The Confluence is the monthly electronic newsletter of Minnesota Waters. This newsletter will provide you with up-to-date information and resources on Minnesota’s lakes and rivers. To have material included for announcement or to request removal of your name from this mailing list, please send information to info@minnesotawaters.org. Do not reply to the listserv from which you received this message.

"The environmental movement is a struggle over the control of the commons. These are the publicly owned resources, the things that cannot be reduced to private property—the air, the water, the wandering animals, the public land... the things that from the beginning of time have always been part of the public trust."

- Robert Kennedy, Jr.

~ Minnesota Waters Annual Meeting, January 23

~ Minnesota Waters’ Citizen Monitoring Program Awarded $376,000

~ Minnesota Waters and MCEA Offers 30-Day Extension on Petition for

Shoreland Rulemaking

~ Minnesota Waters Supports Continued Protection for Mississippi River Corridor

~Louis Smith Appointed to Clean Water Council to Represent Minnesota Waters

~Reminder—Permits Are Required to Spray Pesticides on Minnesota Waters

~Zebra Mussel’s Cousin Makes Its Way to Minnesota

~Minnesota’s Lakes Warming

Legislative News

Resources for Lake and Stream Stewardship

Conferences, Confabs and Conglomerations

The Bucks Start Here- Funding Resources

~ Minnesota Waters News ~

Minnesota Waters Annual Meeting- January 23—RSVP Today!

January 23, 2007, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Maple Grove Community, Maple Grove, MN

Minnesota Waters will host its 2007 annual membership meeting on January 23, 2007, from 6 p.m. to

8 p.m. at the Maple Grove Community Center, 12951 Weaver Lake Rd, Maple Grove, Minnesota. The meeting will be a celebration of the first year of Minnesota Waters with program highlights, lake and river awards, and time for networking among members. Former Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources Executive Director, Ron Harnack, will present the keynote comments. Please RSVP your attendance to annan@minnesotawaters.org by Friday, January 19. For directions to the Community Center, click here.

Minnesota Waters’ Citizen Monitoring Program Awarded $376,000

Minnesota Waters was recently awarded $376,000 for its Volunteer Monitoring Surface Water Assessment proposal for Clean Water Legacy Act funds appropriated by the 2006 state legislature. Forty-one proposals totaling $2.8 million were received by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Thirteen projects, including Minnesota Waters’ proposal, were awarded support totaling $1 million. The criteria used to rank proposals included: project organization, use of volunteer citizens, importance of the water body, ability to collect samples and computerize data, and matching resources. This grant will run from March 1, 2007 to June 30, 2009. It will enable Minnesota Waters to enhance and expand citizen monitoring, specifically working towards assessing more waters to see if they meet water quality standards. Citizen water quality monitoring is an important part of the “data to information to action” pathway towards healthy water.

Minnesota Waters and MCEA Offers 30-Day Extension on Petition for Shoreland Rulemaking In October, the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) supported by Minnesota Waters petitioned the Minnesota DNR for statewide rulemaking on shoreland management using the alternative shoreland standards developed through the North Central Lakes Project as the basis for rulemaking. Initially the DNR was mandated to reply to the petition by December 22. Following discussions with the DNR in December, where solutions to obstacles to rulemaking were explored, the DNR was offered, and accepted, a 30-day extension to reply by late January. Minnesota Waters and MCEA will meet with new DNR Commissioner Mark Holsten and Division Directors on January 18 to further discuss the potential for rulemaking. Should the state say “yes” it would immediately proceed to rulemaking, which includes a public comment period, and depending on the public response, may then proceed to hearings by an administrative law judge before rules can be promulgated. A “no” would be an official state response, potentially subject to challenge litigation. Legislative action is also another option.

Minnesota Waters and MCEA firmly contend that a voluntary adoption of the alternative shoreland standards will not provide the needed protection for Minnesota’s shorelands as they are rapidly developed. Many stakeholders have come forward in support of statewide rulemaking, including letters to the Governor and Commissioner Holsten from County Coalitions of Lake Associations (COLAs) and lake associations representing thousands of lake interests from across the state.

