the overall Water Resource Management Plan is approved by the State Water Resources Board and oopies given to the city. , . . . . 6. ITEM Public ditches preserved as open channels (Page V-22). PROBLEM Open channels are desirable from the standpoint of vater storage, groundwater discharge, and treatment. However, in some unchanged areas, retaining ditches as open channels will be impractical and uneconomical for development and detremental to tbe health safety and welfare of the community. CITY POSITION That the Rice Creek Watershed District plan provide for the replacement of open channel ditches with enclosed drainage system where conditions warrant.