MPCA seeks public comments on Watershed report

BRAINERD - The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is seeking comments on a watershed restoration and protection report for the North Fork Crow River Watershed. The report, known as a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy, summarizes monitoring and water-quality improvement projects completed over the past several year and identifies strategies necessary to restore and protect the watershed. A public comment period began Monday and continues through Nov. 12.
The North Fork Crow River watershed includes parts of Kandiyohi, Meeker, Pope, Stearns and Wright counties.
Required by Minnesota’s Clean Water Legacy Act, a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy is a document that summarizes scientific studies of a major watershed. These studies cover the physical, chemical and biological assessment of the water quality; identification of impairments and water bodies in need of protection; identification of living organism stressors and sources of pollution; and proposed strategies and actions designed to achieve and maintain water quality standards and goals.
The draft report is available on the MPCA’s North Fork Crow River Watershed webpage at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/jsridda or it may be examined at the MPCA St. Paul office at 520 Lafayette Road North.
Comments may be submitted to Margaret Leach, MPCA, 7678 College Road, Baxter, MN 56425 or by e-mail to Margaret.Leach@state.mn.us by 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 12. For more information, call Leach at 218-316-3895 or toll-free at 800-657-3864.
Written comments must include (1) a statement of your interest in the draft report; (2) a statement of the action you wish the MPCA to take, including specific references to sections of the draft that you believe should be changed; and (3) specific reasons supporting your position.
For more information on watersheds, go to the MPCA’s Minnesota Watersheds webpage at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/jsrie74 .