Last week, Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Steil reported in Mankato focuses on aquifer's health as water worries grow:
. . . While there's no danger of the aquifer going dry, and a recent analysis showed water levels have stabilized, officials worry pressures on the aquifer are intensifying, from above ground and below.
Mankato relies on water from Mt. Simon to mix with river water that is contaminated with nitrates from nearby cropland, said city manager Pat Hentges.
Blending the aquifer water with river sources keeps city drinking water within safe nitrate limits, he said. The nitrate problems could lead the city to drill deep into the Mt. Simon aquifer for more water. . . .
The editors of the Mankato Free Press had more to say about that in Our View: Increased nitrates put more demand on aquifers:
Why it matters: Communities such as Mankato must use more of limited deep aquifer water because of rising nitrogen contamination of rivers. . . .
But more attention needs to be paid to rising nitrate levels in rivers and lakes. That problem not only puts greater demand on water from deep aquifers but also causes algae growth in rivers and lakes that can destroy aquatic life.
Nitrates come from fertilizer that runs into the rivers and lakes, as well as from outdated individual septic systems.
City residents have a role in reducing the amount of grass clippings and fertilizer runoff from their lawns that go down storm sewers and end up in the rivers or lakes. And cities should continue their efforts to build more holding ponds that slow water runoff and allow pollutants to settle out of runoff water before it goes into rivers and lakes.
But scientific research shows a large amount of the nitrogen is caused by the increase in more efficient farmland drainage systems. The network of underground field tile quickly send water from millions of acres of farmland into ditches that flow into area rivers. That drainage water contains fertilizer from fields. But the increase in drainage also makes rivers rise very high, very fast. That causes dirt from river banks to erode into the river, carrying with it a lot of naturally occurring nitrogen that used to be held in the stream bank.
While increased rainfall amounts in recent years contributes to the erratic rise in rivers, scientists have found the increased precipitation has a relatively small impact on the rising rivers compared to the increased flow from farm drainage.
For the safety of drinking water, the future of aquifers and the health of rivers and lakes, the state and federal governments, city residents and farm organizations need to do more to address the nitrate problems.
This is timely material. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture announced this week that the Comment period [was] extended for proposed nitrogen fertilizer rule, the Fargo Forum reports:
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has extended the public comment period for its draft proposal for the use of nitrogen fertilizer in the state.
The purpose of the proposed nitrogen fertilizer rule is to minimize the potential for nitrate-nitrogen contamination in groundwater and drinking water. Public comments will now be accepted through Friday, Aug. 25.
A public listening session on the rule will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 27, at Hawley High School, 714 Joseph St., Hawley, Minn.
All comments regarding the proposed rule must be submitted in writing. After consideration of comments received, the MDA expects to publish the final draft of the rule in fall 2017. The rule is expected to be adopted in fall 2018.
Written comments on the draft nitrogen fertilizer rule should be submitted by Friday, Aug. 25, via mail or email to: Larry Gunderson, Fertilizer Technical Unit Supervisor, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, 625 Robert St. N., St. Paul, MN 55155-2538 or [email protected]. The MDA asks that comments include a contact name, phone number and/or email address to allow for follow-up discussion.
Readers can take a look at the draft rule and learn more here.
Photo: Runoff from a young corn field.
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