2009-01-22_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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~~~1,,,,._-= 3~, No. ~; , `- - l ~ /- - - = ~;'~Sr1~r~'2;,:~"r, rc'r~~,)i,~. ~(~,, ,i;~ ,~1C, _,7r: fflid; lo, ) ~ f'i~, December 200 ~~ a ~ ~ .. .~ ~~ ..;.; d ~ .~ ;, ~,', f` i; ~, ~~.-.j .~ ;j Research docuynen~s growing chloride contamination in Twin Cities his winter, snowplow crews will spread a half-million tons of rock salt on highways, bridges and parking lots across Minnesota. Almost all that mountain of salt eventually will wash off the roads and other paved surfaces and find its way into soil, streams, lakes and ground water aquifers. For years, research across the United States and Canada has demonstrated the harmful effects of high levels of chloride-a major component of road salt-on aquatic plants and invertebrates and has pointed to road salt as the likely cause of increasing chloride concentrations. Now, new work by a team of University of Min- nesota researchers, provides important confirmation that road salt is the cause of chloride contamination Road salt pollutes... Continues on page 3 i i- I G = E A Minnesota Department ofTransportationsnowplow spreads salt on an icy road. _, , , ~ .~ Freshwater co-hosts seminar Model predicts metro decline ore data collection. Easier access to existing data. A .t. `,~i._a.census of springs where underground water flows to the surface. Discussion of the economics of water and the costs and savings of water conservation. Modeling of "worst case scenarios" that might produce serious water shortages in Minnesota. Put 70 ground water scientists in a room, and those are the kind of suggestions you will get on what needs to be done to reliably predict whether Minnesota's ground water use is sustainable into the future. On Nov. 12, hydrologists, engineers and employees of a number of government agencies responsible for ground water attended a daylong seminar co-sponsored by the Freshwater Society and the University of Mimnesota's Water Resources Center. The seminar resulted, in part, from a recent Freshwater report, Water Is Life: Protecting A Critical Resource for Future Generations, that concluded many water experts could not Seminar seeks susiainahilitz/ anstverti... Continues orr page 5 ~` Tater levels in the Twin Cities' main underground aquifer will drop 10 to 20 feet in parts of Wash- ington and Dakota counties over the next two decades, and a number of communities across the metro area could face conflicts between ground water pumping and healthy wetlands and trout streams, new computer modeling predicts. The modeling, performed over the last year as part of a draft Master Water Supply Plan prepared by the Metropolitan Council, predicts that-overall-the seven- county Twin Cities metro area will have enough ground water to serve a population projected to increase by nearly 50 percent by 2050. But a number of suburbs might have to find alternate sources of water if the water-level declines and the inter- ference with surface waters occur as the model forecasts they will. Woodbury and Cottage Grove face particu- larly serious declines, according to the modeling. Met Council model predicts grou~zd water... C072ti11UP6 o~z page 9