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Lawmakers grapple with growing, and likely overflowing, Minnesota River

Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska) said he’s hearing a lot about flooding potential this spring. For example, the Minnesota River in New Ulm is at the highest recorded level ever for this time of year — and snow keeps melting.

“The fact that we’re dealing with more water more regularly is pretty obvious,” he said.

Torkelson sponsors HF3595 to create a Minnesota River Basin water quality and storage program that would provide a yet-to-be-determined amount of financial assistance to local units of government in the basin for projects that control water volume and rates. The goal is to protect infrastructure and improve water quality.

The Board of Water and Soil Resources would establish the program, enter agreements with local governments receiving financial assistance and be allowed to acquire conservation easements. Local matching funds would be required.

The bill was held over for future consideration Monday by the House Water Division. Its companion, SF3864, is sponsored by Sen. Bill Weber (R-Luverne) and awaits action by the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Legacy Finance Committee.

There are multiple benefits to improving water quality and slowing it down to reduce the impact of flooding, Torkelson said.  

“We’ve reached a water management crisis in Minnesota, certainly not limited to anywhere in the state, but especially evident in the Minnesota River watershed,” said Scott Sparlin, executive director of the Minnesota River Watershed. “We are a water-blessed state, and the time to invest in a major water storage initiative is upon us. … We have engineered ourselves into this condition and we also have the technical know-how to mitigate it.”

Carrie Jennings, research and policy director for the Freshwater Society, said the Minnesota River has grown over the past two decades, with increased precipitation, more intense rains, and crops that need drainage to thrive but also return less water to the atmosphere. That all increases river flow, eroding riverbanks.

The area also has prime black, thick agricultural soil that is ideal for growing food. But in order to farm it, you have to drain it, or lower the water table, which increases peak flows in rivers. Those farmers rely on barge terminals in Savage to get their crops to market, and that’s the part of the Minnesota River most impacted by the flooding.

Torkelson is a farmer, and aims not to inhibit appropriate farm draining, but to reduce the negative impacts of it. He said farmers generally know how to farm, but don’t always know how to fix riverbanks or deal with water storage issues.

The Minnesota Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts has statutory authority to work with private landowners on water quality and quantity. Executive Director LeAnn Buck agrees the state needs to accelerate water storage, but she doesn’t want to create new mechanisms and oversight and lose districts’ flexibility.


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