2018 Minnesota Statutes

114D.26 WATERSHED RESTORATION AND PROTECTION STRATEGIES.

Subdivision 1.Contents.

The Pollution Control Agency shall develop watershed restoration and protection strategies. To ensure effectiveness and accountability in meeting the goals of this chapter, each WRAPS shall:

(1) identify impaired waters and waters in need of protection;

(2) identify biotic stressors causing impairments or threats to water quality;

(3) summarize watershed modeling outputs and resulting pollution load allocations, wasteload allocations, and priority areas for targeting actions to improve water quality;

(4) identify point sources of pollution for which a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit is required under section 115.03;

(5) identify nonpoint sources of pollution for which a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit is not required under section 115.03, with sufficient specificity to prioritize and geographically locate watershed restoration and protection actions;

(6) describe the current pollution loading and load reduction needed for each source or source category to meet water quality standards and goals, including wasteload and load allocations from TMDLs;

(7) contain a plan for ongoing water quality monitoring to fill data gaps, determine changing conditions, and gauge implementation effectiveness; and

(8) contain an implementation table of strategies and actions that are capable of cumulatively achieving needed pollution load reductions for point and nonpoint sources, including:

(i) water quality parameters of concern;

(ii) current water quality conditions;

(iii) water quality goals and targets by parameter of concern;

(iv) strategies and actions by parameter of concern and the scale of adoptions needed for each;

(v) a timeline for achievement of water quality targets;

(vi) the governmental units with primary responsibility for implementing each watershed restoration or protection strategy; and

(vii) a timeline and interim milestones for achievement of watershed restoration or protection implementation actions within ten years of strategy adoption.

Subd. 2.Reporting.

Beginning July 1, 2016, and every other year thereafter, the Pollution Control Agency must report on its website the progress toward implementation milestones and water quality goals for all adopted TMDLs and, where available, WRAPSs.

Subd. 3.Timelines; administration.

Each year, the Pollution Control Agency must complete WRAPSs for at least ten percent of the state's major watersheds. WRAPS shall be governed by the procedures for approval and notice in section 114D.25, subdivisions 2 and 4, except that WRAPS need not be submitted to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

History:

2013 c 137 art 2 s 13