Water Resources - Wetlands

The Commission serves as the local government unit (LGU) for administering the Wetland Conservation Act (WCA) for the cities of Champlin and Corcoran and the Township of Hassan. The Commission reviews exemption applications, drain and fill applications, replacement plans, and banking applications; attends Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP) meetings; and fulfills other requirements of WCA.

The Commission’s goal is to assure that WCA rules are properly implemented, wetland violations are resolved and replacement plans are reviewed. In 2004 the Commission reviewed 29 plans involving wetlands and received two new wetland banking applications in 2004. They also participated in five TEPs.  A similar level of activity is anticipated in 2005.

Three outside firms were approved to perform wetland consulting services for the Commission in 2003-2004.  They are Kjolhaug Environmental Services, Short Elliott Hendrickson, and SRF Consulting Group.

Wetland Mitigation

After completion of wetland mitigation areas, monitoring must be conducted for a five year period to evaluate the success of the mitigation area.  A monitoring report must be prepared annually during the five-year monitoring period. The report should describe the status of the wetland mitigation, summarize the results of the vegetative and hydrologic monitoring, and discuss management activities and corrective actions conducted during the previous year as well as activities planned for the upcoming year. The report must be submitted to the Elm Creek Watershed Management Commission by December 31 of each year. A full description of the requirements of the report can be found here.