Although the Cedar River Watershed District made some more revisions to its draft rules Thursday morning, a rule regarding snow removal in the floodplain looks to remain the same.

The rule, which states no snow piles can be moved into the floodplain or dumped within 300 feet of any waterway or drainage, has been questioned by the city.

Jon Erichson, Austin city engineer, has said the rule could cost the city roughly $150,000 in extra snow removal costs. Because the city would have to eliminate two of its current snow piles and truck snow elsewhere, Erichson thinks the snow removal process would be significantly burdened.

Also, Erichson has mentioned no studies have proven the rule would improve the river’s water quality. Erichson argues best management practices, such as grass covered buffers and walls are enough to trap the runoff.

However, Mike Jones of the CRWD board of managers thinks the rule may not be that drastic. He said trucking the snow to the Cook farm, outside of Austin, wouldn’t require much extra time and travel. He and the board have also been looking at studies and articles regarding road salt, and they collectively think there is some pollution. They say salt and chemicals cannot be trapped.

“It just makes sense that there’s a problem there,” Jones said.

CRWD board member Dan Regner suggested the county obtain a “Snow Dragon.” According to Regner, the Snow Dragon could melt 180 tons of snow an hour, and it would filter out sediments.

Attachments could also be purchased to remove salt and chloride from the water before returning it into storm drainage or catch basins.

“One teaspoon of roadside salt in a five-gallon bucket will kill fathead minnows.” Regner said.

Although a Snow Dragon costs roughly $250,000, Regner said it could be hauled around to snow piles in other cities in Mower County. It could potentially reduce the number of trucks on the road and recoup taxpayers costs affected by the rule.

Jim Gebhardt of the CRWD board said he’s received calls from people who are more concerned about the Cedar River’s quality than extra taxes, too. He wonders how well the city council represents others with that same view.

Matt Benda, a local attorney who has been reviewing the CRWD rules, will further discuss rules with the city attorney and city engineer’s office next week.

Some of the rules that received tweaks involve regulations for rural drainage work and construction within the floodplain.

Rural residents who start large enough ditch projects will be required to obtain permits for work, and projects within the floodplain will have to minimize negative effects to water flow. CRWD softened one rule that stated land taken out of the floodplain would have to be replaced at a 2-1 ratio. That ratio has been reduced to 1.5-1, with a few other exceptions.

The board has found several sections of rules that can neither be removed or further specified, but are necessary. If problems arise with the rules in the future, they may have to modify some of the regulations.

“If changes need to be made in the future, we’ll deal with them at that time,” Jones said.