Regional water supply plan ready for public review
Today the Twin Cities metro area is a relatively water-rich region. But the region’s steady population growth, combined with localized water supply limitations, requires careful planning so that future generations may also enjoy an adequate supply of water.
The Metropolitan Council this month released its draft Metropolitan Area Master Water Supply Plan, and in December will hold three public meetings to get feedback. The Council developed the plan in partnership with local governments and several agencies, and with oversight by the multi-agency Metropolitan Water Supply Advisory Committee, over a period of three years.
The master plan includes a water supply profile for each community in the seven-county region. The profiles include information about water demand and water supply sources, and issues specific to each community that need to be addressed as part of water appropriation permitting.
The public meetings are:
- Tuesday, Dec. 2, Woodbury City Hall
- Wednesday, Dec. 3, Savage City Hall
- Thursday, Dec. 4, Maple Grove Government Center
All three meetings will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.
“This has been a very positive collaborative effort by the Council and its partners,” said Council Chair Peter Bell. “The plan lays out a process for ensuring that potential supply issues are addressed in a timely way so that future generations can access the water they need.”
Plan includes water supply profile for each community
The master plan provides water utilities and water supply planners with regionally consistent data and analyses to evaluate source availability and regional effects of water withdrawals. It also includes a water supply profile for each community in the seven-county region. The profiles have information about water demand and water supply sources, including options available to the community. The profiles outline issues specific to each community that need to be addressed as part of water appropriation permitting.
“The water supply master plan identifies issues that must be addressed and steps to address them to ensure supplies are developed in a sustainable way,” said Chris Elvrum, manager of water supply planning for the Council. “It does not dictate how communities must develop their supply sources.”
Supply is adequate to meet projected demand
Map shows projected drawdown levels of the Prairie du Chien-Jordan aquifer in 2050, compared with today, if additional demand management strategies are not employed, such as increased conservation. VIEW LARGER MAP (PDF).
New groundwater modeling, and other studies that were completed to develop the plan, determined that the region’s water supply is adequate to meet projected demand. However, supplies are not equally available to all communities, Elvrum said. “Steps will need to be taken to avoid adverse impacts from withdrawals in some areas, particularly where high growth is projected and/or sensitive natural areas are present.”
This will not be a new situation for the metro area. Communities in the southwest metro area, facilitated by the Council, have been working together for more than a decade to ensure that water withdrawals do not adversely impact sensitive environmental areas in the Minnesota River basin.
“Cooperation among communities will become more important in supplying water to meet projected demands,” Elvrum said.
Communities can help manage demand
The plan details a variety of demand management strategies that communities can employ to help offset local water supply limitations. These include:
- Summer sprinkling restrictions
- Leak detection and repair
- Conservation education
- Topsoil requirements
- Turf area limitations
These practices are likely to become standard as supply issues increase, Elvrum said.
The plan sets up a collaborative process for ongoing planning. “We will incorporate new information as it becomes available in order to update the analyses and predictions using the best available tools with the most complete and up-to-date information,” Elvrum said.
The public comment period is open until December 16. Following that, the advisory committee is expected to make final changes to the plan, and Council adoption will occur in early 2009.