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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Paul Anderson (R)

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Groundwater management key for our area

Monday, February 3, 2014

 

By Rep. Paul Anderson

The future use of water in the Bonanza Valley was the topic of an informational meeting held in Belgrade last week (Jan 29).

Postponed one week because of bad weather, the gathering still attracted a large crowd to hear the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) explain how they were going to implement a program of groundwater management. The Bonanza Valley was chosen as one of three sites in the state where the program would be introduced. The other two are in the east metro area and in north central Minnesota. Although most think of the irrigated areas around Belgrade and Brooten as the Bonanza Valley, the map shown by the DNR was much larger and stretched from Lake Minnewaska on the west, down to Paynesville and Lake Koronis on the southeast.

The statewide trend of water usage is up 35 percent the last 25 years for the entire state and 175 percent for the Bonanza Valley. Those in the audience were told that water levels in the Bonanza Valley have been monitored for that span. The increased use of irrigation is the main reason for the higher water usage, with the Bonanza Valley now having 588 permitted wells. According to the DNR, groundwater draw-downs are increasingly going deeper in the summer during times of high irrigation usage, although so far, they said, re-charge over the winter brings those levels back up again. The DNR has been notified of a total of 10 wellhead interference cases in the area, with seven of those coming since 2005.

In Minnesota, residential and household use has the highest priority, with irrigation and manufacturing usage being further down the list. At the bottom are such things as lawn watering, golf course irrigation, and car washes.

We were told that approximately 5,000 large-water usage permits have been issued statewide since 1950, with 842 of those coming in the last three years. In addition, permit applications this past year were the most since 1977. To me, that number isn’t too surprising as we were in a time of high crop prices and high farm income. The price of corn approached $8 per bushel last year, but today those prices are in the rear-view mirror with corn dropping in half down below $4. With profit margins and farm income expected to decrease in coming years, I look for fewer major capital purchases, including irrigation systems, to be made.

One of the speakers, Mark Hauck of the DNR, told audience members that, although we are not in a crises situation, they want to manage it before it becomes one. He added that the increasing use of groundwater may not be a sustainable path for continued economic growth in Minnesota.

An 18-member “Project Advisory Team” has been formed, and they will meet in a public setting to come up with ideas for water management in the Bonanza Valley. Five of the committee members are from the DNR with five more representing other state and federal government agencies. Four come from local government units, and two others represent the irrigators and rural water associations. At this point, although more may be added, only one committee member is a farmer and one is a well driller.

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