Minnesota / Water board cited as ineffective

01/27/2007

Agency head contests idea of restructuring


BY DENNIS LIEN
Pioneer Press


A state agency that oversees watershed management across much of Minnesota provides inadequate direction and should be restructured, the office of the legislative auditor said Thursday.

The office criticized the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources for not establishing performance standards for local entities, for not systematically monitoring their performance and for not holding them accountable. It recommended the Legislature give the agency more authority, require it to play a stronger role in protecting state waters and change its organizational structure.

The board, commonly referred to as BWSR, is part of a complex network of agencies and organizations — including at least seven federal agencies, seven state agencies and 11 types of local operations — that work on water resources in Minnesota. But it plays a large role, coordinating and supporting 240 local watershed management organizations and soil and water conservation districts.

The effectiveness of those groups varies widely. Some are credited with greatly reducing pollution, and others accused of doing very little.

"While some watershed management organizations are effective, some are not,'' Legislative Auditor James Nobles said.

The reason?

"We think (the board) has been too slow to act and sometimes reluctant to get involved,'' Nobles added.

Instead of being appointed by a 17-member governing board, the agency's executive director should be appointed by the governor, as are other state agency heads, the report said. In addition, it recommended the board become an advisory commission.

In a response, the chairman of BWSR, Randy Kramer, defended the agency and challenged restructuring recommendations.

Kramer also said he believes the agency does strike an appropriate balance with local operations.

"Such a radical change should have a compelling body of evidence driving it,'' Kramer wrote. "We do not see the evidence in the report, and — more importantly — we have not seen evidence that the 20-year structure of the board is broken, unresponsive to the Legislature or unresponsive to the administration.''

The report acknowledged recent staffing and funding cuts at the agency and said problems stem in part from limited authority. But it said the agency often doesn't fully use the authority it has.

That has led to mixed performance at local levels, the report said.

For example, it applauded efforts by the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District in Hennepin County to reduce pollution of Lake Minnetonka and the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes.

But it cited the South Two River Watershed District near St. Cloud for completing few, if any, projects over a 20-year period. In response to a petition from local residents, the agency terminated the district last year.

The auditor said the agency's role would become more important as Minnesota tries to meet a federal obligation to test and clean up its lakes and rivers. Little of that work has been done so far.