by Bruce Olsen and Jeff Stoner
The Minnesota Groundwater Association (MGWA) and the Minnesota Well Owners Association (MNWOO) are cooperating on a project to encourage more testing of private water supply wells throughout Minnesota. The joint project is focusing on developing a community-based strategy that will increase private well owner knowledge and awareness of aquifers, wells, and drinking water standards. There is also focus on the need to increase well owners’ perception of the health risks of drinking unsafe well water while motivating them to take realistic actions to improve or protect the quality of their drinking water. Key components for meeting these needs are to 1) increase the convenience of private well water testing and 2) target testing on analytes that likely reflect geological or human caused contamination. Follow up with technical and practical support to private well owners on an ongoing basis is critical for establishing a strong groundwater steward partnership between them, their neighbors, and local governments. A major component of this entire effort for MGWA is to develop greater participation by MGWA members, particularly retirees, in volunteering to help at local water testing clinics and to provide follow up support to the owners of private wells.
A steering committee comprised of two representatives each from MGWA and MNWOO met for about a year to develop a work plan which was approved by the respective boards of the two organizations. This is a broad-based effort that has been divided into seven work teams that are developing the strategy for expanding water testing for private wells. For the purposes of this project, a private water well is defined as a well that supplies drinking water to people and which is not inspected or sampled by local, state, or federal governments under provisions of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Private water wells can supply drinking water to residences, recreational properties, farms, and small businesses, and we estimate that there are over 700,000 such wells in Minnesota.
Four of the seven teams started meeting in December 2020, and the other three will start up in late February or in March of 2021. A member of the steering committee serves as the liaison for each team as well as compiles their input into a report. There are 27 active participants who are volunteering their time to develop the strategy for expanding private well testing. About half of these volunteers are MGWA members. The following is a summary of each team’s charge under a project-wide scoping document and the status of their work –
Team 1- Volunteer Recruitment and Retiree Volunteerism has identified that the most effective volunteer programs have three stages: 1) the antecedent stage that identifies the characteristics and needs of willing volunteers, 2) the experience stage that develop relationships between the volunteers and the people that are being served, and 3) the consequences stage that focuses on the impacts that the volunteers have achieved. They are currently finalizing their recommendations and should have their work completed by late-March.
Team 2 – Resources for Well Clinic Volunteers and Water Professionals will start their work in mid-March.
Team 3 – Resources for Well Owners has determined that emphasis needs to focus on providing well owners with a greater understanding of the intrinsic value that their private well plays in personal health and family wellbeing. Their approach will focus on reaching out to the well owner at their respective understanding and engagement about importance of testing drinking-water health from their private well. Team 3 will complete its work by the end of February.
Team 4 – Methodology for Selecting Local Water Quality Analytes has developed the approach for recommending analytes that a well owner should have tested by a certified lab as follow up to attending a testing clinic. The methodology is based upon 1) information provided by the well owner and 2) a set of indicator analytes that will be used to assess a water sample that the well owner brings to the testing clinic. Determining whether follow up testing should focus on geological or human-caused contamination is central to determining what recommendations are made to a private well owner. Team 4 will complete its work by the end of February.
Team 5 – Strategy and Recommendations for Holding Local Water Testing Clinics will start their discussion in early March.
Team 6 – Compile Significant Data and Resources in Two Pilot Areas is addressing a number of issues and questions that affect prioritizing which data and resources are to be identified for two pilot areas as well as the expansion of private well testing statewide. The two pilot areas are 1) the karst area of southeastern Minnesota and 2) the central sands area in north central Minnesota. Also, these areas have been selected for a research effort by the University of Minnesota to conduct private well testing clinics with a focus on the social dynamics related to influencing owner behavior about water well management. Much of Team 6’s work crosses over into the topics that are being addressed by the other teams so this team will likely be meeting until early April.
Team 7 – Evaluating the Effectiveness of Water Testing Clinics will start meeting in early March.
Project Results – The goal is for all seven teams to complete their work by late May. The steering committee will be evaluating team recommendations and issues as they are received. A plan of action for the second phase of this project will be sent to the boards of directors for MGWA and MNWOO this summer. In addition to applying team input for the research project that will be conducted in the pilot areas previously mentioned, there is great opportunity to work with other private well water testing efforts that will be held over the coming year. In particular, it would be very helpful if you or someone you know would become involved in this project. There are a variety of things for you to do ranging from developing policy or guidance to participating at a testing clinic. For more information, please contact Bruce Olsen (sawdust2013@gmail.com) or Jeff Stoner (j_stoner@comcast.net)
MGWA is committed to developing a just, equitable, and inclusive groundwater community. Click on the button below to read MGWA’s full diversity statement.
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