The Alexandria Echo Press reports in DNR meeting to look at Bonanza Valley water use:
The Minnesota DNR will hold a public meeting from 1-3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 11 in Glenwood to talk about a proposal that could affect farmers who irrigate and others who get state permits to use large amounts of groundwater.
The proposed plan affects the Bonanza Valley, where the DNR says groundwater resources are at risk of becoming overused and degraded. Part of the valley extends into southeastern Douglas County.
Over the past 25 years, permitted groundwater use in Bonanza Valley has nearly tripled, the DNR says, at a rate five times faster than the state as a whole. Agricultural irrigation has grown the fastest, and is expected to continue to grow.
The state is concerned that continued growth could affect drinking water, as well as plant and animal habitat. Permits are required when users withdraw more than 10,000 gallons of water per day, or 1 million gallons per year.
The meeting, to be held at the Glenwood State Bank conference room on the second floor, is aimed at residents of Stearns, Pope and Kandiyohi counties and others who could be affected by the proposal. About 18,000 people live within the affected area or close to it, the DNR says.
Called the Bonanza Valley Groundwater Management Area Plan, it outlines how the DNR will ensure that groundwater supplies in the area remain adequate to meet individual and community needs while protecting lakes, streams and wetlands.
Learn more about the area at the DNR's webpage, Bonanza Valley Groundwater Management Area (GWMA). Read the Bonanza Valley Groundwater Management Area Plan PDF for even more information.
Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Haugen's 2014 report, Big rise in irrigation pumping draws DNR attention to Minnesota's 'Bonanza Valley, is a good introduction to the genesis of the plan.
Photo: An irrigation rig watering a corn field. Via the MN DNR's Bonanza Valley Groundwater Management Area (GWMA) webpage.
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