1995-07-20_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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Water BiIllBoarr! wetland acres remaining. Under the changes, the diminimus would remain at 400 square feet in counties with less than 50 percent of their presettlement wetlands remaining, and in the shoreland areas for ALL counties. • The proposed changes provide some additional opportunities for wetland replace- ment, such as giving partial replacement credit for restoring only the vegetation of a wetland. • The proposed changes include provi- sions for the state to share in liabilities in- curred by local govemments by administering the WCA. the funding could not increase by more than 10 percent annually, and would never exceed $100,000. If a county drops its allocation by less than five percent from the previous year, the state funding would drop an equal amount. If a county drops its allocation by more than five percent ftom the previous year, the state funding would drop $3-for every $1 reduction. r o o ter istrict r ro r I i • The changes may include some alter- ations to the wetland banking program to allow fora "cash" option. A The BWSR will discuss and vote on these changes recommended by WHAC at its January 25 meeting. l i r it .. ter cons i i tri The Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (MASWC~) has been working with legislators on development of legislation that would provide stable funding for SWCDs. Currently, SWCDs receive general administrative money from both the county and the state. State funding is $9,300 annually. County funding ranges ftom $2,100 to more than $500,000. Under the legislation the MASWCD supports, each district would receive a minimum of $30,000 from the state. That amount would be matched by the county. After the first year the legislation is effective, the state portion of BWSR is planning to propose a number of changes to the Watershed District Law (M.S. 103D) and to the Metropolitan Surface Groundwater Act (M.S. 1038.201) and Metro- politan Groundwater management (M.S. 1036..255). Most of these suggested changes were developed through feedback from local govemments. tern istrict Proposed changes include: • increasing the maximum per diem for watershed district managers from $50 per day to $100 per day when a manager's service for that day exceeds five hours. ® establishing specific duties for the advisory committee to the watershed district. These duties include electing a chair and a recorder; establishing a meeting schedule with a minimum. of one meeting annually; reviewing and commenting on the activities of the district; and reporting to the managers. • providing greater flexibility in the appointment of the advisory committee. requiring watershed district boards to