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SUBWATERSHEDS

Thief River One Watershed, One Plan

The Thief River watershed is one of seven areas that are participating in the second round of One Watershed, One Plan (1W1P) projects that have been approved by the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR). Several local agencies, including the Red Lake Watershed District, Pennington County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), Marshall County SWCD, and the Beltrami County SWCD are working together to create a single plan for the watershed.

Cooperation throughout multiple, connected jurisdictions is important because water management in Beltrami County affects the waters of Marshall County. Water management in Marshall County, in turn, affects the waters of Pennington County. Participation in the 1W1P Program will benefit the LGUs by combining our planning efforts and reducing redundancy in time and dollars used for plan writing and meetings. Counties and SWCDs attend planning meetings and sit on committees for the RLWD Water Plan. Staff from the RLWD attends planning meetings for county water plans.

The 1W1P will establish clear implementation timelines, milestones and cost estimates for restoration and protection activities. Combining multiple water planning efforts into one effort will create a more efficient and cooperative plan for water management. Plans will include goals and implementation actions that are prioritized and targeted on a watershed basis with measurable results, instead of the present individual plans that are restricted to political boundaries.

Draft Thief River Watershed Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) documents have been written and are being prepared for public review. Completed reports and other resources that provide information about the Thief River Watershed can be found on the Thief River Documents page.