OLIVIA — The Renville County Board of Commissioners has voiced support for resolutions to join Kandiyohi and Chippewa counties and create the Central Minnesota River Watershed Partnership to oversee water quality initiatives.
In discussions at their meeting on Feb. 15, the commissioners indicated their support for a joint powers agreement and the new entity as part of the One Watershed, One Plan initiative of the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources.
The Renville County Board will act on the resolutions at the Feb. 22 meeting.
The Central Minnesota River Watershed Partnership will be eligible for some $949,000 in funding for conservation projects once the counties form the new entity.
A joint powers board consisting of one county commissioner from each of the counties and one representative from the Soil and Water Conservation Districts for each county will oversee the partnership. That board will focus on water quality and conservation work in the watersheds which drain to the Minnesota River in the area north of the river from Montevideo to Little Rock Creek, which is downstream of Fort Ridgely State Park.
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Representatives of the three counties have already approved a plan for the partnership that sets priorities for water quality and conservation work in the area. The plan prioritizes four sub-watersheds in the basin for work.
It’s expected that the greatest share of the funding will be provided to the Soil and Water Conservation Districts in the counties to implement best management practices on land in the basin. The vast majority of the land is in agricultural use.
Reducing soil erosion and improving water quality as well as efforts to hold more water on the land and slow its flow into tributaries and the Minnesota River are among the priorities for the new entity.
