Minnehaha Creek Watershed with Telly Manayek
Our speaker on June 12th was Telly Mamayek, the Communications Director of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District.
The MCWD is a public agency that is charged with the management of the entire watershed for Minnehaha Creek. It was established by the legislature in 1967 as multi-city effort to control flooding along the creek. The organization oversees watershed management in 29 communities covering 181 square miles.
Managing a watershed sounds easy, but it actually is quite complicated. Just a list of the responsibilities will show the complexity: control of aquatic invasive species, including monitoring and testing effectiveness of various methods of control; testing water quality throughout the watershed and monitoring clean-up efforts; restoring the creek-bed in locations where the bed has been damaged or destroyed by building projects or natural causes; purchasing adjoining land to increase “green space’” along the creek route; proposing, interpreting, and enforcing regulation and laws pertaining to the watershed; updating and maintaining the operating equipment ; and educating the public about the issues and solutions involved in the effort.
The MCWD has an annual budget of about $10,000,000. . The group has taxation authority to fund its work.
Getting enough clean water flow to allow canoeing from Gray’s Bay Dam to Minnehaha Falls is just a minor effect of the work of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District.
NEXT WEEK: Renae Clark, Operations Manager of MCWD
Greeter: Dick Glover