A Major Plan Amendment was adopted by the Shingle Creek/West Mississippi Watershed Management Commissions at their September 9, 2010 meetings. The purpose of the amendment was to revise the Capital Improvement Program to add seven projects including, for the first time, four projects in West Mississippi. Other projects were rescheduled to other years at the request of the respective cities.

Major Plan Amendment - 2010
At a public hearing conducted on September 9, 2010, the Shingle Creek Watershed Management Commission ordered the following four projects and certified their costs to Hennepin County for collection through an ad valorem tax levy.

Project 2010-01, Twin Lake Wetland 639W Improvments
Location: Just east of the Crystal Airport between 57th and 63rd Avenues North in the cities of Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park and Crystal.

Description: Modification of the outlet of Wetland 27-0639W to reduce phosphorus export from the wetland to Upper Twin Lake. Construction of a sheet pile weir just upstream of the outlet to increase storage in the wetland, and the construction of an upstream outlet structure and high flow overflow channel.

Project 2010-02, New Hope 45th Avenue Pond
Location: 45th Avenue between Winnetka and Xylon Avenues, New Hope.

Description: Conversion of an existing dry pond to a wet pond to provide phosphorus removal from an 80-acre subwatershed by constructing a pre-treatment cell, creating new wetland area to mitigate for the pre-treatment cell, and reconfiguring the existing inlets and outlets.

Project 2010-03, Shingle Creek Restoration, CR 10 to I-694
Location: County Road 10 to Interstate Highway 94/694.

Description: Construct stream corridor improvements including buffer installation, habitat enhancement and reaeration improvements.

Project 2010-04 Mnineapolis 37th Avenue Greenway
Location: 37th Avenue North between Penn and Knox Avenues North

Description: The project will abandon the roadway along 37th Avenue North and replace it with a bike/pedestrian trail and greenway, underground and surface stormwater detention, filtration rain gardens and structural stormwater treatment.

Minor Plan Amendment - 2009
The Shingle Creek and West Mississippi Watershed Management Commissions adotped a Mjaor Plan Amendment to their Second Generation Watershed Management Plan that added  the Shingle Creek Restoration project between Regenet and Noble Avenues in Brooklyn Park to the 2010 Capital Improvement Program. 

At a public hearing conducted on September 10, 2009, the Commissions approved Project 2009-01, the Crytal Lake Water Quality Improvement Project.  This project was included in the Commissions' approved CIP for 2008 but was rescheduled to 2009 at the request of the City of Robbinsdale.

Description: Project 2009-01: Crystal Lake Water Quality Improvement Project

The project is the construction of infrastructure to reduce external load of nutrients to the lake through a low-flow diversion of stormwater from a large stormsewer conveying runoff from a large subwatershed in Minneapolis. The diverted stormwater would be treated with alum and then conveyed to and through a pond and wetland system (see Figures 1 and 2).  The alum will bind with the phosphorus in the stormwater, and the resulting floc will settle in the first treatment pond.  The second pond and wetland system will polish the water before it is discharged back into the lake. The project will also install some infrastructure to add hypolimnetic withdrawal in the future if that becomes necessary.  Finally, the project includes the application of an alum treatment to the lake to remove nutrients from the water column and to create a sediment barrier binding phosphorus release from the lake sediments.

 
The project is estimated to remove 116 kg (260 pounds) of internal phosphorus load and 70 kg (154 pounds) of external load annually.

Minor Plan Amendment - 2008
At their October 9, 2008 meetings the Shingle Creek and West Mississippi Watershed Management Commissions adopted a Minor Plan Amendment to their Second Generation Watershed Managemetn Plan to adopt revisions to the development Rules and Standards. Revisions of particular note:

• Areas that drain to impaired Waters may be subject to more stringent site-specific standards than the Rule requirements.
• Specified event depths will be used in modeling for consistency.
• Required removal rates are specified for phosforus (60%) and TSS (85%), achieved either through ponds or a combination of BMPs that achieve that removal.
• Allows water quality treatment to be provided regionally.
• Expands the infiltration requirement as an abstraction requirement of 0.5'' from new impervious surface.
• Revises the drawdowntime when infilitration is used from 72 hours of 48 hours.
• Where infiltration is not allowed or when it is infeasible due to soil type or conditions, with filtration as the last resort option.
• Actual infiltration rates must be determined by a double-ring infiltrometer test or other approved on-site test and should be corrected using the appropriate correction factor from MN Stormwater Manual.
• Stormwater must be pretreated prior to discharge into an infiltration area.
• Expandsthe infiltration prohibition to include areas containing contaminated soils or groundwater, and areas within the one-year time of travel zone in a wellhead protection area.
• Volume management can be provided regionally.
• Erosion control plans must meet NPDES Construction Permit requirements.
• Side slopes must be stabilized with native seed and 10' upland buffer must be provided where possible.

