Cedar River Watershed District explores possible levy

Published 7:46 am Friday, July 23, 2010

The Cedar River Watershed District will soon decide if it needs to secure more funding to help improve water quality and reduce flooding.

The CRWD will hold its annual levy meeting on Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Jay. C. Hormel Nature Center’s Ruby Rupner Center.

The CRWD has levy power and can set the levy without a vote. The current levy is $250,000 and is dispersed over the watershed’s four county area, including Mower, Freeborn, Dodge and Steele counties.

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Administrator Bev Nordby said the board of supervisors has not yet decided if an increase to the levy is in the future.

“$250,000 doesn’t go very far,” Nordby said. “The board is very conservative, but they want to get things done.”

While the CRWD relies heavily on grant funding, Nordby said the levy is the watershed’s only stable and sure source of revenue. That revenue is an important tool in securing additional funding, she noted, because many grants require a match.