New MGWA White Paper – Minnesota’s 1989 Ground Water Protection Act: Legacy and Future Directions

December 22, 2022

MGWA and the Minnesota K-12 Education Standards for Science Intersection

December 22, 2022

By Cathy Undem, MGWA Education Committee Chair In 2016 MGWA published Minnesota’s Groundwater Education Gap (mgwa.org) white paper.  The white paper identified the following finding: “The limited scope of the current Minnesota academic standards and benchmarks relating to groundwater education provides for a wide variety of options to increase K-12 student education about groundwater. Essentially, there is a clean slate on which to develop expanded academic requirements.” Revisions to the…

New Lake Nokomis Area Groundwater & Surface Water White Paper Published

December 22, 2022

from the MGWA Newsletter Team During the wettest seven years on record in the Twin Cities, 2013-2019, property owners southwest of Lake Nokomis reported water-related concerns to the City of Minneapolis. Concerns included wet basements, wet backyards, sinkholes, impacts to private sewer lines, and extended periods of saturated soils in previously dry areas. In response, the City of Minneapolis assembled a multi-agency team to evaluate what could be contributing to…

Fall Conference Presentations and Audio Available

December 22, 2022

by MGWA Newsletter Team After almost three years of virtual meetings, the MGWA Fall Conference was held in person again on November 17th, 2022 at the Heritage Center of Brooklyn Center! The meeting’s theme was mining and Minnesota’s water resources. The topics presented included an overview of the state’s mining districts, characterization and modeling of fractured rock aquifers, assessment of mine dewatering effects, an overview of the DNR’s mining hydrology…

MGWA Social Coordinator

December 22, 2022

President’s Letter

September 30, 2022

MGWA Fall Conference – Minnesota Mining and Water Resources

September 30, 2022

MGWA’s fall conference will be held on November 17th, 2022 and will focus on topics related to the interaction between mining activities and water resources. Mining of industrial and metallic minerals contributes significantly to Minnesota’s economy and large mineral reserves position the state to continue to play a key role in meeting future global demand. Understanding, predicting, and managing the potential impacts from mining on the state’s water resources presents…

New Article on Chloride in Groundwater

September 30, 2022

from the MGWA Newsletter Team The University of Minnesota recently published an article in the journal Groundwater on chloride concentrations in the bedrock aquifers in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. This study used historical data from the MDA, MDNR, and MPCA and found the highest concentrations were in the uppermost Quaternary aquifers. Concentrations in the underlying bedrock aquifers were negatively correlated with the thickness and clay composition of overlying materials.…

MGWA Employment Opportunities Page

September 30, 2022

MGWA has an Employment Opportunities page on our website: Employment Opportunities (mgwa.org). If you are looking for employment, check it out! If you are looking to fill an open position, send a job description to office@mgwa.org for posting (and please let us know when the position has been filled). MGWA Newsletter Main Page MGWA is committed to developing a just, equitable, and inclusive groundwater community. Click on the button below…

President’s Letter

June 24, 2022

Volunteers Needed for Screening Well-Water Quality

June 24, 2022

MDH Releases New PFAS Dashboard

June 24, 2022

Minnesota residents who get their drinking water from a community public water system can find out if their system’s water has any level of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) through an interactive online dashboard that Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) released on June 7. The website shows results of statewide testing in public water systems; latest data show most systems do not have PFAS at or above levels of concern. Interactive Online Dashboard According…