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DNR hydrologist urges shoreland buffers as Brainerd agrees to keep negotiating
Summary
Minnesota DNR area hydrologist Jake Free told the Brainerd Planning Commission that protecting near‑shore vegetation reduces phosphorus and algal growth; commissioners directed staff to continue negotiating DNR shoreland requests rather than immediately adopt or reject them.
Jake Free, an area hydrologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, told the Brainerd Planning Commission on March 18 that the state has lost roughly 40–50% of its natural shorelines and that restoring near‑shore vegetation yields outsized water‑quality benefits. Free said studies show watersheds with more than 25% development experience significant phosphorus increases, and he described two regulatory triggers the DNR recommends: requiring a stormwater management plan for properties with more than 15% impervious surface, and requiring a vegetative buffer for properties with more than 20% impervious surface.
James, city staff, told the commission staff had asked the DNR whether lot sizes and…
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