An
abbreviated version of a story in the March 17th Pioneer Press
titled Minnesota's Water Shortages Forcing Many Towns to Take Drastic Measures.
Minnesota's water woes are
spreading, and the drought, while not the only cause, is shining a spotlight on
them.
Over the decades, communities have built up infrastructures to quench a
thirst for economic growth. We're a wet
industry town, and to be able to grow need to open our pocketbooks to industrial
users like ethanol plants, farm irrigation, Schwan's Food Service and Archer
Daniels Midland.
The specter of economic
damage is extremely challenging – large expanses of the lake dried up, private
wells are being sucked dry, lawns couldn't be watered, cars couldn't be washed
and ball fields would be left to brown and the climate is seeing longer periods
without rain.
"All of a sudden a
drought comes along and we need more water for irrigation and everything else
and we have less of it. And we wonder where it went. We can't keep acting that
way."
That's on us, I suppose, for
allowing it to go on that long.
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