07-22-1991 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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k Management of water quality of Lake Minnetonka has two components: the land and the lake. Managing the Lsnd for Water Quality Managing the land involves three inter-related areas: 1) managing development and redevelopment within the 1,000-foot shoreland zone of the lake; 2) managing upland areas from development and redevelopment induced by use of the lake; and 3) managing the public recreation facilities on the lands adjacent to the lake. The Grst two inter-related areas will be addressed in this chapter. Managing the land for recreation facilities is addressed in the Recreation Management chapter of this plan. The intent is to manage the lands and waters in the watershed of Lake Minnetonka to significantly control the amount and quality of runoff into the lake. This component of water quality management is the responsibility of each of the cities with land in the Lake Minnetonka watershed, the MCWD. and to a more limited extent the DNR and Metropolitan Council (Council). Cities with their extea*«ive land use and zoning authorities have the controls needed to manage land uses as a means of controlling runoff, if they choose to use them. Cities, however, have a variety of other often conflicting land use demands and constituencies that they must satisfy; and may not have the expertise on staff or otherwise available that would allow them to make fuil use of their authority. Another managing entity is needed. One that has both the professional expertise to assist cities evaluate runoff management aspects of development proposals and the authority to require modification of proposals when necessary. The MCWD) should serve this role. While it has the statutory authority to exercise such powers; but. it has not chosen to do so. This is a somewhat broader vision of the district’s role in managing water quality than it has traditionally taken. If the water quality is going to continue to improve, as it has generally over the last two decades, then a concerted effort by the cities and district arc critical to its sc -ess. In this regard, the MCWD should establish meaningful standards and criteria for cities to ..n preparing their local water management plans required by state law. DNR shore cgulations are, also, an important mechanism in helping to achieve the water quality goal for Minnetonka. They require cities to re-examine their land use controls within 1,000 feet of the shore of the take; and provide interested parties such as the MCWD, the LMCD and the Council with an opportunity to encourai:*? cities to find innovative and effective controls to manage runoff into Lake i^iinnetonka. From a water quality perspective, the issue is not that cities necessarily need to limit development or redeveloproent, but that they need to assure that whatever development or redevelopment occurs results in no greater quantity of runoff into the lake than before development occurred. More importantly, cities must assure that the quality of runoff is properly managed to remove silt, nutrients and chemicals from runoff water entering the lake. In developing their shoreland management ordinances, cities should recognize that the DNR standards are joioiniyoi standards, intended to apply to all lakeshore in the state. Lake Minnetonka, with iU tremendous recreational resource, intensive land use pressures and existing water quality problems, requires that more than minimum standards be appUed. Individual municipalities are 7/11 Draft - 5