A nearly yearlong feud entangling several cities, one township, Washington County, a state agency, three local watershed management boards, two lawsuits and two bills in the Legislature has been working toward a resolution by the simplest of means -- talking face to face.

The issue prompting the strong feelings is watershed jurisdiction, which might be an obtuse subject, but has a real pocketbook impact on residents who finance the work through property taxes or utility fees.

A daunting Gordian knot of clashing interests is being untangled with the aid of a professional facilitator who was hired by the disputing parties.

It has helped that those representing the seven factions who participated in the talks were respectful neighbors trying to iron out an honest disagreement.

"Generally, we all work together pretty well, but things come up," said Ryan Schroeder, administrator for Cottage Grove, one of the cities involved. "It's like a family-- you all get along, but things come up and you work through them."

So far, two sessions with the facilitator have succeeded in reaching a tenuous, hard-fought compromise.

"This has been a truly voluntary process; there's been no court mandate or political pressure brought on us," said Clint Gridley, Schroeder's counterpart in Woodbury. "And we've chosen to, together, go down this road. And the sessions have been really positive."

The dispute can be traced to a 1998 water management study by Washington County.

It called for the Lower St. Croix Water Management Organization (LSWMO) in the southwest corner of the county to be dissolved and its turf merged into two adjoining watershed districts: The bulk would go to the South Washington Watershed District (SWWD) and a smaller portion to the Valley Branch Watershed District (VBWD).

The key distinction between the watershed districts -- the one driving the debate -- is that water from the SWWD flows into the Mississippi River and water from VBWD flows into the St. Croix River, a National Scenic Riverway, which carries a more stringent set of rules.

When the county's plan was approved by the state Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) last May, things turned ugly.

Woodbury objected, citing, among other things, potential additional costs and the way the new boundaries were decided. Neighboring Cottage Grove, along with Denmark Township, supported the change. Woodbury filed suit with the Court of Appeals.

In December, BWSR changed its decision in response to a citizens petition in Woodbury, and things got uglier yet. Cottage Grove and Denmark Township filed suit with the Court of Appeals. In addition, two bills introduced in the Legislature would change state law to effectively negate the second decision.

By last month, it was a proper mess.

City officials had spent hours in closed sessions discussing their cases as tensions, and legal bills, mounted.

Even before the disputed BWSR ruling, however, Gridley and Schroeder had gotten together. "We agreed that, however this turned out, that we really needed to sit down and talk," Gridley said. That led to the facilitator.

With nothing more than an easel and a big flip-chart, the facilitator, Beth Bartz , a principal with SRF Consulting Group in Plymouth, has led two sessions where representatives from all seven entities (the two cities, Denmark Township, the county, BWSR, SWWD and VBWD) stated their cases and gave and took.

"It was just a matter of getting everyone together and getting them to sit down and identify what their needs and goals were," Bartz said. "It wasn't any magic that I did."

Bartz, whose expertise is the complexities of environmental documentation, has helped resolve conflicts before, "but this was probably among the more stickier ones."

The parties have agreed to a plan that draws elements from each of the two disputed BWSR decisions, Gridley said. Both he and Schroeder said the deal is still fragile and has many steps to go before a final resolution -- including another session with the facilitator next month.

"We're in the midst of a process, and the process has really been a good one," Gridley said. "It's been positive to get around the table to discuss these issues as opposed to the beginnings of this."

Jim Anderson • 612-673-7199