They’ve been around for a month and a half, and so far the Shell Rock River Watershed District has approved a $250,000 operating budget but won’t implement any plans to clean the watershed for at least a year.

Harley Miller, chairman of the district’s board of managers, said they’re moving at a fast rate, partially because so much research has already been done on the topic in the years leading up to the district’s formation. He said the board won’t &uot;reinvent the wheel&uot; and will base their plan on the county’s plan.

It’s been a long road for many who have waited for plans to be implemented to clean water flowing in the lakes and into the watershed itself.

But he said things could get rolling next spring if grant money and loans come in time. Most larger projects will start by 2005, when the district will be able to begin taxing for its construction budget.

The planning, he said, will begin next week. He said he expects the district’s plan to be complete by October. But it must be approved by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Board of Soil and Water Resources. This will take months and cause the board to miss the deadline for taxation in 2004. The operating budget, however, will not, and the board expects to levy taxes for the first time then.

Harley said members must designate priorities like water quality, erosion control and pollution control to create a plan. The plan could include overhauling private sewage systems, creating more grass strips along ditches to prevent erosion and lake dredging.

&uot;The biggest comment we hear is ‘When are you going to start dredging?’&uot; he said. He said dredging could begin in three or four years after much of the clean-up of the watershed is complete. He said nothing is definite at this point.

But he said, &uot;I think the community would be pretty disappointed if we didn’t dredge both lakes.&uot;

Several district managers have said water quality will be the ultimate result of the project, and that it is a high priority.

Miller said there will be about three public hearings to discuss the projects this fall. The first will regard the operating budget and is scheduled for Sept. 2 at 4:30 p.m. at the Senior Center in Skyline Mall.

Don Sorensen, district secretary, said the biggest challenge is the amount of paperwork &045; creating a management plan for the watershed, the city’s water management, Fountain Lake and Albert Lea Lake.

He said the planning will go at a pace that allows citizens plenty of opportunities to give input. &uot;Everybody’s not going to agree with us and we’re not going to agree with everyone, but we have to make this work for the citizens that want cleaner water,&uot; he said.

Sorensen said the biggest complaint he gets is how slow the process is.

But Jim Haertel, water management specialist for the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR), which created the watershed district at the request of a group of local petitioners, said that most watershed districts take several years to form and implement plans. &uot;They’re ahead of the curve if they have things going by 2005,&uot; Haertel said.

The district has approved exactly $250,000 for an operating budget that will serve for administration, including payments to members for attending meetings and other work for the district. It’s the maximum amount of money that the district can tax and will be reviewed by BWSR.

Paul Overgaard, treasurer, said the figure probably won’t all be spent and was chosen since they’re a new organization have no previous budget to base theirs on. He said that just because they’re taxing that much doesn’t mean they’ll spend it all. He said some of the money may carry over to the 2005 budget.

(Contact Tim Sturrock at tim.sturrock @albertleatribune.com or 379-3438.)