Minnesota draining its supplies of water

Josephine Marcotty in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: ...Minnesotans have always prided themselves on their more than 10,000 lakes, great rivers and the deep underground reservoirs that supply three-fourths of the state’s residents with naturally clean drinking water. But many regions in the state have reached the point where people are using water — and then sending it downstream — faster than the rain and snow can replenish it.

Last year, Minnesotans used a record amount of water, fueling a rising number of conflicts from the Iron Range to Pipestone. Now state regulators, who have never said no to a water permit, for the first time are planning to experiment with more stringent rules that will require some local communities to allocate scarce water.

“It’s scary,” said Dennis Healy, who runs the Pipestone Rural Water System in southwest Minnesota. “The time is coming that there is going to have to be some rationing.”

In the short term, that means farmers and businesses may have to share water with competitors, or even leave the state. Eventually, homeowners may face higher water bills and routine watering bans.The prolonged drought that scorched Minnesota last summer is not to blame, but it provides a glimpse into how climate change, with its weather extremes, could make matters even worse. From now on droughts may be more severe. And then when it rains, it often rains so hard that much of the water runs off the land before it can soak into the ground.

In Minnesota, how the rain falls and the snow melts is crucial because virtually all the state’s water comes from the sky. Over the centuries, water accumulated below the surface, slowly seeping into the ground and the aquifers that store many billions of gallons between grains of sand and fissures in the rock. Today that groundwater and the aquifers supply most of the homes, ethanol plants, millions of irrigated acres, swimming pools and golf courses across the state....

Pose Lake in Minnesota, shot by Reid Priedhorsky (R27182818)), Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Natural flood control could help prevent repeat Duluth's inundation

Duluth News Tribune: Tom Beery, an assistant professor in the Center for Environmental Education at the University of Minnesota Duluth, says the great rain and flood disaster of 2012 can become a defining moment in the community.

Beery, who also serves on the Duluth Parks Commission, recently wrote an opinion piece for the News Tribune that asks the community to take a new look at ways to re-vegetate urban areas to slow runoff.

“Would Miller Hill and Lincoln Park have flooded so dramatically if so much of the upper Miller Creek watershed was not paved? Would so many of our streets have been ripped apart if more water could have been absorbed upstream and if the overall flow to Lake Superior had been slower?” Beery asked. “We have an opportunity to address the challenges of climate change as we rebuild and redesign our beloved city. We also have the opportunity to use our collective vision for parks and trails to be a part of this transformation.”

As the city takes a breath from the cleanup and starts rebuilding for the future, efforts to ease the effects of the next big flood should be part of the conversation, Beery said.

Building green buffers in highly developed areas, redeveloping wetlands, building rain gardens and reducing impervious covers over the landscape — concrete and asphalt — all should be as much a part of reconstruction as repaving streets and replacing culverts.

But the city can go even farther. Encouraging mass transit to schools, institutions and even shopping centers might allow for smaller parking lots, for example, which could mean more wetlands and less runoff. That could help reduce flooding, promote wildlife in the city and allow people to watch that wildlife, Beery said. But it also would cut the carbon pollution that scientists say is causing the climate change that’s making it rain harder and more often...

Duluth's Aerial Lift Bridge over the Saint Louis River, shot by Alfred Essa, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Heat wave breaks temperature record in Twin Cities, buckles pavement on I-94

Andy Rathbun in the Pioneer Press at TwinCities.com: The season's first heat wave sent temperatures soaring into record territory Monday afternoon and buckled pavement on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis. The pavement failure on westbound I-94 at Lowry Avenue blocked three lanes of traffic and created major slowdowns. The problem started a little after 1:30 p.m. and continued into the evening rush hour as repairs were made, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Pavement blowouts were reported at 21 locations on metro highways, including seven on I-94 between the Lowry Tunnel in Minneapolis and Interstate 694. The National Weather Service office in Chanhassen issued an excessive heat warning for Hennepin and Ramsey counties. The warning began at 3 p.m. Monday and extends to 7 a.m. Wednesday.

