Addressing the groundwater challenges of today and tomorrow

Written By Mike Isensee

Washington County is nearing the end of its current 10-year Groundwater Plan, and according to Stephanie Souter, Senior Program Manager with Washington County Public Health & Environment, “A lot has changed since 2014 – and I don’t just mean COVID.”

There is now a North & East Metro Groundwater Management Area Plan, developed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in 2015; an ongoing legal and legislative debate regarding the DNR’s ability to issue new or expanded groundwater pumping permits within five miles of White Bear Lake (initial court order in 2017); an $850 million settlement between 3M and the State of Minnesota related to PFAS contamination (2018); and a Lower St. Croix Watershed Plan, developed by 16 local government partners in Washington, Chisago, Anoka, Isanti and Pine Counties in 2020. In short, groundwater conversations in the region are anything but boring.

https://eastmetrowater.org/2023/10/09/addressing-the-groundwater-challenges-of-today-and-tomorrow/

Mike Isensee
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