Minnesota officials unveil state’s first ever Drinking Water Action Plan

Minnesota officials introduced the state’s first-ever Minnesota Drinking Water Action Plan on Thursday, which aims to ensure safe and sufficient drinking water for Minnesotans.

The 10-year plan includes five broad goals: protect sources of drinking water, establish resilient drinking water infrastructure, ensure safe tap water, anticipate and manage emerging risks and engage partners.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, threats to safe drinking water include arsenic, nitrate, and lead, as well as newer contaminants like PFAS, and a dwindling workforce to ensure safe water.

“Safe drinking water is essential for communities to thrive, and we’re grateful to the partners who helped us create a plan to protect the future of our water,” said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dr. Brooke Cunningham. “The Drinking Water Action Plan represents our commitment to continue to do everything in our power, and in collaboration with partners, to ensure safe and sufficient drinking water for everyone, everywhere in Minnesota.”

According to Thursday’s speakers, those most in need of safer water are those who obtain their drinking water from private wells and smaller systems, which are most at risk of contamination. The water plan is designed to create equity with those different systems to ensure Minnesotans have equal access to safe drinking water.

“In rural Minnesota, you’ll have small towns that have a well and then might have a few hundred people in it, but they have risks of things like the power going out, which means that then they have to have everyone boil their water,” Paul Gardner, retired administrator of the Clean Water Council, said. “We’ve done things with the clean water fund, like having generators so that water is continuously treated.”

The majority of Minnesotans, according to the plan, receive their water from public groundwater around 55%, with 25% of Minnesotans relying on public surface water, and the remianing 20% who receive water from private wells.

WATCH: Minnesota officials’ full press conference about the state’s first drinking water action plan