Feb. 1 deadline for watershed progress looms

Published 12:00 am Friday, January 24, 2003

A lingering debate over a petition for establishing the Shell Rock River Watershed District is going into its final stage next month, before the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) will make a final call on whether to create the new taxing authority.

BWSR notified Freeborn County that the agency wants to hold a meeting where the county and petitioner can present their opinions.

A petition with 755 signatures was submitted to the state in March 2000 in support of creating the watershed district, which would be run by a state-appointed board with the mission of cleaning up and regulating the watershed. The county delayed the petition process by agreeing with the agency to come up with a comprehensive water plan by Feb. 1, 2003. The conditions the county promised to comply with include the implementation of five of the highest priority activities in the comprehensive plan by that date.

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&uot;I think the county did everything that the BWSR had expected,&uot; County Administrator Ron Gabrielsen said. &uot;We did good-faith efforts.&uot;

According to Gabrielsen, the county increased its annual budget for lake improvement projects from $150,000 to $275,000 in recent years. Other commitments he mentioned were the installation of aerators in Albert Lea Lake, purchase of testing equipment and surveys of the watershed through aerial photos, among others.