FIRST DRINKING WATER ACTION PLAN LAUNCHED IN MINNESOTA

The Minnesota Department of Health has launched the state’s first-ever “Drinking Water Action Plan” to outline strategies for protecting drinking water from source to tap over the next ten years.  The plan was launched today (Thursday) at the New Brighton Water Treatment plant.  The plan was launched in an effort to protect the state’s drinking water system from threats like arsenic, nitrate and lead along with newer threats like PFAS chemicals.  The plan highlights things Minnesota is doing well like identifying and managing potential threats to drinking water sources for public water systems, ensuring public water systems are in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and scanning for emerging contaminant risks.  The Minnesota Department of Agriculture, DNR, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Board of Water and Soil Resources, Public Facilities Authority and Metropolitan Council collaborated with the Department of Health on the plan.  Over one million Minnesotans rely on a private well for their drinking water.