Clean Water Quality
Groundwater Isn’t Infinite: Engineering Water Security for Minnesota
In Minnesota, over 75% of people rely on groundwater aquifers for their drinking water. But as high-volume industrial users and data centers expand, there must be scientific oversight to keep our municipal taps flowing, clean, and safe for Minnesotans.
Chief-authored by Senator Ann Johnson Stewart, Minnesota clean water legislation S.F. 3852 creates strict, independent DNR water permitting standards for commercial operations drawing over 100 million gallons per year.
“It can be easy for many of us to think that water is an infinite resource. The reality is we are all taking water from aquifers or wells, which, if not carefully managed, can run dry. These are natural resources we all use for our drinking water, but recently we have seen large industrial and commercial users moving into our communities.” — Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart
Enforcing Minnesota’s Priority List: Domestic Drinking Water Comes First
Minnesota law is explicit about who gets water first during a shortage or regional drawdown. Under Minnesota Statutes § 103G.261, water allocation is strictly categorized by necessity:
- Priority 1: Domestic water supply (residential drinking water) and power production.
- Priority 5: Commercial and industrial water uses.
The Policy Gap
Under current loopholes, mega-industrial users (such as hyperscale data centers or commercial bottling facilities) can bypass independent DNR review by “piggybacking” on a city’s municipal water allocation. This forces cities to act as middlemen, risking their own residential drinking water allocations for commercial demands.
Engineering Insight: Water Allocation Priority
Definition: The state-mandated ranking system governing who maintains access to water when regional groundwater levels drop.
The Problem: When commercial entities piggyback on municipal systems, Priority 5 industrial use gets mixed into Priority 1 domestic drinking permits, hiding true aquifer drawdown.
Closing the Industrial Loophole (S.F. 3852)
Senator Johnson Stewart chief-authored S.F. 3852 to restore regulatory accountability. The bill establishes clear triggers that require mega-users to obtain individual DNR permits:
- The 100 Million Gallon Threshold: Any commercial or industrial user drawing more than 100 million gallons of water per year must obtain an individual DNR water-use permit.
- The 50% Municipal Trigger: Any commercial user requiring 50% or more of a city’s total annual water allocation cannot hide behind municipal permits and must undergo independent state review.
“By implementing water permits for industrial and commercial uses exceeding 100 million gallons of water per year, we are ensuring the state can manage water use proactively into the future, and that the public has access to plentiful drinking water.” — Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart
The Science of “Well Interference” & Aquifer Pump Testing
High-volume water extraction creates localized drawdown underground, known in civil engineering as a “Cone of Depression.” When an industrial pump runs continuously, it can pull down the water table for surrounding residential wells—a phenomenon formally regulated by the state as Well Interference.
The Engineering Fix: S.F. 3852 mandates rigorous hydrogeologic aquifer pump testing prior to permit approval. Rather than relying on computer modeling assumptions, applicants must conduct empirical 72-hour pump tests to scientifically prove that their extraction will not compromise nearby private wells or city water infrastructure.
During these mandatory 72-hour stress tests, state hydrologists monitor the surrounding aquifer network while the commercial applicant pumps water at their maximum requested rate. This creates a real-world baseline, allowing engineers to map the exact radius of the cone of depression and verify the recharge rate of the aquifer. If the test proves that the industrial pumping will draw the water table below the intake pipes of neighboring municipal or private residential wells, the permit cannot be issued, forcing the applicant to find a new water source or scale down their operations.
Engineering Insight: Well Interference
The Safeguard: Mandatory DNR hydrogeologic pump testing simulates peak extraction rates to ensure nearby wells stay protected before permits are issued.
Protecting Taxpayers, Community Transparency, & Safe Taps
Protecting clean water is fundamentally a consumer affordability issue:
- Preventing Taxpayer Rate Hikes: If an industrial facility overburdens a local water treatment plant or depletes a municipal well field, city residents are forced to pay for multi-million-dollar system upgrades through higher local utility bills and property taxes. S.F. 3852 ensures commercial users pay for their own infrastructure impact.
- The 30-Day Public Comment Mandate: S.F. 3852 legally mandates a 30-day public notice and comment period for all large-volume permit applications, ensuring local homeowners, farmers, and city councils have a voice before major water approvals are finalized.
- PFAS & Contaminant Defense: Paired with state capital bonding requests for local water plant overhauls—such as the $15 million local bonding package Senator Johnson Stewart successfully secured in 2026, which included direct appropriations for Spring Park municipal infrastructure—Ann is advocating for dedicated Clean Water Legacy Funds to help communities filter out emerging contaminants like PFAS (“forever chemicals”).