The Revised Rules and Standards are effective January 1, 2009. Click here to view the summary document.

Major Plan Amendment Revises the Capital Improvement Program.
At their September 11, 2008 meetings the Shingle Creek and West Mississippi Watershed Management Commissions adopted a Major Plan Amendment to their Second Generation Plan revising the Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The amendment revises the CIP to add the Crystal Twin Oak Pond project to the 2008 CIP, split the Wetland 639W project into two phases over two years (2008 and 2009), move the Shingle Creek Restoration CR 10 to I-694 project from 2009 to 2010, and move the Maple Grove Pond P55 project from 2009 to 2010.

Major Plan Amendment - 2007
The Commissions also adopted a major plan amendment to their Second Generation Watershed Management Plan on May 10, 2007. The amendment adopted:

• a Water Quality Plan that includes specific water quality goals for the lakes, streams and wetlands in tthe watershed and specific set of managment actions to manage and improve those resources.
• a revised Capital Improvment Program, and
• a revised cost-share policy that provides that, if affected cities agree, 25% of the cost of qualifying capital projects would be funded by the county ad valorem tax levy across all property in the watershed, with the balance of project costs paid for by cities.

Background:
The Shingle Creekand West Mississippi Watershed Management Commissions adopted their Second Generation Management Plan in May 2004.

In the first generation plan, the Commission establised standards in eight managment areas, including runoff management, floodplain management, shoreland managment, water quality monitoring, erosion and sedimentation control, stormwater treament, wetlands managment and groundwater protection.

the thrust of the Second Generation Plan is to establish water resources priorities for the next ten years, indentify goals, and determine how best to achieve those goals. it has been broken down into its various sections here for your convenience.

Second Generation Watershed Management Plan
Executive Summary
Section 1 - Introduction and Purpose
Section 2 - Existing and Future Conditions
Section 3 - Hydrolic Systems
Section 4 - Existing Administrative Authorities
Section 5 - Issues and Goals
Section 6 - Management Framework
Section 7 - Capital Improvements Program & Work Plan (Amended)
Section 8 - Local Responsibilities
Section 9 - Amendments (Amended)
Table of Contents

Appedices
Appendix A - Joint Powers Agreements
Appendix B - Rules and Standards
Appendix C - Shingle Creek Channel Cross Section Part 1
Appendix C - Shingle Creek Channel Cross Section Part 2
Appendix D - Lake Report Cards
Appendix E - NPDES Industrial Discharge Permits
Appendix F - Education and Public Outreach Plan
Appendix G - Work Plan and Capital Improvment Programs (amended)
Appendix H - Plan Development Process and Meeting Summaries
Appendix I - Water Quality Plan
References

Amended Documents
Section 7 - Capital Improvements Program & Work Plan (Amended)
Section 9 - Amendments (Amended)
Appendix G - Work Plan and Capital Improvment Programs (Amended)

Proposed Major Plan Amendment under 45 day review.

On Thursday, May 12, 2010, the Commissions conducted a joint public hearing to take comment on the proposed major plan amendment to the Shingle Creek and West Mississippi Watershed Management Commissions’ Second Generation Watershed Management Plan. The proposed amendment would adopt a revision to the Commissions’ joint Capital Improvement Program to add two projects in 2010. They are the Minneapolis 37th Avenue Greenway project in the Shingle Creek watershed and the Champlin Stream Stabilization at the Mill Pond project in the West Mississippi watershed.

Corrections to documents:
An error was discovered on the May 18, 2010 letter transmitting the 45-day review documents for the Shingle Creek/West Mississippi Watershed Management Commissions’ proposed major plan amendment to their Second Generation Watershed Management Plan. The same error is also in the Draft minutes of the public hearing. The revised documents are below.

Corresponding Documents:
Letter to review agencies
Record of 60 day comments & responses
Response to City of Brooklyn Center comments
Draft minutes of public hearing
Proposed revisions to Capital Improvement Plan

Revised Documents
Memo
Revised Letter to review agencies
Revised Draft minutes of public hearing