Belgrade groundwater meeting set for Wednesday

BELGRADE - A meeting of the Bonanza Valley Groundwater Management Area advisory team will be conducted from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Soboe Leverson Post in Belgrade.
The public is invited to attend the meeting, which is part of an ongoing project of the state Department of Natural Resources to develop a local plan for sustainable use of groundwater.
Statewide, there has been a 35 percent increase in groundwater use over the past 25 years.
The Bonanza Valley area has seen a 175 percent increase during the same period.
The area’s boundary extends from just south of Alexandria to the area around Paynesville and includes the cities of Paynesville, Brooten, Belgrade, Westport, Glenwood and Villard.
The Bonanza Valley Groundwater Management Area is one of three such areas around the state, established by the DNR to help communities and individuals in these areas better understand groundwater resources and plan for future development
Individuals do not need to be on the project advisory team to attend the meeting. The meetings are open for stakeholders to observe, and time is available at the end of the formal meeting to provide comments and ideas.
Questions about the Bonanza Valley project can be directed to Mark Hauck, DNR project manager, at 320-223-7846 or mark.hauck@state.mn.us .
More information is also available on the DNR website, www.mndnr.gov/groundwater .