Subd. 1. Duties.

The Minnesota River Basin Joint Powers Board, established under section 471.59 for the purpose of coordinating efforts to improve water quality in the Minnesota River and achieving the goal of making the Minnesota River suitable for fishing and swimming by the year 2005, has the following duties:

1. (1) coordination of comprehensive cleanup goals for the Minnesota River by coordinating the work plans of the 12 major watersheds and the member counties of the joint powers board, state agencies, and the University of Minnesota in cleanup efforts and submission of periodic river cleanup plans for submission to the governor and the legislature;
2. (2) advising on the development and use of monitoring and evaluation systems in the Minnesota River and the incorporation of the data obtained from these systems into the planning process;
3. (3) conducting public meetings of the board on at least a quarterly basis at locations within the Minnesota River basin;
4. (4) conducting an ongoing information and education program concerning the status of the Minnesota River, including an annual conference on the state of the Minnesota River;
5. (5) providing periodic reports and budget requests to the governor's office and the chairs of the agriculture and environment and natural resources committees of the senate and the house of representatives regarding progress on meeting river water quality management goals and future funding required for this effort;
6. (6) advising on the development of projects within the 12 major watersheds that are scientifically sound, have landowner support, and reduce inputs of pollutants into the Minnesota River basin; and
7. (7) administering the distribution of project implementation funds for the 12 major watersheds by approving projects, identifying matching components for each project, and tracking the results achieved for each project.

Subd. 2. Membership.

Upon acceptance of the joint powers agreement, each member county that agrees to join the board shall have one county commissioner as its delegate to the board and one county commissioner as an alternate. A technical and citizen advisory committee shall be established to advise the board consisting of a technical representative from each of the counties in the basin and citizens who are not county employees but who have an interest in agriculture, conservation, sporting activities, and other relevant areas as determined by the board.