Orono Community Management Plan 2020-2040

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CMP Part 3A. Environmental Protection Plan City of Orono Community Management Plan 2020-2040 Part 3A, Page 3  The other problem is hydrologic instability. Because the lake level is dependent upon precipitation, wide ranges in water elevation have occurred over the years. During the 1930's, a general drought left the lake below normal level for 11 years with a maximum decline of more than 6 feet.  In recent years, however, more urbanization has increased the amounts of direct storm water runoff resulting in high water levels and in some cases flooding problems for low-lying properties. Management of runoff and protection of water quality have now become primary objectives of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. Map 3A-1 illustrates Lake Minnetonka’s relationship with the city of Orono.  The problems of Lake Minnetonka were intensively studied by many agencies in the 1960's and 1970's. These agencies included the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Metropolitan Council, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District and the City of Orono. The major publications addressing Minnetonka's problems and which formed the basis for the goals and policies of Orono's 1980, 2000-2020, and 2010-2030 CMPs, and this update, are as follows: 1969 Overall Plan for Water Management; MCWD 1971 "Harza Study", A Program for Preserving the Quality of Lake Minnetonka; LMCD & Mn. PCA 1973 Shoreland Management Regulations of the Mn. DNR 1973 Stormwater Impact Investigation for the Metropolitan Council 1974 Surface Water Management Plan for the City of Orono 1979 208 Water Quality Management Plan for the Metropolitan Council  Orono's special involvement with Lake Minnetonka is based upon the real concerns of our affected citizens and our intimate and important impact on the total lake environment. While Orono's population is not as large as that of other municipalities in the Lake Minnetonka Watershed, Orono does have the largest land area and potential environmental impact of any local unit of government. Orono is the largest city totally within the Watershed. Orono has one-sixth of the total dry land in the watershed, one-eighth of the wetlands and one-third of the lake surface. Orono encompasses one-third of Lake Minnetonka's total shoreline. Over 30% of the total Watershed's surface runoff flows through or from Orono on its way to the Lake. No other community has the same potential as Orono for affecting Lake Minnetonka's water quality or water quantity, therefore, no other single community has as heavy a responsibility for careful protection of this general resource as Orono.