Region’s growing population may strain future water supply

Council advisory committee holds public workshops to promote dialogue

The Mississippi River supplies water to 870,000 people in the Twin Cities area each day. Nearly twice as many people depend on municipal or private wells. These same sources will need to supply an additional million people in the next 30 years.

Good drinking water is plentiful in the region today, but population and economic growth may stretch the supply’s limits in the future.

While water supplies that serve the region cross physical and municipal boundaries, most local municipalities develop and operate their water utilities independently. Decisions in one city can affect water resources in a neighboring city. Clearly, water is an issue that transcends political boundaries.

In 2005, the Minnesota Legislature authorized formation of the Metropolitan Area Water Supply Advisory Committee to work with the Metropolitan Council to address a variety of questions about the region’s water supply, including:

Are there ways to help communities work together to protect the safety and reliability of this vital resource?
Should the region identify critical infrastructure pieces and begin raising money to assure their completion?
How can the region ensure that resources are used sustainably and without adverse environmental impacts?
Can the region take steps today to help communities avoid future moratoriums on growth and development?
Is the region ready to practice water conservation to reduce stress on the region’s water supplies?

The committee’s primary task is to assist the Council as it completes technical studies and develops a master plan to help ensure the reliability, security and cost-effectiveness of the water supply system in the seven-county metropolitan area. A Phase I report is due to the Legislature in January 2007.

Public workshops scheduled in May and June

As part of Phase I, the committee has scheduled a series of three stakeholder dialogues. Committee representatives will meet with local officials, utility representatives, planners, other key stakeholders and members of the public at three locations to discuss the work of the committee, the state of existing water supplies and participant views about issues that will affect future water delivery.