Where We Are
The Middle Fork Crow River Watershed is over 275 square miles in area.
The river begins in the Belgrade area in Stearns County and winds through north central Kandiyohi County including the cities of New London, Spicer
and Atwater and then runs east into Meeker County where it enters the
North Fork Crow River at Mannanah. The North Fork Crow River
eventually enters the Mississippi near Dayton.

Who We Are
We are a special purpose unit of government that was established in April 2005. We exist for the protection and preservation of water quality in the Middle Fork Crow River Watershed. We have a board of five Managers
from three of the four counties in the watershed. There is only a very small portion of the watershed in Pope County, so there is no board member from that county. Board members are appointed by County Commissioners and serve three year terms.

The Board of Manager’s meets one evening per month, typically the first Tuesday of the month unless it falls on a holiday or day of an election.
Those who are interested in attending board meetings are urged to contact
the office to confirm meeting date and time. Public are invited to attend meetings. There is an opportunity for all public to provide a brief address
to the board in an open forum at the end of each meeting. However, this is a listening session and the board will not normally action on issues presented at an open forum. Anyone wishing to time on the agenda to discuss issues with the board must contact the office at least 7 calendar days prior to the meeting.

Our Funding
Our annual levy of $250,000 is assessed amongst each property owner in the watershed, based on market value of the property. We also actively pursue grant opportunities to expand our efforts without increasing costs. In early 2007 we received nearly $500,000 in grants for the Middle Fork Crow watershed. These monies will provide funding for programming efforts, especially best management practices.

Our Technical Advisor
Tom Bonde

Our Advisory Committee
The advisory committee was extremely active and played an important role during the formation of the watershed district and the development of our 10 Year Comprehensive Plan. The Advisory Committee meets at least once per year. However many members are active in volunteering and assisting in watershed issues on a regular basis.

John Anderson, Loren “Corky” Beck, Bruce Dylla, Merle Gjerde
Ron Halvorson; Doug Hanson, Jim Hayden Don, Ruth Hoiseth,
Rod Hughes, Eugene Kubesh, Dave Lais, Marlys Larsen,
Ann and Bill Latham, Greg Lecy, Jim Lohn, Alwood Lotthammer,
Harlan Meints, Jim Olson, Pete Otterness, Jon Pederson,
Don and Sharon Peterson, Ron Peterson, Josh Reed, Rick Reimer,
Ron Schneider, Berni Schwaegerl, Ron Strom, Mike Taylor, Graden West

What are Watershed Districts?
In 1953, Congress approved the federal Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act. The act provided financial assistance to local agencies responsible for the management of secondary watersheds. These agencies had the power of eminent domain and the ability to levy for support of their activities. The Minnesota Legislature approved the Watershed Act, Minnesota Statutes Chapter 103D, in 1955. This act allowed the establishment of Watershed Districts based upon a petition to the Minnesota Water Resources Board (now the Board of Water and Soil Resources) by either citizens or local governmental units.

As the Watershed Act was being developed, it became clear that many believed that Watershed Districts should be run by people somewhat removed from the political process, so they would be able to make tough and possibly unpopular decisions without worrying about political consequences. To facilitate this, it was agreed that Watershed District Managers would be appointed, rather than elected. Land use zoning powers would remain with elected city and county officials. The first watershed district to be established was in 1957. The High Island Watershed District, encompassed parts of Sibley, Renville, and McLeod counties. Other Districts followed, with the 47th and most recent one, the Middle Fork Crow River Watershed District, established in 2005.

Note: This is an excerpt from the 2006 Minnesota Watershed District Guidebook which is available on-line <<here>>. This is a large file (10 MB). Also, since this publication there have been a new watershed district created, the Cedar River Watershed District located in Austin, was created in April 2007.