The Wild Rice Watershed District welcomed a new board member at their February meeting, with Greg Holmvik seated as a manager representing Norman County. Holmvik will fill the remainder of the three-year term of Don Vellenga as a Norman County representative on the Board. Vellenga resigned his seat on the Board in December due to moving out of the watershed district area.

In project reports, the Watershed District has been working to move the CD #18 and Upper Becker Dam enhancements projects towards public hearings as the first phase of Project #42, in the South Branch of the Wild Rice River watershed. Engineer Jerry Bents said the next step in the process will be getting an environmental assessment worksheet submitted to the permitting agencies on the projects, and Bents noted the District’s inter-agency work team on the Wild Rice Watershed District Project Team has been working on this and other permitting issues. 

Administrator Steve Dalen indicated that the Board will know a good deal more about state funding for the proposed Project #42 projects by their March meeting and the Board should be able to consider some project funding options at that time. Project cost for the CD #18 and Upper Becker Dam enhancement projects is estimated in the $15 million range.

A big hurdle for the Board will likely be how to fund the local share of any new flood protection projects. The Board has been discussing developing a watershed management district (WMD) as a funding mechanism to collect local funding for flood protection projects. However, this proposal is facing a good deal of local opposition and limited support by county commissioners. Some counties have passed a resolution against the idea of a district-wide WMD. It was also noted that a meeting was held with the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) staff, and BWSR prefers the idea of a sub-watershed approach to creating WMDs, which could result in multiple WMDs created in the watershed district. Administrator Dalen said he would be meeting with county boards to discuss BWSR’s proposal, and it was suggested that managers from each county also attend the board meetings. Dalen said there would be additional information for the Board to consider on a multi-watershed WMD approach at their March meeting.

The Board also discussed the next step in moving Project #42 forward. The overall goal of the District’s effort with Project #42 is to control flood water from approximately 210 square miles of the 250 square mile South Branch drainage area, and work towards a 30-40% reduction in the discharge at the outlet of the South Branch, as part of the effort to help reduce down stream flooding and control erosion in the South Branch watershed. To accomplish this, the District has looked at many alternatives. Right now, the Upper Becker Dam enhancement and CD #18 projects have completed engineering reports.  Engineer’s Bent’s question for the Board at their meeting was, “where do we go from here?” noting it is a long way from the concept stage to the stage where the District is ready to seek project funding. 

Other projects considered possible in the Project #42 effort include five or more additional tributary sites above the historic beach ridge, possible on-stream projects upstream of Highway 32, and a large impoundment below the beach ridge near the Borup area. None of these proposals have enamored the watershed district with local land owners. 

Dave Vipond noted that it would be good to rule out the project sites that the District is not going to consider in the future.

This led to a discussion to work towards greater public participation in a process to locate possible project sites. The Board approved appointing a sub-advisory committee on the South Branch to assist the Watershed District. David Stumbo said he would discuss naming a representative from the Farmland Preservation group for the sub-committee. Brent Kappes also suggested sending out another letter seeking interested land owners, and noted that the District may want to consider doing this on an annual basis.

In other business, the project to seek a solution to the flooding problem in the Heitman Coulee area was once again discussed. Curt Borchert of the Norman County Soil and Water Conservation District has been working with land owners in looking for a solution. The obvious solution in the area has been placement of a  control structure in the coulee, to control water from backing up into the coulee and causing flooding problems. However, the problem with this approach remains to be downstream impacts. Engineer Bents said a request from SWCD asked if the District could determine who the downstream land owners impacted are, and what percentage of those land owners would have to agree to a structure to allow the District to approve a permit.

It was explained at the meeting that state statutes do not allow the Watershed Board to consider a majority “percentage” of downstream impacted landowners who would sign off on the project, although, it can impact their decision. Instead, the Board is required to review the required hydraulic data from the applicant to determine if the impacts caused would be reasonable. A letter to the Board from Bents explained that while no hydrologic or hydraulic analysis had been provided by the permit applicant to date, based on two previous analysis in the area completed in 2006 and 2007 for similar project proposals, it is the engineer’s opinion that the proposed project would result in stage increases downstream along the Wild Rice River from this point to Hendrum (and possibly beyond).

Borchert noted that if they could not move forward with their approach to the coulee project, their request was to remove the coulee project portion of the permit application. Borchert noted that Eugene Vik did want the board to consider the portion of the permit related to his levee constructed in Mary Township to protect his property.

Attorney Elroy Hanson noted that the Board had previously tabled the permit for additional information, and he recommended the board consider denying the current permit, and requesting Vik to apply for an amended or new permit on the levee request. This motion passed with one no vote from Diane Ista, who noted that the District has to continue to work with the land owners to find a solution. One idea she noted is calling a meeting of affected land owners following the February 17 training in Crookston related to the RIM funding targeted to the corridor on the Wild Rice River.

In a related matter, the Board heard that Roger Kurpius has filed a lawsuit against the District, seeking $7,500 from the District in damages, due to the District’s inaction on the complaint by Kurpius related to the levee constructed by Vik in Mary Township. Kurpius noted he filed the complaint on July 5, 2007. The District has been attempting to work out a solution and found the levee to be in violation of the District’s rules at their December 2008 meeting. The Board approved contacting the District’s insurance company related to the court case, and requested the court administrator to postpone a February 25 hearing on the matter to allow time for the District’s insurance company to prepare.

In other business the board:

*Approved a request from David Larson to remove snow from Project 29 (Atlanta Ditch) in Becker County if required.

*Closed their meeting to discuss strategy related to litigation on the CD #18 project.

*Approved working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency to look at potential wetland flood storage opportunities in conjunction with the District’s proposed flood impoundment projects.

*Approved a permit request to MnDOT for a resurfacing and overlay project on State Highway 92, which will involve culvert replacements in Minerva and Wild Rice townships in Clearwater County.

*Appointed Diane Ista as district secretary until the May annual meeting.

*Approved preparation of the 2008 annual report.

*Approved mailing monthly financial information to Board members on the Friday prior to the meeting.

*Heard from Administrator Dalen report on discussions with the Army Corps of Engineers to expand the main stem feasibility study to include possible upstream storage options on the Wild Rice River, and possible state funding to assist with this effort. Dalen said from what he hears from congressional leaders, the appropriation for the re-evaluation of alternatives to the Twin Valley dam are not looking positive for this session of congress.

*Met with consultant Bruce Watkins who had a number of recommendations for the Board to consider related to the operation of the watershed district. Watkins also assisted the Board with setting a district vehicle use policy, credit card policy, and aircraft transportation policy.