A growing awareness about Minnesotas groundwater challenges is about to hit the residents of Park Rapids in the wallet. Fees for city water are going up roughly 25 percent to help pay for a $2.5 million treatment plant. The new plant is needed because the citys old water supply has become too contaminated with nitrates from fertilizer applied by farmers in the area. Dick Rutherford, who owns a business and two homes in town, is angry that city residents are paying for pollution caused by agriculture. We know where its coming from, he said. Its the farmers that are putting this stuff in the ground. I dont feel we should be paying for the whole thing, I dont think we should be paying for any of it. We should be billing these people that are putting the irrigators in. Irrigation is essential for growing crops in parts of Minnesota. But in the north central part of the state near this city of 3,700 residents, irrigated farm fields contribute to groundwater pollution and threaten a unique fishery.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 12:26:46 +0000
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