Over 50 people, representing cities, counties, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Watershed Districts, rural water associations, US Department of Agriculture, and state and federal legislators assembled at Key Largo on February 12, 2018. Ross Behrends, West Fork Des Moines River (WFDMR) Watershed Coordinator welcomed the attendees. He explained that the meeting would focus on the crisis small towns in Minnesota are experiencing in regard to failing sewer and water infrastructure and lack of funding to address those issues.
This meeting was developed in partnership with the Heron Lake Watershed District and the City of Currie. It is part of the WFDMR Major Watershed Project (MWP) which is made possible through a contract with Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MCPA) with funds from the Clean Water Legacy Act. The primary goal of the MWP is to develop a comprehensive Watershed Restoration and Project Strategies Report (WRAPS). Achieving the WRAPS goal is only possible through partnerships between local units of government, watershed citizens, and state government.
Katherine Pekarek-Scott, MPCA provided an overview of the watershed approach. She described some of the monitoring and assessment work that has been done in the WFDMR Watershed, as well as a timeline for completion of the WRAPS report.
To read the rest of this article – pick up a copy of this weeks Fulda Free Press or subscribe to our e-edition at http://eedition.fuldafreepress.net/sub/account_login.a
