Subdivision 1. General purposes.
To conserve the natural resources of the state by land use planning, flood control, and other conservation projects by using sound scientific principles for the protection of the public health and welfare and the provident use of the natural resources, the establishment of watershed districts is authorized under this chapter.
Subd. 2. Specific purposes.
A watershed district may be established for and use its powers to advance any of the following purposes:
(1) to control or alleviate damage from floodwaters to promote climate resilience;
(2) to protect, improve, or restore watercourses and water basins for drainage, navigation, water quality, flood mitigation, and any other public purpose;
(3) to manage impacts to, restore, or replace wet and overflowed land;
(4) to provide a water supply for irrigation;
(5) to regulate and conserve the flow of watercourses;
(6) to provide or conserve water supply for domestic, industrial, recreational, agricultural, or other public use;
(7) to provide for sanitation and public health and regulate the use of streams, ditches, or watercourses to dispose of waste;
(8) to repair, improve, relocate, modify, consolidate, and abandon all or part of drainage systems within a watershed district;
(9) to control or alleviate soil erosion and siltation of watercourses or water basins;
(10) to regulate improvements by riparian property owners of the beds, banks, and shores of lakes, streams, and wetlands for preservation and beneficial public use;
(11) to provide for hydroelectric power generation;
(12) to protect or enhance the water quality in watercourses or water basins;
(13) to provide for the protection of groundwater and regulate its use to preserve it for beneficial purposes; and
(14) to otherwise manage and protect surface waters and groundwaters for any beneficial purpose.