A Minnesota Environmental Quality Board report released today calls for resolving competing plans for financing the cleanup of impaired waters, new water supply studies and increased protections for the state’s wetlands.
“Water is Minnesota’s lifeblood,”
said Gene Hugoson, Environmental
Quality Board chair. “This has never been more apparent as communities wrestle
with decisions about how to provide clean water to citizens and as businesses
place new demands on water resources.” Hugoson continued, “With so much
happening in the water arena across the state and at the Capitol, a set of
state priorities is needed today more than ever."
The report, “Protecting Minnesota’s Waters: Priorities for the 2008-2009 Biennium,” is available online at www.eqb.state.mn.us.
Today, 1,300 Minnesota lakes and streams have 2,250 listed impairments – but only small portion of the state’s surface waters have been tested. Identifying and correcting additional impairments will necessitate a significant increase in the number of water quality studies and restoration activities.
Accordingly, EQB recommends dedicating significant new resources to implementing the Clean Water Legacy Act, including the development of pollutant load studies, called TMDLs, in order to accommodate economic growth and provide the blueprints for effective, focused cleanup of polluted waters.
The board also recommends increased landowner assistance for practices targeted at protection and restoration of waters and technical assistance to small unsewered communities.
Last year’s drought was a reminder to Minnesotans of just how important water is to their well-being. In addition, while citizens consider water resources the crown jewels of the state, these resources have limits.
In a report released last month, the board found that counties in the Twin Cities-St. Cloud growth corridor place significant demands on their water resources. Ramsey, Washington, Hennepin and Dakota counties expect to reach or exceed sustainable use levels in the next two decades.
Because a number of signs indicate that use is beginning to overwhelm the resource, the board recommends several measures to safeguard water supplies across the state. These include development of a water supply interconnect between Minneapolis and Saint Paul and better definition of the location and characteristics of ground water resources. Areas subject to new ethanol production and population growth should be given priority, the board argues.
Minnesota has approximately 10 million acres of wetlands, half the amount that existed at the beginning of European settlement. The state Wetland Conservation Act, enacted in 1991, has been successful in dramatically slowing wetland losses. But the act’s goal of no net loss remains unattained within the scope of regulatory programs. In response, the board sees changes to the Wetland Conservation Act and rule as a priority, as well as funding to implement a range of efforts to monitor and reduce wetland losses.
Minnesota law requires the EQB to prepare the report.
The Environmental Quality Board draws together the Governor’s Office, five citizens and the heads of nine state agencies in order to develop policy, create long-range plans and review proposed projects that would significantly influence Minnesota's environment and development.