1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to natural resources; appropriating money to 
  1.3             study watershed protection and improvement in the 
  1.4             lower Minnesota river basin. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  1.7      (a) $50,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  1.8   board of water and soil resources to study the 1994 plan of the 
  1.9   Minnesota River Citizens' Advisory Committee report to the 
  1.10  Pollution Control Agency, and related documents, and to 
  1.11  recommend plan progress and necessary improvements to protect 
  1.12  and restore the lower Minnesota river basin from Le Sueur to the 
  1.13  confluence with the Mississippi river. 
  1.14     (b) At a minimum, the study must review: 
  1.15     (1) protection and restoration plans for the lower 
  1.16  Minnesota river floodplain, riparian areas, and wetlands; 
  1.17     (2) management of storm sewers and drainage ditches or 
  1.18  tributaries; 
  1.19     (3) improvement of land management practices to prevent 
  1.20  water degradation; 
  1.21     (4) monitoring of water quality throughout the watershed; 
  1.22     (5) establishment of local joint powers agreements; 
  1.23     (6) improvement of technical assistance to local units of 
  1.24  government; 
  1.25     (7) education of the public on watershed improvement; 
  2.1      (8) enforcement of existing laws that impact the watershed; 
  2.2      (9) point and nonpoint source load reductions in pollution 
  2.3   within the watershed; and 
  2.4      (10) interaction and cooperation on this watershed 
  2.5   improvement effort with federal, state, regional, and local 
  2.6   governmental units, and private organizations and citizens. 
  2.7      (c) The study and a report to the appropriate natural 
  2.8   resources committees of the legislature, with necessary 
  2.9   recommendations, must be completed by March 1, 2001.