One Watershed, One Plan to encourage public discussion of water resources
Published 9:30 pm Monday, August 19, 2019
While it is a required step, the Shell Rock River Watershed District program/project manager doesn’t just need public feedback. She wants it.
“I really want (the) community to know that they have that voice as well,” Courtney Phillips said.
Phillips is part of the steering committee for the Shell Rock River Watershed and Winnebago River Watershed’s combined One Watershed, One Plan, a program run through the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources. One Watershed, One Plan intends to group local governments together to develop its watershed-based plans, rather than asking each agency to submit a water plan on their own, as was previously done. This could take the amount of water plans created in Minnesota and drop it from about 300 to near 80 — about one for each watershed, Phillips said.
Required entities include watershed districts, Soil and Water Conservation districts and counties, Phillips said. Cities can be involved, but are not required. The city of Albert Lea has stepped in to be part of the planning process.
The public input session, scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Edgewater Bay Pavilion, is to see what the community wants to see happen with care for the natural environment and resources in this area, Phillips said. That could include — among other things — restoration, protection and preservation of natural surface water; flood mitigation; native plantings; groundwater quality; wetland restoration and enhancement; riparian zone protection; and protection of fish habitat.
“Now’s the time as a citizen to say, ‘Hey, I’ve been thinking about water resources and this is what I’m concerned about,’” Phillips said.
Freeborn County Commissioner Mike Lee encouraged citizens to attend the open house and share their ideas about what they want to see done in the area to make its natural resources better.
The meeting will be a workshop-style format rather than an open house. Opinions expressed will be considered as the steering committee sets priorities for projects included in the 10-year water plan.
Phillips said they want to be able to go forward with the plan and confidently say there is community backing and support.
“Southern Minnesota is unique,” Phillips said. “We’re not like northern Minnesota … We’re different than the metro. We want our plans to be unique to us, and so we want what the citizens want.”