Water Planning
What is a watershed?
A watershed encompasses the land that contributes overland flow to a particular body of water.
Water making its way downhill has no regard for jurisdictional boundaries such as county lines that were established in the late 1800s. To understand water quality and quantity, all inputs must be considered together as the most complete knowledge of where water ends up begins with where it starts. Thus, the watershed boundary is the outside edge of what is necessary to begin an evaluation of a stream, lake, or river.
In Minnesota there are 81 major surface water watersheds. In Beltrami County there are 8 watersheds.
Why is it important to plan by watershed?
Water is not constrained by county boundaries, which means multiple counties and states can share one or more water resources.
When partners are able to work across the watershed various government agencies, non-profits organizations, and local people in the area can work together to create a shared vision for water management and other natural resources. With management, working watershed wide can help implementing projects and practices to improve and protect the natural recourses as well as address various resources concerns.
Examples of projects and practices that protect and address resource concerns include: shoreline restoration to address erosion concerns, agricultural practices to improve soil health, conservation easements to protect natural habitats, well sealing to protect ground water, forest stewardship plans to increase involvement in forest conservation, buffer strips on agricultural fields to protect water from run off, and so many more!
Funding for the projects and practices in each watershed is committed for 10 years and comes from the Clean Water Fund, Land, and Legacy Amendment that Minnesotans approved in 2008. Approximately 33% of the revenue goes into the Clean Water Fund to protect, enhance, and restore water quality in lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater.
Throughout this time cost-share may be available for landowners to provide financial assistance to install projects on their property that align with watershed plan goals.
