Notice of rulemaking hearing on September 18, 2002, in St. Paul and September 25 in Alexandria. Judge Kathleen Sheehy will preside.

The Governor’s Water Unification Initiative (Executive Order 99-15) and Minnesota Statutes call for the Environmental Quality Board to determine the state's water priorities and to set the framework for water-related elements of the biennial budget.

The Environmental Quality Board’s Water Resources Committee has worked through EQB staff to develop the water priority areas for the Fiscal Year 2004-2005 biennium. These priorities are based on work done by seven locally-driven basin teams, and priorities identified by EQB member agencies in other water-related plans and documents.

The new Science Museum was built on the bluffs of the Mississipi River in St. Paul despite a state policy discouraging development of steep slopes. Was that a bad decision? Most would say “No.” But, just how, when and where such choices ought to be made is the subject of Connecting with Minnesota’s urban rivers: helping cities make sustainable choices for the future, released today by Minnesota Planning.

“It’s not a simple decision.

The principal tasks are to track programs of the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management and related issues, and to prepare an annual report to the legislature. This reporting began in 1989.

The Water Management Unification Initiative was intended to make Minnesota's water management more understandable and responsive to citizens by unifying state efforts within major river basins. The approach sought to improve accountability by directing administrative water priorities, policies and budgets toward measurable objectives. The initiative was to enhance the sustainability of Minnesota's water resources by identifying economic, environmental and community connections for responsible choices.

States are playing an unprecedented role in protecting the nation's environment and boosting the economy, yet most lack the tools needed to ensure that development is sustainable over the long term. Minnesota is one of a handful of exceptions according to a new report from the Resource Renewal Institute, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that supports policy innovation in the United States and worldwide.