Slide 1

Groundwater Challenges in Rural Minnesota

Agricultural Irrigation

Wet Industry

Municipal/Domestic Supply

Where is the water in MN?Moderate surfical and buried sand aquifer with good bedrock yields. Surface connection (WBL)Limited surfical and moderate buried sand aquifers with good bedrock yields.Limited surficial and buried sands but good bedrock yields. WQ issues ((karst) & trout streams)Good surficial and moderate buried sand aquifers with limited bedrock aquifers. Prone to drought and WQ issues and surface feature issues (Park Rapids nitrate issue and trout streams)Moderate surifical and limited buried sand and bedrock aquifers. Surficial are prone to drought and WQ issues and buried sands are prone to sustainability issues due to limited aerial extent and slow recharge. Limited surficial, buried sand and bedrock aquifers. Mining can cause dewatering of bedrock and there are problems finding adequate gw or surface water sources for domestic and municipal systems (Hibbing).

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Major Crop Irrigation with GroundwaterAgricultural irrigation is a fast growing insurance policy in MN. High cropland value and $7.46 corn justify the large expense of center pivot and production well.4

Minnesota has approximately 6,500 groundwater irrigation permits (major crop). Majority of the irrigation wells are located in central sand plains, however, there are clusters of irrigation wells in SW and south metro areas.5

MNDNR averaged less than 50 new permits from 2000-2006. Ethanol push saw a rise in crop prices & land values and corresponding increase in irrigation permits. Averaging 150 permits from 2007-2013. Anticipate an additional 90-95 new applications in the remainder of FY13.6

Major crop irrigation averages approx 68 BGY. Water use for last 5-years has been similar to water use at peak of 1988-1989 drought even though these last five years have been wet years (2007-2011). Increase of water use for irrigation tracks with the increase in permit numbers. It is estimated that only 3% of cropland in MN is irrigated.7

Granite Falls Energy(GFE). Produce 70 MGY of ethanol per year.Permitted @ 240 MGY water from MN River at 600 gpm. Last 5 years the plant averaged 111 MGY of water used.GW source is back-up 2 wells at 600 gpmWater use is approx. 2.3 gal/gal of ethanolIssues: Unsustainable groundwater source: Well Interference Surface water source prone to low flow during drought 8

Not water rich area and we told company to look elsewhere. Testing indicated limited groundwater availability. Temporary (2-year) groundwater permit to get facility up and running. Move to Minnesota River as main water supply source.Permitted @ 240 MGY water from MN River at 600 gpm. Last 5 years the plant averaged 111 MGY of water used.9

Dark blue well on left is the GFE production well. Light blue well on right reflects the shallow aquifer in the area. Red line is the water level in the deeper formation, light blue line is the water level in the shallow formation. Leaky till between the aquifer results in water level decline in the shallow formation resulting from GFE drawing down the deeper formation. The steep water level decline over 1.5 year pumping cycle and the slow (4.5 year ) recovery indicates a unsustainable system. Well interference problems were seen up to six miles from the production wells.Last fluctuation (-25 feet) took place between 9/4/12 and 1/4/13.10

Minnesota Rural Water SystemsSix (6) rural water systems in MN.LPRW- Burr(535 MG) Verdi(393MG) Holland(484MG) Pump 1.413BGY Purchase 177 MG total 1.589BG in 2012. Has approximately 4,000 customers and over 40 communities that are supplied.LPRW- Permitted: Burr 550 MGY/ Verdi 683 MGY / Holland 600 MGY /Total= 1.833 BGYRRRW -2120 customers 260-280 MGY Permitted 365 MGYRCRW- 700 customers + towns (276MGY -2011) (283 MGY-2012) Permitted 330 MGY

11Lincoln-Pipestone Rural Water & Surface Water Features

LPRW- Burr(535 MG) Verdi(393MG) Holland(484MG) Pump 1.413BGY Purchased 177 MG total 1.589BG in 2012. LPRW pumps almost as much as City of Mankato (1.8 BGY).LPRW- Permitted: Burr 550 MGY/ Verdi 683 MGY / Holland 600 MGY /Total= 1.833 BGYLPRW purchasing water from Oceola Rural Water in Iowa.LPRW-looking to purchase water from City of Madison.LPRW-investigating the potential to purchase water from Brookings-Duel Rural WaterLPRW-anticipates 1 MGD from Lewis & Clark RW starting in 2017.

