Ground Level Blog

A symposium on water in Minneapolis ended with the question, what would you do with a million dollars to spend on water in Minnesota? It got three different answers that had something in common.
Gov. Dayton joins the call to spend money on broadband infrastructure. So far, the House wants to spend $25 million; the Senate has not approved any spending.
Senate approves tougher water permit rules for DNR
The Minnesota Senate approved legislation that would give the Department of Natural Resources more authority to fine irrigators and others who use large amounts of groundwater without a permit.
Environmental group questions Senate funds for White Bear Lake solution
Friends of the Mississippi River says a Senate proposal to spend $800,000 studying whether to fill White Bear Lake with river water is a bad idea. It doesn’t solve the larger problem and it’s already being studied by the Metropolitan Council, the group says.
Minnesota’s rural broadband gap shrinks
Broadband adoption continues to rise slowly among Minnesotans, and the gap between rural and urban use is shrinking. But more than 100,000 school-age children do not have access at home.
How MPR News found hundreds of irrigation wells pumping groundwater without a required state permit.
Can we use grass that needs less water?
A number of drier cities in the United States have been offering incentives to get rid of lawns, but in Minnesota the question might more likely be about finding grass that needs less water.
Why not just fill up White Bear Lake from one of the rivers?
The city of White Bear Lake last week was allowed to join the defense in the lawsuit over the level of the lake, a reminder that the case is simmering along as a mediator tries to help forge an agreement. • Beneath the Surface: Minnesota’s Pending Groundwater Challenge Homeowners and businesses near the shrunken lake Read more →