The high temperature in the Twin Cities hit a record 97 degrees at 4:43 p.m. Monday. The old record of 95 was set in both 1979 and 1987….

A cooler moment on I-94 in Minneapolis, shot by AlexiusHoratius, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

New flood control system a success during recent Red River flood in East Grand Forks

PR Web: The flood control system established in East Grand Forks after the devastating 1997 Red River flood was put to the test this weekend when the Red River crested at 49.85 feet – and passed with flying colors.

“Some of the closures had two to three-and-a-half feet of water against them,” said Scott Gravseth, Distribution Superintendent at East Grand Forks Water and Light. “Overall we observed good performance with minimal seepage.”

The city installed the Invisible Flood Control Wall (IFCW) in response to the 1997 flood in which the sandbags and levees didn’t hold, submerging Main Street in four feet of water and causing an estimated $500 million in damage. City officials said they opted for the IFCW to preserve the aesthetics of the community, since it is only erected in the event of a flood. The main section of the IFCW that runs along the river in front of the Blue Moose Bar and Grill, Applebee’s, and Cabela’s, was installed in under 8 hours.

“Obviously, we’re very proud to have helped protect the great city of East Grand Forks,” said John Fryklund, Director of Marketing for Flood Control America, which is the manufacturer and distributor of the IFCW. “And the city of East Grand Forks can be proud to be protected by a system manufactured entirely in the United States by American workers.”…

U.S. Air Force personnel pile sandbags as citizens of the Grand Forks North Dakota community build a dike to hold back the rising Red River on April 17, 1997. Members of the 911th Air Refueling Squadron stationed at nearby Grand Forks Air Force Base are joining their community in the fight against the flood waters. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Charles Morris, U.S. Air Force

Red River begins slow decline in Fargo area

Reuters: The Red River on Sunday had started a gradual decline in the Fargo-Moorhead area after reaching a preliminary crest at the fourth-highest level on record with rain storms coming in lighter than expected. "Fortunately, most of the precipitation is coming in as pretty light," said Greg Gust, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

The Red River rose rapidly last week and appeared ready to threaten the 40.84 foot record crest at Fargo of two years ago. However, the rise had slowed considerably by Saturday. The weather service said Sunday the river had reached a preliminary crest in the Fargo-Moorhead area at 38.75 feet Saturday night with prolonged flooding expected.

The Red River had dipped more than two inches by Sunday morning to about 38.53 feet, the weather service said. It was expected to stay above 37 feet until Thursday afternoon…

Fargo, ND, March 24, 2009 -- US Coast Guard flyover to survey the Red River of the North flooding. Photo: Michael Rieger/FEMA

Red River flood mitigation plan requires state, local approvals

Dave Kolpack in the Insurance Journal: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it needs formal approval from state and local officials in two states by April 11 to keep alive the latest version of a planned Red River diversion around Fargo and neighboring Moorhead, Minn. The corps on Wednesday outlined recent changes to the project as workers for the agency were building temporary levees around the Fargo-Moorhead area. Residents are preparing to defend against what’s predicted to be a third straight major flood.

A record flood in 2009 forced thousands to evacuate, inundated about 100 homes and caused an estimated $100 million in damages. Last year’s flood crest was the sixth-highest on record. The diversion, which would move water west of the metropolitan area on the North Dakota side, originally was estimated at $1.25 billion. The latest changes have bumped up the cost to $1.7 billion. More than $950 million would come from sources other than the federal government.

Officials representing city and county governments said they expected approval of the updated plan. “We do not want to be the agency that kills this project. That’s the bottom line,” Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker said.

Even so, some are worried that the higher price tag could make the channel more difficult to sell to taxpayers. “That’s going to weigh heavy on a lot of people’s minds — how we’re going to pay for this,” said Darrell Vanyo, Cass County, N.D., commissioner….

A flooded neighborhood in Fargo, North Dakota, in March 2009. Photo by Patsy Lynch/FEMA