The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recently announced its second groundwater management area plan to guide water use permitting, and this one covers central Minnesota.

The Bonanza Valley Groundwater Management Area covers parts of Stearns, Pope and Kandiyohi counties along with smaller sections of Douglas, Meeker, Swift and Todd counties.

PUMPING MORE: Over the last 25 years, irrigation has tripled in central Minnesota in the region known as Bonanza Valley.

Groundwater resources in the Bonanza Valley are at risk of overuse and degraded quality, according to the DNR. Over the past 25 years, permitted groundwater use in the region has tripled, mostly due to increasing agricultural irrigation. In 2013, reported groundwater use reached an all-time high of 17 billion gallons, of which 95% was used for crop irrigation. In 2015, 74,562 acres are under irrigation in Bonanza Valley.

Plan covers 5 years
The 117-page groundwater management plan, developed over a two-year period by DNR staff and a stakeholder advisory team, will guide DNR actions over the next five years for the appropriation and use of groundwater in the Bonanza Valley. The agency’s goals are for groundwater use to cause no harm to aquifers and ecosystems in the region and to have no negative impact on surface waters; for groundwater use to be reasonable, efficient and in compliance with water conservation requirements; for groundwater use not to degrade water quality; for groundwater use not to create unresolved well interferences or water use conflicts; and for all groundwater users to have necessary permits to use groundwater.

“The plan does a good job of explaining the biophysical nature of the Bonanza Valley, identifying current and potential future groundwater concerns, and how the DNR is going to accomplish legislative and rule mandates regarding establishing surface and groundwater thresholds, 100% permit compliance, and groundwater and surface water monitoring,” says Brad Wenz, soil conservationist with the Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District. Wenz was one of the 27 members of the plan’s advisory team.

According to the plan, the DNR will install more surface and groundwater monitoring wells and stations in Bonanza Valley, and will check for full compliance with existing water permitting rules. Specifically, the plan calls for six new stream water-flow monitoring gauges, four new wetland monitoring wells and up to 15 groundwater level monitoring wells. Currently, there are 49 groundwater level monitoring wells in the region.

The agency also will review all preliminary well approval actions to determine compliance with permitting requirements. If needed, the DNR will modify permits, including adjustments of permitted volume to match actual use and need.

“I’m not sure if there will be a lot of permit modifications, especially if [the number of] groundwater and surface monitoring wells and stations has not been significantly increased,” Wenz says. “DNR will need substantial data to prove that a permit needs to be modified, and will give ample warning. Also, the permit holder has the opportunity for a public hearing.”

Impact on irrigators
Farmers who irrigate their cropland may see more paperwork due to additional DNR analysis of preliminary approvals, existing permits and new appropriation permits, Wenz says. Irrigators should see improvements in the permitting process, including easier access to information regarding permitting and reporting requirements, he adds.

Wenz notes that most irrigators are in favor of the management plan.

“The plan spells out a framework for maintaining groundwater sustainability, and most irrigators appreciate the significance of this,” he says. However, one concern that they have is that the data the DNR use in managing new and existing appropriation permits are accurate.

“I think the plan addresses this concern,” he adds.

Jim Anderson, a Belgrade farmer, board member of Irrigators Association of Minnesota and a member of the DNR’s Bonanza Valley advisory board, points out that the main impact on irrigated acres has yet to be defined. The DNR has been commissioned and the framework has been set up to develop and apply sustainability thresholds for aquifers, ecosystems and surface waters.

“[This] needs to be monitored so a sensible, science-based approach is developed,” Anderson says.

Anderson says irrigators also would be interested in reading Appendix C of the groundwater management plan, which addresses water use conflicts.

“If there is a multiyear drought and irrigated water use needs to be limited, this document asks local irrigators and other water users to submit a plan to the DNR to provide for proportionate appropriation of water,” he says. Anderson raises corn, sugarbeets and edible beans under irrigation.

Anderson notes that research and communication of new water conservation technologies should be an important part of the sustainable water use plan.

“Legacy money would be an appropriate source of funding for this research,” he adds.

The Bonanza Valley Groundwater Management Area is one of three groundwater management areas identified by the DNR in the state. The North and East Twin Cities Metropolitan Area was designated in November 2015, and the Straight River near Park Rapids in north-central Minnesota has yet to be designated.

More information, including plans and maps for the Bonanza Valley Groundwater Management Area, can be found on the project webpage, dnr.state.mn.us/gwmp/area-bv.html.