As the primary water quality and stormwater runoff management entity within the watershed boundaries, CRWD helps protect the public interest and natural resources of the District by providing reasonable regulation of its lands and waters.
Starting in 2006, CRWD’s Board of Managers adopted water quality and stormwater management rules, as well as a permitting program to implement these rules. Under the current revision, CRWD issues permits for the following rules:
- Stormwater Management (Rule C)
- Flood Control (Rule D)
- Wetland Management (Rule E)
- Erosion and Sediment Control (Rule F)
- Illicit Discharge and Connection (Rule G)
These rules require stormwater management permits for construction projects disturbing more than one acre of land. Most of CRWD is fully developed, making it necessary to utilize stormwater improvement technologies as part of redevelopment projects to reduce stormwater pollution to CRWD’s lakes, wetlands and the Mississippi River. In order to achieve CRWD’s goal of cleaner water resources, the rules require volume reduction practices that capture 1.1 of rainfall over all newly constructed impervious surfaces. This is most often achieved by infiltration of runoff into the soil.
We’ve also aligned rule requirements with Ramsey-Washington Washington Metro Watershed District to ensure consistent requirements across cities and counties that span watershed boundaries.