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The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) created an action plan that would layout the needed steps to accomplish the desired plans. This plan is broken into four areas: - All Aquifers in Southwest Clay County
- The Buffalo Aquifer
- The Border Aquifer
- Any Other Aquifers in Clay County (if discovered)
(Green highlight indicates task complete) All Aquifers in Southwest Clay County | Action | Steps | Who | | County Atlas Part A | Standard Process | Minnesota Geological Society
(MGS) | | Wilkin County unpublished data mapped | GIS Mapping | Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) | | County Atlas Part B | Standard Process | DNR | | Comprehensive Water Supply Plan for SW Clay County | Draft Plan, Public Comment, Plan Adoption | Clay County, MPS, DNR |
The Buffalo Aquifer Action | Steps | Who | Identify Project Manager | COMPLETED | Troy Hall, MPS | Build Cooperating Group | Meetings and public communications | MPS, County, DNR | Secure funding and in-kind services | Determine amounts, proposals, deliver services, funding obtained | MPS, County w/assistance from DNR, MGS, USGS | Identify permitted water use in Clay County | Database search, map preparation | DNR | Communications Website | Identify options, obtain expertise, develop site, go live, keep updated | MPS | Summarize past studies | Review and report | USGS or DNR | Ground water level monitoring both | Standard monitoring protocol | MPS, County, DNR | Determine need for further aquifer location verification | Review data and confer | MGS, NDR, USGS | County Well Index (CWI) well locations | Survey (x,y) wells in CWI & use LIDAR | MPS, County, MGS | Stream flow gauging and TMDL data collection | Identify existing data, establish new locations, collaborations | DNR, Dept, of Ag, MPCA | Identify water sources that could be impacted by pumping | Review and analyze data collected | DNR, USGS | CWI well locations | Verify known well locations, find
un-located wells | MGS
(County Atlas Part A, phase 1) | Chemical sampling wells | Gather existing data, standard sampling protocol | MPS, County, Dept of Ag | Additional monitoring to define aquifer (if needed) | Standard exploration drilling | MGS or DNR | Resources test and analysis | Standard resources (aquifer) test | DNR | Modeling of scenarios | Incorporate data, identify scenarios, run model | MPS, DNR | Prepare draft Buffalo Aquifer Plan | Report preparation | MPS, DNR, County | Public review and adoption of Aquifer Management Plan | Adoption plan prepared, adopted by DNR, MPS, and County | MPS, DNR, County |
The Border Aquifer Action | Steps | Who | Locate wells in aquifer | CWI search | MPS, NDR | Well locations | Survey (x,y) wells | MPS, County | Chemical sampling wells | Standard sampling protocols | MPS, County | Water level monitoring | Standard monitoring protocols | MPS, County, DNR | Review of Border Aquifer as water supply | Review and analyze data | DNR, MPS, County |
Other AquifersAction | Steps | Who | Test and explore additional aquifers | Following completion of
Part A of
County Atlas | TBD |
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The Action Plan