A 10-year Drinking Water Action Plan for the entire State of Minnesota officially launched Thursday at the New Brighton Water Treatment Plant, a first for the state.
The plan includes five broad goals:
Protect sources of drinking water, establish a resilient drinking water infrastructure, ensure safe tap water, anticipate and manage emerging risks, and engage partners.
"A safe, sufficient, and affordable supply of drinking water is essential for healthy Minnesotans, healthy communities, and for a healthy economy," Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dr. Brooke Cunningham explained.
Each public water supplier around the state has or will have a drinking water source protection plan.
"It has all the action steps they need to take to reduce the risk to their drinking water, whether it's from surface water or groundwater into the future," Shoreview City Council Member Paul Gardner added. "We can never guarantee what happens to our water, but we can reduce the risk to our water by as much as possible."
This study is happening at the same time the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is working on a state-funded report detailing just how many microplastics are in Minnesota’s surface, drinking, and groundwater.
That report is expected to be released next year, marking the first statewide snapshot of its kind.