2010-11-30_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 2 Mr. Petersen advised that, under current legislation, a Groundwater Management Plan is 3 mandatory on Greater MN and voluntary in the metropolitan area; but that there was no reason 4 that a small WMO couldn't have their own plan. Mr. Petersen advised that the original 5 initiatives were put together by a Task Force consisting of cities that had chosen to participate, 6 along with watershed districts that had chosen to participate. 7 8 Further discussion included funding set aside by watershed districts in their annual budgets to 9 seal abandoned wells; inability to fully leverage funding do to a lack of clear guidance for 10 infrastructure interaction; and the need to proactively identify and mitigate current known 11 groundwater contamination issues. 12 13 Member Manzara suggested that the Board provide a statement to Ramsey County that the 14 GLWMO Board supported the initiatives; however, they were concerned with the lack of clear 15 funding mechanisms and interagency interaction. 16 17 By consensus, members were asked to provide their individual comments to Mr. Petersen by 18 Monday, November 1, 2010 by 12:00 noon; for him to coordinate with Chair Ferrington, who 19 was directed to synthesize comments into a letter from the GLWMO Board, with a CC of the 20 Board endorsed statement returned to Mr. Petersen for forwarding to the Ramsey County 21 Manager's Office. 22 23 Shoreview Meeting on Lake Owasso Water Levels 24 Mr. Maloney provided an update on a citizen meeting recently hosted by the City of Shoreview 25 regarding water levels on Lake Owasso, mediated by Dick Osgood. Mr. Maloney advised that 26 there were approximately 200 people attending, with substantial interest shown from 27 representatives from most lakes; and topics covered including the relationship between 28 groundwater and lake water levels and how different lakes worked. 29 30 Member Manzara requested that Mr. Maloney provide a list of those attending to be used by the 31 GLWMO Board as contacts for Board outreach. 32 33 Chair Ferrington observed that there was a substantial amount of citizen interest being shown in 34 surface water quality dynamics; however, there was still considerable confusion with subsurface 35 water quality. Chair Ferrington opined that the presentation given was informative and well 36 organized; however, probably not well- digested by all those representing the general public, and 37 may need further review in the future at a technical workshop, which could be facilitated by the 38 GLWMO. 39 40 Mr. Maloney advised that the City of Shoreview was still trying to determine their role in 41 brokering water quality discussions, given the varying organizations and agencies and differing 42 opinions and levels of expertise. Mr. Maloney, however, noted that the residents were seeking 43 out this information from the City, thus their decision to provide a public forum to address public 44 concerns and questions. 45 14