DNR to crack down on Dodge County illegal water users

In response to concerns about water wells drying up and large feedlots potentially draining water without proper permits, the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is stepping up efforts to nab violators. 
The DNR has launched a compliance sweep of the region’s growing livestock industry. The areas targeted right now will be Dodge, Freeborn, Blue Earth and Martin counties. 
A lifelong resident of Westfield Township, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he filed a complaint with the DNR because he has been experiencing problems with his water levels dropping since 2000. Westfield Township is located in southern Dodge County just east of Blooming Prairie. 
The resident said he was referred to the DNR because he got no results with county agencies. A team from the DNR showed up a few weeks ago to find out why the water level in the man’s private well keeps dropping. 
“My well is going dry,” the resident said. “There is too much local usage.”
He said a local well company told him that the culprit of the decreasing water levels is feedlots, namely large hog operations in the area. Since 2000, feedlot operators have built new facilities for more than 30,000 hogs within a 2-mile radius of his home.
“We’re going to find out if I have a bad well or if the water usage has increased too much,” the resident said. 
The DNR has vowed to test all wells within a 2-mile radius of the man’s home. And that has created some unwanted tensions the man would rather not deal with. In fact, it’s the reason why he doesn’t want to be publicly identified at this time. 
“It’s like throwing gas on fire,” the man said. “People are not too happy to have their wells tested. They feel threatened. The DNR has a lot of authority they don’t want to get tangled up with.”
There are 234 registered feedlots in Dodge County, according to feedlot officer Chad Knutson. The largest facility contains 2,240 head of cattle in the northeastern part of the county, he said.
Going into the DNR’s compliance sweep, only six Dodge County feedlots currently hold water appropriation permits, according to Dan Girolamo, a DNR supervisor in Waterville who is heading up the crackdown. 
Feedlots utilizing more than 10,000 gallons per day or 1 million gallons of water each year must have a permit, Girolamo said. Operations that have more than 2,000 animals would consume from 2.6 million to 3.5 million gallons of water a year, based on DNR estimates.
“We’re going to work with county feedlot officers to identify operators that exceed the threshold,” Girolamo said, noting he fully expects to find operators who are not in compliance. 
The DNR recently hired three new hydrologists, allowing the farm well sweep across southern Minnesota. This is the organization’s first big project. Girolamo noted that the DNR plans to broaden the sweep to other counties, including Steele and Mower, most likely later this year. 
In his three years with the DNR, Girolamo said, there has never been a compliance sweep.  
Said Girolamo of the crackdown: “We’re tasked with implementing Minnesota’s water laws. To not do that is not doing our job.”  
He said the DNR’s primary concern is to protect groundwater resources. “We’re monitoring the water supply, which is a public resource,” Girolamo said, adding some people take groundwater resources for granted, but it has limits.
This initiative comes as DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr has expressed wider concerns that Minnesota needs to do a better job of conserving and protecting groundwater against growing farm and municipal demands.
Feedlot operators wishing to become compliant can use the Minnesota Permitting and Reporting System, which is available through the DNR’s website.
Dodge County’s feedlot officer appreciates the efforts of the DNR. “I think it’s good to track water usage,” Knutson said. “It’s good to know how much these facilities are using.”
For some Westfield Township residents, the DNR’s efforts can’t come soon enough. They want their water pressure back to what it used to be without battling heated tensions displayed by some feedlot operators.
“I’ve had some intimidation,” the unidentified resident said. “It’s not pleasant out here anymore. I don’t like to live this way.”