09-28-1988 - Agenda Packet City Council - regular meeting

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Problem Identification and Description Water quality problems in the upper watershed were first identified by the District in the mid-1970's as part of the Upper Watershed Storage and Retention Project (UWIP). The project sought to improve water quality and control flows from the major drainageways tributary to Lake Minnetonka. The Painter Creek project, constructed by the District in 1984-1985, was the first phase of the UWIP and consisted of easement acquisition, several miles of channel improvements, excavation of two sedimentation basins and the construction of four sheet pile weir control structures and one rough fish barrier. The total cost of the project was $510,000 and was financed by a District -wide ad valorem tax levy under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 112. The Board of Managers has designated the Long Lake Creek subwatershed as the second phase of the UWIP and has included the project in the Capital Improvement Program of the District's Chapter 509 Surface Water Management Plan. Results from the computer simulation of watershed hydrology completed in 1986 as part of the preparation of the 509 Plan, along with historical records from the District's on -going hydrologic monitoring pi,ogram, indicate the Long Lake Creek subwatershed contributes a significant portion of runoff into Lake Minnetonka. Data also indicates this runoff can contain elevated concentrations of suspended sediment and phosphorus. Long Lake, which is the primary receiving body for a large portion of the subwatershed's tributary drainage area before outletting into Long Lake Creek, normally exhibits signs of poor water quality in the summer months with water clarity being impacted by high levels of chlorophyll -a (algae) and phosphorus. Long Lake also supports a large population of rough fish. The District believes the poor water quality in Long Lake is related to non -point source (NPS) pollution from the lake's tributary drainage area. Non -point sources of pollution are defined as land management or land use activities that contribute to pollutian as a result of runoff, seepage or percolation. This definition includes rural and urban land uses, as well as specialty land uses such as transportation, and recognizes that both surface and groundwater can be affected by non-point\sources of pollution. Major sources of NPS pollution include: agricultural runoff; pesticide and fertilizer use; feedlot runoff; urban runoff from streets, yards and construction sites; leachate from septic systems; highway de-icing chemicals; dredging and drainage activities; and impacts from the loss of wetlands. III. MPCA CLEAN WATER PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM The Clean Water Partnership Program was enacted in 1987 by the State Legislature to protect and improve surface and groundwater in Minnesota through financial and technical assistance to local units of government to control water pollution associated with land use and land management activities. The program is administered by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency which may award grants for up to 50 percent of the eligible cost for the development of a diagnostic study and implementation plan and the implementation of that plan. Other available sources of state and federal funding can also be used to fund up to 20 percent of the remaining local share of the project.