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Shoreview Comprehensive Plan March 14, 2008 Draft ecti 9. dace ter ae et Introduction Physical Environment As Shoreview's name implies, the City has a variety of lakes, wetlands and waterways that provide aesthetic, environmental and recreational value to the community. The City has an area of 8,100 acres (12.7 square miles) of land of which approximately 2,400 acres are a combination of surface water and Type 3 to 7 wetland features. Portions of three major watersheds exist with in the City (Map 9D-1). The three Watershed Management Organizations (WMOs) include the Grass Lake Watershed encompassing approximately 3,100 acres, the Rice Creek watershed encompassing approximately 4,650 acres and the Vadnais Lake Watershed encompassing approximately 350 acres. In addition to jurisdiction by the WMOs, a number of lakes, wetlands and creeks are included on the State of Minnesota Inventory of Protected Waters, and so are under the jurisdiction of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (Map 9D-2). Of the eight lakes in Shoreview, five have public boat access facilities operated by Ramsey County Parks and the water quality in these five lakes supports full body contact recreational uses (Map 10-1). The City is now almost fully developed and will rely on infill and redevelopment to meet the changing needs of residents. Overall, the low-density residential development pattern will remain with some areas transitioning to higher density residential uses, employment centers, and shopping areas. Other Chapters of this Plan fully discuss the City's goals for land use and economic development that will guide development during the life of this Plan. The City recognizes the many effects land development has on surface waters and the natural environment. As a developed community, the City has a challenging surface wa-ter resources environment, with large areas of the City developed prior to establishment of surface water regulations. The geology, soils, and other physical features that exist in the City are described in other chapters of this Plan, including Land Use (Chapter 4), Natural Resources (Chapter 11), Water Supply (Chapter 9C), and Park and Open Space (Chapter 10). Surface Water Management is interrelated to these other elements of the Plan, and so there is necessarily overlap and repetition with the information presented in those Chapters of the Plan. Regulatory Environment The regulatory environment for surface water management includes many Federal, State, and local agencies. Surface Water Management Page 9.D-1