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John Helland: Water Can Run Low in Minnesota, Too

I attended a very interesting presentation last week sponsored by the Freshwater Society under its current focus:  "2010: Year of Water."  The featured speaker was Robert Glennon, a professor of law at the University of Arizona and author of two books on water scarcity and water reuse.  In his talk and his latest book, "Unquenchable," Glennon chronicles how Las Vegas always operated on the principle that their use of water - mainly out of the Colorado river - was unlimited and a right under western water law. 

Because of their population growth recently, using more water that correlates with increasing water shortages, the regional water authority has done a 180-degree shift.

John Helland

  It is now actively trading water rights, buying desalination plants for coastal cities like San Diego in exchange for their share of Colorado river water, and buying up green lawns at $2 a square foot in Las Vegas in an attempt to drastically reduce the need for water.

Minnesota has long incorporated conservation practices in permitting for water supply and use.  More scientists, professionals and policy-makers have been realizing lately that, even in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," Minnesota can experience localized water shortages... and has.

A bill to be heard Wednesday (S.F. 2916) in the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee has new provisions for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to ratchet up water permitting requirements.  Section 25 of the bill allows the DNR to place monitoring equipment on either permitted appropriations now going on, or new water projects that require a permit, in order to evaluate overall water resource impacts.

Section 27 of the bill has more stringent requirements for groundwater appropriation permits asking for more detailed information by the applicator, including aquifer testing and an inventory of nearby exisiting wells.  The relationship to surface water information also is required.  The commissioner of DNR may establish water appropriation limits to protect groundwater.

The section goes on to say that the DNR can designate groundwater management areas, limit the total annual water appropriations within the area, and apply water conservation requirements.  Permits would only be issued if there was no substantial interferrence with exisiting wells.

If the bill becomes law with these new water conservation requirements, Minnesota will greatly improve the state capacity to understand its water resources and the direct impact of certain appropriation practices on them.

John Helland worked on environment and natural resource issues for the legislature, and now writes, blogs and enjoys leisure while watching from afar.

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