Minnesota's Groundwater Education Gap Preparing Students to Effectively Manage our Groundwater Resources in the Future

Approximately three million Minnesotans who live in communities rely on groundwater for drinking and the 1.3 million who live elsewhere have wells. Furthermore, groundwater recharges many lakes and streams, supports habitat for many plants and animals, and is a more dependable source of water supply than surface water. Pumping to meet the water supply demands of communities, industry, agriculture, and mining is having an increasing impact on sustaining the amount of groundwater that is available locally. About 83 percent of community public water supplies derived from groundwater require some level of water-quality treatment (Minnesota Department of Health oral communication, November 2016). The natural quality of groundwater often requires community water suppliers and well owners to add treatment to reduce its hardness and to remove iron, manganese, arsenic, radium and other such contaminants. Human-caused contamination such as from fuel, solvents, and nutrients has impaired groundwater quality in some areas to the point that treatment is required to meet state and federal drinking water standards. Yet, with the statewide dependence that Minnesotans have on groundwater, many lack the basic knowledge about it to make informed decisions that will protect its quality and quantity for future generations.