Clean Water:

Meet the Clean Water Council and its Recommendations

Topic: Clean Water

Appointed to the Clean Water Council by Governor Pawlenty, Sarah Strommen is central region director at the Minnesota Land Trust, a member of the board of directors of Friends of the Mississippi River, and a former member of the Ramsey City Council. This is her initial post on how Clean Water Council work is associated with implementation of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.

For the past several months the conservation community has gotten to know the members of the Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council and gained an understanding of the process for distributing the Outdoor Heritage Fund dollars.

But many people still are wondering, what about the Clean Water Fund? Who are the “water people?”

Well, meet the Clean Water Council. The Clean Water Council was created through the 2006 Clean Water Legacy Act, the purpose of which is to protect, restore, and preserve the quality of Minnesota's surface waters by providing authority, direction, and resources to achieve and maintain water quality standards for surface waters as required by the federal Clean Water Act.

The Council consists of 23 members, including 19 appointed by the Governor and four non-voting representatives from the following state agencies: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Department of Agriculture, Department of Natural Resources, and Board of Water and Soil Resources. More information on the council members is available here.

The role of the Clean Water Council is to:

•    Advise on the administration and implementation of the Clean Water Legacy Act (Act);

•    Foster coordination and cooperation among all public agencies and private entities concerning water management, conservation, land use, land management, and development plans as relevant to the implementation of the Act;

•    Advise on the development of appropriate processes for expert public and private scientific review to provide appropriate independent expert advice on models, methods, and approaches used in identifying impaired waters, developing TMDLs, developing TMDL implementation plans, and implementing prevention and restoration activities.

•    Recommend a work plan for implementation of the Act;

•    Recommend clean water funding priorities to identify impaired waters, develop TMDLs, implement restoration of impaired waters, and provide assistance and incentives to prevent waters from becoming impaired and improve the quality of waters which as listed as impaired but have no approved TMDL; and

•    Develop strategies for informing, educating, and encouraging the participation of citizens, stakeholders, and others in this cause.

Thus, the Clean Water Council does not operate parallel to the Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council; it was created in a different era for a different purpose. As of today, there still is no statutory link between the Clean Water Council and the Clean Water Fund. While many believe the legislature may provide this link in the future, the details are yet unclear. In the meantime, the Clean Water Council continues to carry-out its charge, focusing on funding recommendations.

The Clean Water Council Makes Funding Recommendations

In late fall 2008, prior to the passage of the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Act, the Clean Water Council submitted a biennial report to the Legislature outlining funding and policy recommendations for the 2009 Legislative Session and the FY2010-2011 Budget.

The report includes $97.8 million in funding recommendations for monitoring and assessment, TMDL development, and restoration and protection activities.   A copy of the report can be viewed here.

Following passage of the Amendment, the Clean Water Council issued an addendum to its recommendation, which includes a total of $74 million for the biennium with new recommendations for wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, drinking water source protection, and other critical needs. The addendum can be found here.

The recommendations provided by the Clean Water Council are broad and programmatic, unlike the project-specific recommendations made by the Lessard Council. The detail will be developed through the legislative process, yet to be played out.

-- Sarah Strommen

Meet the Clean Water Council and its Recommendations

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