Surface water features that LPRW is impacting:

Calc. fensTopeka Shiner habitat12

Hydrograph of water levels in one of the LPRW Burr well field aquifers. Since 2000 water levels in this aquifer have decline approximately 45 feet although the decline over the last four years has slowed due to better management and water purchases from other entities.13

Sioux Nation fen threshold. Lots of work between DNR ad LPRW on development. Summer (higher) threshold (lower pumping rate) is necessary to provide discharge volume to sustain unique plants during growing season. Winter threshold (lower) allows for more pumping from the aquifer as plants are not growing.

Loss of hydraulic head (lower discharge) allows for terrestrial plants to invade fen dome and can lead to loss of fen plants.14

This is the situation at the Sioux Nation WMA fen near the Burr well field. Black lines indicate groundwater movement. Any reduction in hydraulic head reduces the volume of water discharged from fen dome loss of fen plants and invasion of terrestrial plants.15

Topeka Shiner Irrigation-Ag. Drainage

Issues faced by RWS: Topeka Shiner (federally endangered fish) small minnow type fish species found in SW MN and states to the south. MN has best areas due to other states dewatering all surface water stream. Reside in river and off channel habitat. Holland well field has nitrate and sulfate discharge issues that impact WQ of Topeka Shiner streams.

Ag. irrigation in close proximity to Verdi, Holland, Augusta Lake well fields.

Subsurface tiling may be causing problems with recharge of aquifers and disrupting hydrologic system.16

City of Marshall approx. 14,000 people located in Lyon County. Use 1.1 BGY.2 current (South Marshall & Dudley) well fields Permits allow 1.45 BGY.

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Water levels in the Dudley aquifer have dropped almost 50 feet since the early 1990s due to MMU pumping. Not a sustainable system and a main reason why MMU is expanding out to the Sandnes aquifer.18

Sandnes aquifer expansion (700 MGY). LPRW- $1.1 M on aquifer test. MMU $1.25M on test. Aquifer test at 4,600 gpm for 30 days for each entity (45 days total).LPRW wells influenced water levels on surface water features and we saw drawdown at calc. fen monitoring well to the east. Irrigation is expanding in the area. Cities of Cottonwood and Wood Lake also draw from the system. LPRW decided to pull out of area as a source.MMU will spend $10M for 28 mile pipeline to the existing city treatment field.19

Worthington: population of 13,000 located in Nobles County just above the Iowa border. Permitted 1.1 BGY use 1.08 in 2011.20

Worthington has 12 wells located as shown on map. Built Lake Bella reservoir for water infiltration in the 1950s. Lake Bella currently dry. City, Okabena-Ocheda and DNR WSD looking for ways to augment transfer of surface water to Lake Bella from upstream lakes. Riparian issues with transfer of water from one basin to another.

Completed a water interconnect with Oceola Rural Water in Iowa in November 2012 that supplies 340- gpm to city.

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Currently water levels are trending down. Water levels not as low as 1988 drought nor the 2000 drought in SW MN. Real concern of drawing water levels down to the aquifer.22

Picture of Lake Bella and Worthington wells in background. Lake Bella is dry.23

24Factors In Ground Water ManagementDesire

Industrial Growth

Municipal Supply

Agricultural GrowthLimitations

Climate Change

Water Use Conflicts

Natural Feature ImpactsDesires for economic growth in rural MN verses constraints. 25jim.sehl@state.mn.us (507) 537-6605 mndnr.gov