Since the required science-based findings-of-fact (SONAR) for rulemaking is essentially completed, there should be no substantive reason why the DNR cannot move forward with the request as its responsibility to the people of the state of Minnesota. To let Commissioner Holsten and the Governor know you support taking action to modernize shoreland standards, a packet of materials has been developed to assist you. See http://www.mncenter.org/mcea_shorelands_initiativ/

Minnesota Waters Supports Continued Protection for Mississippi River Corridor

The comment period on proposed amendments to the Wild and Scenic River rules governing management of the rapidly developing stretch of the Mississippi River from St. Cloud to Anoka has recently closed. According to the DNR, these amendments are driven by a need to allow cities to manage their development and to make the cities more accountable for their development decisions. Minnesota Waters has send written comments to the DNR expressing concern that the amendments will weaken, not strengthen, the protection of the river and has encouraged the DNR to retain the current rules with continued and enhanced enforcement.

In comments to the DNR, Minnesota Waters stated: “The heavy development pressures along this Scenic and Recreational stretch of the river understandably has led to an increased number of variance requests from local jurisdictions. Creating new districts such as Rivertown and Rivertown Expansion and lessening the protections currently contained in agency rules while transferring zoning and land use decisions to local jurisdictions will not address how these development pressures are affecting the river – it will only change who is responsible for decision making. The proposed rules fall short of ensuring that local governments will hold to maintaining and protecting the unique values of the river as priorities when making development decisions. By putting zoning and development decisions in the hands of local governments, the DNR is leaving the river susceptible to decisions made based on politics rather than what is environmentally sound.” To read the letter to the DNR, see: www.minnesotawaters.org.

Click here to read a recent editorial in the St. Cloud Times supporting maintaining strong standards for river protection.

Louis Smith Appointed to Clean Water Council to Represent Minnesota Waters

Louis Smith, former Minnesota Waters Board Director and Twin Cities attorney representing various watershed organizations, was one of 15 people appointed by Governor Pawlenty to the Clean Water Council. He was appointed to the position for a representative of a nonprofit organization focused on the improvement of Minnesota’s lakes and streams and will serve a two-year term ending in 2009. The Clean Water Council was created by the legislature in 2006 to provide advice on how to administer and implement the Clean Water Legacy Act, including making recommendations to the Governor on the appropriation of funds in the Clean Water Legacy account. The Council consists of 23 members, including 19 appointed by the Governor.

Gone South for the Winter?

If you’re south for the winter, please notify the Minnesota Waters office of your temporary address and email to insure you receive our correspondence. Email angels@minnesotawaters.org or call

~Legislative News~

Minnesota Waters’ Legislative Alerts will be published monthly during the legislative session beginning February 1.

State of the State 2007

Governor Pawlenty will be giving the State of the State address on January 17, 2007 at Noon. The address will take place in the House Chambers at the state Capitol in St. Paul. A webcast of the event will be available at the Minnesota House of Representative’s website.

In-District Legislative Meetings: Protect Minnesota’s Great Outdoors

Minnesota Waters and other Minnesota Environmental Partnership (MEP) organizations are coordinating in-district legislative meetings throughout the state to provide citizens with an opportunity to meet with their local representatives and to discuss priority conservation issues for the 2007 legislative session. Click here to learn more about the legislative agenda, including Clean Water Legacy and Invest to Protect Our Great Outdoors. Meetings are scheduled for the following legislative districts—contact the meeting coordinator to learn more and attend!

District 39 - Senator Metzen, Representative Hansen and Representative Atkins

January 18, 5 p.m.

For details about this meeting, contact Susan Solterman of Audubon Minnesota at 651.260.7040

District 7 – Senator Solon and Representative Huntley

January 19, 11:30 a.m.

For details about this meeting, contact Susan Solterman of Audubon Minnesota at 651-260-7040.

District 23 - Senator Sheran

January 20, 9:00 a.m.

For details about this meeting, contact Rachel Long of Land Stewardship Project at 612.722.6377.

District 42A and 43 – Senator Bonoff, Representative Rudd and Representative Benson

January 24, 6:30 p.m.