New Technical Report Regarding Sustainable Groundwater Use in the Little Rock Creek Area

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has recently completed a new technical report titled “Evaluation of Conceptual Groundwater-Use Management Actions”. This report describes several possible ways to use water differently next to Little Rock Creek that could improve stream flow conditions in the creek. High volume groundwater pumping in the area has increased over the past two decades (see page 19 of the report), and has cumulatively reduced stream flow at times, which is negatively effecting the stream’s ecosystem.

This new report describes several options for improving stream flow, including: enhancing irrigation-water conservation, replacement of some irrigation wells with more distant wells, uniform reduction of water use, and stream flow augmentation with well water. The report also compares each of these option’s anticipated effect on stream flow, the relative cost and the potential challenges to implementing each option. It also defines an area next to Little Rock Creek where high volume pumping is most closely tied to reducing stream flow.

Earlier this year, the DNR met with area stakeholders to discuss the preliminary analysis and begin to collaborate on solutions. Today’s release of the final analysis will help support this collaboration.

Next Steps

A group of water users in the Little Rock Creek Area have initiated discussions with the goal of proposing to the DNR their preferred way to provide water for irrigation in a way that avoids the adverse impacts and aligns with Minnesota statutes on groundwater sustainability.

The DNR is committed to meeting with permitted water users, to provide information, to provide additional technical analysis, and to work towards development of a proposal the DNR can review and approve. The DNR will continue to keep the public and permitted water users informed and involved.

Contact Information

Questions about this project can be addressed to Mark Hauck, DNR project manager, 320-223-7846, mark.hauck@state.mn.us

 For more information on the Little Rock Creek area groundwater project, visit the project web page at www.mndnr.gov/littlerock. For more information on DNR’s groundwater management programs, visit www.mndnr.gov/gwmp/index.html.