2011-05-26_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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• Financing The GLWMO obtains the majority of its funding from taxes through each city, but the current funding is not sufficient for the WMO to manage its water resources to meet all of the goals stated in this plan. Since the GLWMO does not have taxing authority, other sources of funding need to be explored including grants or cost -share from other governmental bodies, expenditures by program/project partners and/or changes in legislation to allow for taxing authority (similar to VLAWMO). The GLWMO needs to be a responsible steward of any public funding. • GLWMO Operations The GLWMO has been managed and administered by the Board of Commissioners with considerable support from public works staff in past years. In addition, there are a number of organizations with management responsibilities for the water resources in the GLWMO. This structure results in low visibility of GLWMO to the public, confusion regarding regulatory authority, and no central repository for records. In addition, the GLWMO's current budget constraints make it difficult to implement the activities identified in this watershed management plan. Tracking of budgets and expenditures could be improved to provide additional clarity. There is also interest in considering other governance and/or revenue source options for the management of the Grass Lake watershed. Implementation Plan The plan establishes goals and potential solutions to address the identified issues. The identified potential solutions are incorporated into the plan as implementation activities. Many of the implementation activities include coordination with lake associations, lake improvement districts, and municipalities to implement the planned actions, others are actions led by the Grass Lake Watershed Management Organization. Implementation actions include programs, projects and studies, and capital improvements. The planned programs address education and outreach, cost -share incentives, and monitoring. The projects and studies include watershed -wide actions addressing stormwater management, wetland management, recreation, habitat and shoreland management, groundwater, rulemaking, and water quality and quantity concerns. Specific projects and studies are proposed for Lake Owasso, Snail Lake, Lake Wabasso, Bennett Lake, Lake Emily, Grass Lake, Lake Judy, Shoreview Lake, Kroiss Pond, Westwood Village Pond, Willow Pond and the Central Park Wetlands. These studies address identification of loading reductions and evaluation of options for management of rough fish. Capital improvements are typically the implementation of planned stormwater management improvements and are proposed for area wetlands as well as Lake Owasso, Snail Lake, Lake Wabasso, Bennett Lake, Lake Emily, Grass Lake, Lake Judy, Shoreview Lake, Kroiss Pond, Westwood Village Pond, Willow Pond, the Central Park Wetlands, and Charlie Pond.