May a watershed district be expanded to include territory within an existing joint powers watershed management organization? In the Matter of the Enlargement and Increasing the Number of Managers of the Brown's Creek Watershed District in Washington County, 633 N.W.2d 76 (Minn. Ct. App. 2001). This case arose pursuant to a Washington County review of its water governance framework and a determination to reorganize the watershed districts and joint-powers watershed management organizations (JPWMO's) within the County. The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR), under Minnesota Statutes § 103D.261, subd. 2, granted the County's petition to enlarge the existing Brown's Creek Watershed District by including within the District territory already within the Middle St. Croix Valley Watershed Management Association (MSCVWMO), a JPWMO established under Chapter 103B. The MSCVWMO appealed by certiorari to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, claiming that BWSR is not authorized to assign to a watershed district land within an existing JPWMO. The Court of Appeals agreed. BWSR pointed out, correctly, that the principle asserted by the MSCVWMO is not found among the criteria of § 103D.261. The Court of Appeals, however, looked to the similar powers of watershed districts and JPWMOs under Minnesota Statutes Chapters 103B and 103D, including the authority to adopt and implement water management plans. It concluded the legislature did not intend the "absurd result" of two watershed management organizations exercising concurrent water management authority within the same territory.
|
||
 |
||